[gmride]

This is a good data point. My personal suspicion is the tire is wearing down into a zone where there's some sort of transition to another tread compound or something, and it is shedding layers of rubber where that transition has come close to the surface, maybe exacerbated by hardening of some of the rubber or other loss of flexibility. It is indeed odd, though, that this is still the only position on the car where that's happening.



It is very strange, and certainly strange(r) that it's occurring in only one position. I'd love for you to follow up on this thread in another 6-12 months, after you've had other tires in that same position to see if it seems to be inducing the same wear there. The alignment sheets will certainly help confirm good alignment (the actual numbers). If you've had multiple alignments done, then multiple checks showing similar numbers would certainly confirm the findings.

Fully. I can keep it updated if I get any answers.

I contacted continental and they want me to take the oems by a shop for inspection and possibly for (prorated) swapping.

a new set of tires would be the real test I guess. I just don’t want to pay full retail for that test!!

 

[garoto]

Have you tried more than one dealership to inspect your front end? Lower and upper control arms? Steering rack? Tie rod endings. Bushings. Struts, springs, and torque specs on all of those. Ball joints. Etc?

 

[gmride]

Have you tried more than one dealership to inspect your front end? Lower and upper control arms? Steering rack? Tie rod endings. Bushings. Struts, springs, and torque specs on all of those. Ball joints. Etc?

Independent shop did the alignment that the dealer confirmed (twice).

When i asked both places about checking suspension and steering components the feedback was “you could spend a lot of time and money goinf through piece by piece “

My impression from both was that if it wasn’t apparent on a test drive and wasn’t showing up on alignment that it was not simple to diagnos and itd be blind troubleshooting pulling it apart

but idk. That was just the impression I got.

The dealer as I said does seem to think it’s the cat doing it. They didn’t think it was the tires. But they had nothing to add. They did file it as a warranty claim and report it to Honda.

 

[garoto]

Independent shop did the alignment that the dealer confirmed (twice).

When i asked both places about checking suspension and steering components the feedback was “you could spend a lot of time and money goinf through piece by piece “

My impression from both was that if it wasn’t apparent on a test drive and wasn’t showing up on alignment that it was not simple to diagnos and itd be blind troubleshooting pulling it apart

but idk. That was just the impression I got.

The dealer as I said does seem to think it’s the cat doing it. They didn’t think it was the tires. But they had nothing to add. They did file it as a warranty claim and report it to Honda.

The… cat?

Like, the catalytic converter? The kitty in the neighborhood? Catwoman!

If you’re mechanically inclined, I would safely, inspect the components myself visually at least.

 

[Highspeedbail]

The dealer as I said does seem to think it’s the cat doing it. They didn’t think it was the tires. But they had nothing to add. They did file it as a warranty claim and report it to Honda.

What kind of freaking cats you got in your neighborhood?

Or did he miss-pronounce mountain lion or puma?

 

[gmride]

What kind of freaking cats you got in your neighborhood?

Or did he miss-pronounce mountain lion or puma?

lol! Cat = car. Typing with my clunky thumb.

With that we do have a lot of cougars where we spend time.

I will update this thread if I get any more info

 

[AVC]

I'd rule out tires or wheels; both OEM and snow tires chunk at that wheel location. No one is looking beyond basic alignment parameters, it seems. Certainly something is wrong at the wheel location.

 

[sequoiasoon]

With that we do have a lot of cougars where we spend time.

The 4 legged furry ones or the 2 legged promiscuous ones? If it's the 2nd version, where are you and the other part of "we" hanging out?

On AVC's path. Maybe something on steering rack not quite moving correctly and maybe just the one side. My daughters '08 CRV would drift lanes, constant corrections needed. Alignment was perfect, swapped wheels/tires between snows and all season and all corners. Bounced it, drove it, checked it, always spot on. Shop finally diagnosed a bad rack after they made a left instead of a right onto their normal test drive roads. It wouldn't fully re-center but just barely. If your last turn was a right and then straight drive it would drift to right. Left turn last it would drift left. It was very subtle where road crown would make it straight or really veer.

Once diagnosed it was very easy to duplicate and verify. New rack solved all the issues and made the whole car good again. It sucked on trips prior as always constant attention and corrections, now you can relax a bit and focus on everyone else being stupid.

 

[garoto]

We’re all going to regret this if a cat is actually doing it.

