DVD Errors on Nav System

[N9JIG]

I have started to get occasional DVD errors on my Nav system (2009 Pilot TE). Everything will be working just fine then all of a sudden the system will report the error. Once I shut off the engine and restart the car the system works fine again. If I continue driving after getting this message it will go away after a few seconds and the screen will go blank, I can then use the Audio screen, but no Nav.

Sometimes the error will clear by itself as I am driving and I will get the Nav system welcome screen, I acknowledge the warning and it works fine again, sometimes just for a little while, other times for hundreds of miles.

Occasionally I will get the error message and it will not clear up, therefore I can't view the Audio display on the screen until I stop and shut off the engine and restart.

The weird thing is that this has no pattern. I returned from a 2 week, 6000 mile trip in June and it worked perfectly the whole time, but the week before the trip and the two months after it has happened several times.

I checked the DVD and it seems fine, no visible scratches or blemishes. It is version V4.81A, I replaced the DVD with this version January 2010.

Any ideas or has anyone else had a similar issue?

[RSQ Pilot]

FWIW I have been running the same version in my '09 Pilot Touring since the 4.81A disk was released and have not had those issues.

Do you recall the specific Navi error message? The message on the screen can point to one of several issues. If its under warranty the dealer can code check the NAVI with their computer diagnostics and read the error message codes that don't appear as screen messages. None of the errors short of cleaning the DVD, keeping the NAVI within operating temperatures and making sure the dashboard antenna isn't blocked by some dash trash that interferes with the signal are user correctable.

[N9JIG]

The error says "DVD Reading Error, See Dealer".

Now the error is continuous, it comes up when the safety disclaimer would. I suspect the error is with the drive unit itself.

I tried popping in the DVD from my wife's Accord with no joy. I then put the DVD from my Pilot into the Accord and it works fine. Unfortunately the Accord is a 2006 and the Pilot a 2009 and the drive units are incompatible (different wiring harness).

I did a complete reset from the diagnostic screen. I know the GPS receiver is working, I get the correct info from the Diagnostic, it reports the DVD error as well. I also reseated the various wiring harnesses, all with no joy.

The Pilot is out of warranty (too many miles...) so I suspect the dealer would replace the drive unit. The price on that would likely be $2000-$3000 or so. I found the unit itself at Majestic Honda - The Internet's #1 Honda Automotive Parts Store for $1900.

If I can't find a used one I might forgo my beloved Navi system and go out and get a TomTom or Garmin, I have another year or 2 before I was planning on trading the Pilot in and might just take the hit come trade-in time unless someone smarter than me here can suggest a working fix.

Thanks all!

[RSQ Pilot]

Originally Posted by N9JIG

The error says "DVD Reading Error, See Dealer".

Now the error is continuous, it comes up when the safety disclaimer would. I suspect the error is with the drive unit itself.

I tried popping in the DVD from my wife's Accord with no joy. I then put the DVD from my Pilot into the Accord and it works fine. Unfortunately the Accord is a 2006 and the Pilot a 2009 and the drive units are incompatible (different wiring harness).

I did a complete reset from the diagnostic screen. I know the GPS receiver is working, I get the correct info from the Diagnostic, it reports the DVD error as well. I also reseated the various wiring harnesses, all with no joy.

The Pilot is out of warranty (too many miles...) so I suspect the dealer would replace the drive unit. The price on that would likely be $2000-$3000 or so. I found the unit itself at Majestic Honda - The Internet's #1 Honda Automotive Parts Store for $1900.

If I can't find a used one I might forgo my beloved Navi system and go out and get a TomTom or Garmin, I have another year or 2 before I was planning on trading the Pilot in and might just take the hit come trade-in time unless someone smarter than me here can suggest a working fix.

Thanks all!

Ouch! I'd at least have the a dealer run a diagnostic check, warranty or not, they may "good will" the diagnostic and/or repair. There are several NAVI issues that can be checked but the dealer has to read those numeric error codes either via the system diagnostic option or using their remote HDS computer. Some can resolved by a hard reboot of the system by the dealer.

Definitely worth trying before dumping $1900 for a new DVD reader to find out that wasn't the entire issue.

[theirishscion]

I'll second the goodwill request. That's well worth a try. Contact Honda directly if the dealership won't play ball.

Symptoms are certainly consistent with a failing optical drive. If you're not in a hurry, you could quite possibly find someone to replace just the disk transport and lens assembly in the unit. There's a fair bit of standardization in optical disk readers so even if it wasn't an exact match, it might well work perfectly. Heck, it might just be dirty, you don't know till you take a look inside. Of course, it may be that Pioneer build an optical drive exclusively for this application. However, I rather doubt it.

Heck, if you're really not in a hurry, mail it to me and I'll take a look. If I can fix it, I'll do it for the price of parts and postage back to you.

[N9JIG]

Thanks Irish Scion, I might take you up on that if the below plan doesn't work out. I too surmised that the issue is the optical drive so I removed the drive assembly from the vehicle and removed the top cover, exposing the drive. I found a part number on it and Googled it, finding a place called PartSimple that sells them for $81. It looks like a couple small screws and a flat ribbon cable..

If this pans out (they said it would be a week or so) I think I can fix it myself.

The problem is that the unit needs to be installed or the entire radio system doesn't work so I had to reinstall it even though the Navi doesn't work. For some reason though the clock displays the wrong time and I can't access the menu to change it!

I will keep you all informed!

[theirishscion]

Perfect, that's exactly what I'm talking about. The only other real possibility for those symptoms that I can think of is a slow failure of the carriage/focus control electronics, and that's extremely uncommon from my experience.

Be super duper careful of the ribbon cable connector(s) on the board (if they don't have stout plug connectors, which they may.) They may be friction, they may be sliding lock or tilting lock. Go slow and thoughtful there, a broken connector on the board will potentially wreck your chances of success unless you're very handy with, and have access to, a rework station. Usual warnings about static electricity as well. If in doubt, post a picture and ask. I've a bit of experience with this stuff.

The reason your clock isn't getting set is that the Nav-equipped pilots take their time from the gps system. When the gps system doesn't initialize fully, presumably it doesn't supply a time to the radio, even if it can see the satellites. There is a manual clock set in the interface somewhere, but perhaps it's not accessible either with the gps out of commission. In which case, bad design Honda! (edit for reading your comment properly) Damn that's bad design, having the manual clock set tied to the GPS system. Yeuch.

[N9JIG]

I can see the GPS info via the diagnostic screen so I can see that the receiver is working but there is no way to change the displayed time there. The time is showing the Pacific Time Zone, so I just add two hours...

I have also just been advised that the parts have been shipped by PartSimple so I should have the DVD drive assembly soon. The ribbon connector uses a small plastic clip as a retainer, I have experience with these from working on radios so I am confident the replacement should go well, I just hope this solves my issue!

I will try and get photos and post them up.

[N9JIG]

Well as a follow-up:

I was unable to get the Nav system working again, even with a replacement optical drive. I decided that it would behoove me to replace the car a bit earlier and I got a great deal on a 2012 Odyssey. I pointed out that the Nav system was throwing errors but the appraiser at the dealer wasn't concerned, so I wasn't either.

Thanks all for the advice!