New Pilots are pieces of $hit!

[Chasmoore]

Someone posted earlier that the VCM system doesn't engage until the engine is fully warmed up so I just did a test with my very cold Pilot. I hadn't noticed this before but the car runs smoothly and quietly at 1500 RPM with light acceleration until warm enough to activate the ECO feature. That's when it gets rough and noisy driving this Pilot. Perfect running with 6 cylinders working and less so with the VCM.

[BigWhite]

Can anyone confirm if the Pilot has an ECU that "learns" from the users driving habits? Depending on your normal driving habits the ECU adjusts overall performance whether shifting gears or when to go into ECO mode based on what it learns, I know most other European cars have that feature and wonder if Honda has that too? If so, would resetting the ECU puts things back to factory default until the ECU learns your new driving habits? Has anyone with the VCM 'shuddering' issue attempted to disconnect the battery for a period of time (overnight preferably) to see if that helps?

I've posted on here before where I've heard a Service Advisor tell a customer that they will do just that on the customer's vehicle as it sits overnight in their dealership's lot to see if it clears their 'issue', not sure what that 'issue' was as I didn't hear the entire conversation, but it got me thinking that if the car 'learns' the user's driving habits, would resetting the ECU help set the engine back to original where it doesn't cause the 'shuddering'? Mine doesn't have this issue otherwise I would try, anyone willing to give this a try?

[Armystrong]

Originally Posted by Chasmoore

Someone posted earlier that the VCM system doesn't engage until the engine is fully warmed up so I just did a test with my very cold Pilot. I hadn't noticed this before but the car runs smoothly and quietly at 1500 RPM with light acceleration until warm enough to activate the ECO feature. That's when it gets rough and noisy driving this Pilot. Perfect running with 6 cylinders working and less so with the VCM.

Im going to talk to a Toyota enthusiast that taught many who owned a Tundra to trick the ECU thinking the temperature was actually colder than what the ECU thought, preventing the Air Induction pumps from coming on. Hopefully I have something to report.

[armpilot]

Originally Posted by cwessner

I had a 2010 and while it had more road noise and less options for iPod connectivity I would go back to it if I could. Much better steering feel for driving, the new ones are way too loose, and the trans did seem better. The new one is not so bad that I would dump it right now, but they definitely didn't change some parts for the better.

+1 I also had a 2010 and traded for a 12. The over steer on the 12 is just bad. Ive gotten used to it, but it makes for a very boring ride since i barely have to move the steering wheel to take the pilot were i want to go.

[Filipilot]

Originally Posted by BigWhite

Can anyone confirm if the Pilot has an ECU that "learns" from the users driving habits? Depending on your normal driving habits the ECU adjusts overall performance whether shifting gears or when to go into ECO mode based on what it learns, I know most other European cars have that feature and wonder if Honda has that too? If so, would resetting the ECU puts things back to factory default until the ECU learns your new driving habits? Has anyone with the VCM 'shuddering' issue attempted to disconnect the battery for a period of time (overnight preferably) to see if that helps?

I've posted on here before where I've heard a Service Advisor tell a customer that they will do just that on the customer's vehicle as it sits overnight in their dealership's lot to see if it clears their 'issue', not sure what that 'issue' was as I didn't hear the entire conversation, but it got me thinking that if the car 'learns' the user's driving habits, would resetting the ECU help set the engine back to original where it doesn't cause the 'shuddering'? Mine doesn't have this issue otherwise I would try, anyone willing to give this a try?

I did try the disconnect/reset method overnight with no effect, my 2012 still shudders like crazy. Thanks though..

[Filipilot]

Originally Posted by Armystrong

Im going to talk to a Toyota enthusiast that taught many who owned a Tundra to trick the ECU thinking the temperature was actually colder than what the ECU thought, preventing the Air Induction pumps from coming on. Hopefully I have something to report.

I'm sure you can just to try to fool the coolant temp sensor (not the dash temp gauge sensor) to think that engine is not on normal operating temp yet.I think you could use a resistor or capacitor (I'm not sure which one)to do the trick.The problem is,when the C.T.S. throws a cold signal your air/fuel ratio will always be rich which leads to your engine burning more fuel meaning bad gas mileage. Cold running engine + no VCM = very bad gas mileage.
I would rather have someone work on OPS trick until its perfected. Why is VCM delete trick so elusive.

[Brolan]

It's not elusive at all. If you read some of the other threads on this board you just need to buy a new oil pressure sensor, disconnect one of the sensor wires on the engine and plug it into your new sensor, wrap electrical tape around the whole thing, and it will never activate the VCM again.

[mudbog]

if you just plug a new oil pressure sensor into the existing sensor wire harness connector, I don't think that's going to work for preventing the check engine light from turning on. The ECU will read from the new sensor OK. But since there is no oil pressure at the new sensor, it will throw an error code and the 'check engine' light will turn on. The net effect will be the same as just unplugging the wire harness from the existing oil pressure sensor.

[Brolan]

I've never done it, just giving a summary of posts on other threads that have been working on this.