 

[gmride]

We did about 350 miles this week out to the high desert with lots of straight away and long curves, 65mph two lane highways. (We very rarely drive on roads like that, we're either in town or in the mountains.). Paying attention while driving out there, the steering wheel feels like it constantly has to be shuffled or adjusted...like loose. Or kinda like driving in the wind, but it wasn't windy. But I hate to say it as I'm biased now and am looking for problems.

Further actual data: this is what the passenger side tires look like. It's doing it but not nearly as bad, If it weren't for the driver side doing it so badly, I'd not even notice something like this. They're clearing geting chewed up a bit...but nothing like the driver sides.

I have an appt with the dealer again this month. They had wanted to wait for me to drive more on the oems this summer, but I've asked if they can go over all of the things mentioned here (tie rods, ball joints, sterring rack, struts).

I'll update you all if there are any conclusions

 

[steve.rolfe7]

I have 2005 Pilot and am on my 4th set of tires (currently 288K) and have never seen chunking. However, my wife's new VW ID.4 tires were replaced at about 20K (and two years) with serious chunking. I have read as much as I can and talked to several tire shop people. I have not found an answer that really makes sense. The alignment was fine. Tire pressure was fine. No driving on gravel. The only explanation that makes the slightest sense is that EVs have much more torque applied to the tires. But, this is not a common problem with other ID.4s. You may never know the reason. Of course, there is a reason.

 

[gmride]

Took this Pilot into the dealer again to continue diagnostics on this tire tearing up problem (and for a front diffy fluid change and snow tire swap out). They are cool and seem genuinely engaged with working with us on it.

This is the interesting bit: they gave me a ridgeline loaner to drive, and commented "you should like it, same car as yours with a truck bed."

On the drive home, first long on-ramp corner I can immediately feel it tracks so much cleaner through corners. It doesn't have any of the loose shuffling feel. Tracks better on straights too. Feels like a modern car, makes our pilot feel like it has a bit of a 70s station wagon to it lol.

And furthermore (and this is unfortunate because it seems like it'd be unrelated) the transmission/drivetrain/vcm/etc is night and day better to drive. Smoother, quieter, no jerky-ness or odd jumps, no clunking being put into Drive. And the tach/rpm fluttering wasn't there when cruising on the highway.

It was a noticeably nicer, smoother, quieter and cleaner vehicle to drive.

This was an eye opening point of reference. It was also disconcerting.

EDIT: I asked my wife to take it for a drive to tell me if she felt any difference. She texted me ""Turns so smooth. When ours turns it feels like the wheels are going to buckle compared to this"
and "does it have the same engine, it's so much smoother and quieter." (Engine to her would include all things drivetrain)

 

[gmride]

Wowa, gotta say this recent post is super disconcerting to read in light of the issues we're having: https://www.piloteers.org/threads/2...ds/2021-steering-part-snapped-then-car-was-thrown-all-over-then-totaled.185740/

We're almost always driving with our little kids in this vehicle, often on mtn roads

 

[garoto]

Might be time to trade for a newer Pilot? Sounds like you’re having some major issues with it.

Never have I driven an old vs new Honda and had a new Honda make my old one feel old. Serious. Even my 1997 Civic vs a 2005 back in those days, Pilot vs Passport during recalls, or Passport vs CR-V during recalls.

Currently in a 4Runner and I still look fondly at that passport.

 

[Cbayman]

Wowa, gotta say this recent post is super disconcerting to read in light of the issues we're having: https://www.piloteers.org/threads/2...ds/2021-steering-part-snapped-then-car-was-thrown-all-over-then-totaled.185740/

We're almost always driving with our little kids in this vehicle, often on mtn roads

“Hello I have a 2021 Honda Pilot I was driving 45 mph & all of the sudden I heard a part under the hood break it was a loud boom and then my car went to the right (passenger side)”
It sounds like that poster had their right front tire blow.

Looking at your pics, my guess is your tread damage is something contacting the tires on the road. Maybe a bridge transition or new road reflector design. It’s highly unlikely a tire defect since the winter tires also do this. I would survey the neighbors to see if others are experiencing this symptom.

 

[gmride]

@Cbayman Good read on that as a tire blow out. Still, from where I am sitting with our rig: scary stuff.

