[dr bob]

The nav and eentertainment systems use a har drive for storage. That drive starts up when the drievr's soor is remotely unlocked/opened, and also continues to run for a bit after the engine is shut off. Severa have mentioned that the noise is more noticeable on the coldest days. I hear mine as a low hum if I pay attention, regardless of temp or season. Mine sits in the 60º garage in the winter, so no noises apparent on most starts at home. If it's colder and I'm starting it out in the wild somewhere, the teeth-chattering and shivereing seem to drown out the hard drive sounds, as my shaky frozen fingers try to get the key in the ignition and get the engine and heat started.

Sit in the car for a few minutes after you climb in next time, without doing anything. If the noise stops after a few minutes, the hard drive is the most likely culprit.

 

[denzpilot]

Hi folks. I've been meaning to join for a while, and just did when I read this thread. My wife's 2015 Pilot Touring has been making this noise quite frequently lately. I would describe it as a whiny-running electric motor, coming from the radio area. Sounds kind like the DVD player is constantly trying to eject a DVD that isn't in there. Can't say there's any rhyme or reason as to when it happens. It's already making the noise when you get in the car, and sometimes stops when the engine is started, but not always. Tonight it did it. I started the engine, let it run, then turned it off. Still continued to make the noise for for at least twenty minutes (that's when I stopped checking). It even changed tone/pitch at one point. Tonight was also noticeably louder than all past incidents. I took a video of it with my phone, and it'd loud and clear. It was sitting in a garage which was approx. 55 degrees. I read dr bob's post about the hard drive. So is this normal? I can't imagine it is. If it is, why doesn't it do this ALL the time? Do I bring it in for service? Of course, we all know it won't make the noise when I bring it in. And I'm guessing they'll say "We've never heard of this problem before." If anyone else has had this issue and found the problem and solution, please share. Thanks.

 

[dr bob]

There's other Stupid Stuff that can make funny noises. Denzpilot, keep that recording with you when you visit your dealer. As you suggest, the car will never make the same noise when the service guy is listening, so having the recording will add credence to your claim. By the time you take it back the third time (each visit documented with service order description) you'll have their complete attention. Especially if you suggest that it's a lemon spinning around inside the console.

The hard-drive noise I hear is barely audible, and then takes a hard listen to even notice. I'm a sixty-something white-haired guy, but I've carefully protected my hearing all these years. Maybe younger/sharper ears would perceive my noise as louder than I do. If what you hear is really as noticeable as some describe, by all means take it to find out what it really is. In my limited experience, when hard drives start making serious noises they are on the edge of total failure.


That other Stupid Stuff --

One of the garage-mates for the Pilot is a late-80's vintage German GT, with a pretty interetsing and leading-edge climate-control system for its time. That system includes an interior air temp sensor in the dash with its own little fan, less than an inch in diameter, in a tube behind the little sensor grill. There's no filter, so it gently draws airborne dust that can eventually get into the tiny bearings in the tiny fan motor. Causing it to chirp every once in a while. It takes a solid hour to pull the console, dash and glovebox sections to get to this tiny fan motor, clean and lubricate the tiny bearings again, and put it all back together. The car is close to thirty years old, and I've done this little exercise twice in the car's life. So far.

The Pilot has a very similar temp sensor arrangement, actually several, for each of the three climate control zones. Honda has obviouly done a better job choosing designs and suppliers for theirs. Or it's just a matter of time.

 

[mhrpilot]

Hard Drive noise on cold days

I brought my 2014 Touring Pilot in for this very reason. I left it at the local Honda Gallery last night and explained that the tech needed to get in the cold car in the morning to hear the sound. I also showed them a video so they knew what they were going to hear. They just called to say that it is "totally normal." Explained that while nobody in their service center had heard it before or could identify it they called Honda Tech Services and were told that it is, in fact, the hard drive. They checked everything and said it is all "operating to spec." So there is no need to do anything. It is just a hard drive and it happens in every pilot and is known to be louder on cold days.

I'm skeptical because my warranty will run out soon. I fear that after that they will magically identify the problem and then try to charge me to fix it. I was told by the service department that won't happen because the sound has been identified and looked into prior to the warranty running out. We shall see. Either way, I'm glad to know my Pilot isn't the only one that is loud but "normal."

 

[MARKM927]

What was issue with pilot ?what did honda service do ?

 

[JReescano]

Did you (or anyone) ever get a resolution to the noise coming from the nav console? I started hearing this same exact thing yesterday. I was going to start checking my fuses this evening. Thanks

 

[dr bob]

Mine (2013 Touring) has done it since new. It's the hard drive in the entertainment stack. I don't know if it's particular to trim level or accessory like NAV (nav data is stored on the hard drive). Anyway, the drive starts as soon as the driver's door is opened. If you get in the car and close the door but don't put the key in the ignition lock, the drive spins down after a short bit. Until you open the door again...

 

[Tahoefever]

Has anyone thought of upgrading the drive to an SSD drive ?

 

[plplplpl]

Has anyone thought of upgrading the drive to an SSD drive ?

For my 'puters anyway, best upgrade I've done in years.

Compatibility (file system, OS), however, may be an issue. so cloning with something like EaseUS Partition Master, Acronis Disk Director, or my current favorite, Macrium Reflect, would be how I'd give it a shot.

 

[dr bob]

Use caution... The nav software keys to the pieces in the entertainment stack and the engine ECU, plus you'll need to spoof the new drive with the UUID of the original. Hint: waste no time with windows PC disk-dupe tools. Think UNIX/Linux.

 

[sodian]

Our 2015 touring Pilot started doing this a month ago. Open the door and this loud buzzing sound can be heard behind the dash. As soon as it is started it stops. It's happened about 4 times now. At least now I know what it is. Thanks

 

[kikocar2015]

Hey Sodian,

Did you ever get an answer why this is happening?

Thank you,
Tom

Our 2015 touring Pilot started doing this a month ago. Open the door and this loud buzzing sound can be heard behind the dash. As soon as it is started it stops. It's happened about 4 times now. At least now I know what it is. Thanks

 

[golftango]

Hey Sodian,

Did you ever get an answer why this is happening?

Thank you,
Tom

It’s the HDD starting up. Normal.

 

[kkynaston]

I bought a 2016 Honda Pilot touring last summer with only 24,400 miles on it. It it was an awesome condition and hardly used with the exception of the cargo area. The previous owner should have just bought a truck cuz he pretty much trashed the back cargo area. But never use the DVD player or any of the formats. Everything else was pristine. So during this winter when it started getting cold and I heard the buzzing sound I was surprised. As it's gotten worse, I narrowed it down to the HDD system when one morning. It didn't make this sound but I had absolutely no display. The display popped on later that day and now 2 weeks later I'm getting the HDD error message. So after reading as much as I have on this post and others I realize my hard drive is just going out. It sounds like I just need a new one installed. I'm hoping my warranty will cover it but I apparently didn't by the top of the line warranty like I was told it may have been the top of the line they offered but it wasn't the top of the line per se. I'm going to call my dealership and see what they say. I'd like to not go through the dealership but I have no idea what other type of company to call. Maybe a third party car stereo company? Did anybody has any ideas? I'm opening to hear it. Thank you.