Edit added: This troubleshooting has been going on for a year at this point. Nobody has seen anything like it...I literally bend over and check other pilot tires when I go by them. At this point, both myself and the shop agree something, if not multiple things, are off with the vehicle. They just can't figure out what...maybe this round that it's at the shop theyll nail it.

@garoto Ja, unfortunately, that's where the discussion has begun to go. We wanted to give the dealer this final shot now that it's clear something(s) is(are) wrong. - and now that I can more clearly define it after driving this other rig. I actually wondered at a point if they would be the ones to suggest a trade in if the vehicle starts to live in their shop? I don't know how that stuff works.

Anyway, a huge drag if it comes to that. But we certainly don't want to be sitting on a lemon in 5 years when a warranty expires.

 

[gmride]

This rig is still at the dealer for this, going into week 3. We'd to swap the loaner for this weekend, ridgeline for a CRV, for the rain. My wife and I laughed that a silver lining to our pilot's time in the shop over this past three years is that we've had a chance to drive a: 22 accord, a 22 civic, a 23 CRV, a 23 pilot, a 23 ridgeline and now a 24 CRV. Pretty much done an extended test drive of the entire fleet!

Anyway, I believe the dealer is waiting to hear what to troubleshoot from Honda at this point. I will give them credit for agreeing something is wrong and taking it on. It's not necessarily their problem at this point. They could have just sold us a fluid change and told us to call Honda. A good lesson in how to keep a customer.

Still really hoping it can be spotted and fixed.

 

[Tacoma'03Pilot]

Paying attention while driving out there, the steering wheel feels like it constantly has to be shuffled or adjusted...like loose. Or kinda like driving in the wind, but it wasn't windy. But I hate to say it as I'm biased now and am looking for problems.

Obviously everything reasonable has been checked by now, but this reminded me of a problem I had with an old Mercedes years ago: same symptoms, loose steering, not tracking well, nothing obvious in the suspension.

It turned out to be the recirculating ball steering getting sloppy. The wheels tracked together, but wandered slightly from the steering column. I got it fixed pretty quickly because it was unpleasant, so I never noticed any unusual tire wear.

There's obviously no direct analog on a Pilot, but the feel that you described sounds like the same kind of wandering. If your rack was loose, for example, everything could move together when the steering wheel was steady.

Just a thought from a memory. I'm curious to see what Honda will come up with.

 

[gmride]

Update: just got off the phone with the dealer and they have no clue. Both the manager and the shop's foreman have driven the rig multiple times and agree it doesn't drive/handle right, and they agree the torque convertor is slipping.

So the plan for the handling + tire wear issues is putting new set of tires on it and then to do an alignment and wear check in 1000 miles, and then another 1000 miles after that.

As far as the torque converter: they can't replace it under warranty until it actually throws an error code. It was remarkable the service manager agreed it was not working right but that it should fail before the 50k mile power-train warranty is up! Geez, glad to know that!

When I asked what Honda had said about all of this, they said we must be driving it hard and chewing up the tires on gravel or cornering too hard or etc. And the torque convertor isn't broken unless the computer says it's broken.

Kinda wild. I told the service manager after the new tires and and two more checks in the shop if it's still doing it we'd start to pivot to talk about a trade in. He said he'd totally understand that.

Edit: oh yeah, they did agree, it's not the PSI.

 

[garoto]

Update: just got off the phone with the dealer and they have no clue. Both the manager and the shop's foreman have driven the rig multiple times and agree it doesn't drive/handle right, and they agree the torque convertor is slipping.

So the plan for the handling + tire wear issues is putting new set of tires on it and then to do an alignment and wear check in 1000 miles, and then another 1000 miles after that.

As far as the torque converter: they can't replace it under warranty until it actually throws an error code.

When I asked what Honda had said, they said we must be driving it hard and chewing up the tires on gravel or cornering too hard or etc. And the torque convertor isn't broken unless the computer says it's broken.

Kinda wild. I told the service manager after the new tires and and two more checks in the shop if it's still doing it we'd start to pivot to talk about a trade in. He said he'd totally understand that.

And… you’re still going to get a Honda after that? It’s fine that the car has issue. The treatment from the dealer and corporate is not okay at all. Sounds like a thing of nightmares. “We agree it handles like shit and slips. And we agree the tires are getting chewed up in an unreasonable way. You must be driving it hard”