I have a 2011 Honda Pilot EX with 125k miles. I've replaced the timing belt and NGK spark plugs along with water pump. I have an occasional long cranking especially morning time. So I have left the key in the II position for a few seconds and crank. It always works. Does it mean that the fuel pump has some issues? It seems battery and start are good.

125k is low miles for a fuel pump problem. Has all other maintenance been done? Is the engine light on? Your vehicle is also equipped with VCM technology. It's not unusual to start having engine issues associated with the side effects of the VCM.

 

There is no engine light on. All maintenance have been done according to the manual. My two keys have that Intermittent long cranking issue. I don’t have any knowledge of VCM. I will look at it. I might also check the fuel pressure and any injection leaking.

 

Have you tested the battery? I swear it takes longer to fire up when they are getting weaker…

 

This had been happening to us less than half the time before changing the starting routine to hold for a moment or two at position II. All maintenance up to date, VCM disabled, no codes, new battery. Works fine starting from position II after waiting a couple of seconds. We just keep starting it this way until the problem becomes consistent.

 

Prolonged crank is often just the in-tank check valve allowing system pressure to bleed off more quickly than normal, where the pump has to fill and repressurize the fuel line/rail. An annoyance, but not usually leading to sudden pump failure, in the vehicles I had experience with. For an around town vehicle, I'd leave it be until it got too annoying or the pump failed for other reasons.

For my main trip vehicle, I'd address it, as the pressure loss could be a splitting/leaking hose in or out of the tank, cracked pump housing, or a leaking injector, bad o-ring.... any of which would render a vacation miserable should they give up entirely.

A leaking injector will usually make the engine run rough for a few seconds after start.

 

Berryman Chemtool B12 for the gas tank. Hopefully than will clean your injectors. Throw in some seafoam into the engine and gas tank every other oil change.

 

Speaking of Seafoam....that stuff was designed to dissolve those sticky hydrocarbon deposits that 2 cycle engines are prone to. I've experimented with it on 4 cycle mowers and cars, and mostly it produced copious smoke, but little to no effect on the hard carbon and shellac deposits common to them. Seafoam probably dissolves sludge reasonably, given its ingredients, but I've never had an engine with that issue. B-12 on the other hand, is more potent on 4 cycle engines and hard deposits. Better still it seems, are high PEA content solvents.

 

I have been lately experiencing similar issue with one difference. In the morning, the cold engine starts right up.
When restarting the hot engine, it will crank for a while and once it finally fires up, it initially idles fairly rough.
No CEL, haven't checked for codes. No gas smell.
At first I thought the starter was getting stuck, but that does not seem to be the issue.
Because if I turn the key to position-II and wait for about 3 seconds until all lights go off and beeping stops, then it fires up no problem.
It reminds me of one of my motorcycles which requires to wait with the key in position-II until the fuel pump gets primed, and you can actually hear the pump making noise.
With my Pilot there is no problem when the engine is cold, so gradual loss of fuel pressure over time seems unlikely.
Vapor lock crossed my mind, but that doesn't seem to be an issue with Pilots and injected engines in general.
Overall very similar to what the OP is experiencing, except in my case it happens only when the engine is hot.

So far I have installed a new battery, cleaned the MAF sensor and the EGR valve, without any change.
Low mileage 2011 Pilot - 54k. VCM muzzled at 38k. Stock spark plugs.
Only use top tier 87 and Mobil-1. Mostly city driving, lately about 4k/year.

The next steps will be along with what Nail Grease suggested: adding Techron, italian tune-up and a new PCV valve.

How to diagnose a leaking injector?

Thanks

 

Snailster,

did you ever find the root cause to this? I have the exact same issue - starts right up when cold/in the morning but long crank when warm (sitting for 30-45 minutes).

I have been lately experiencing similar issue with one difference. In the morning, the cold engine starts right up.
When restarting the hot engine, it will crank for a while and once it finally fires up, it initially idles fairly rough.
No CEL, haven't checked for codes. No gas smell.
At first I thought the starter was getting stuck, but that does not seem to be the issue.
Because if I turn the key to position-II and wait for about 3 seconds until all lights go off and beeping stops, then it fires up no problem.
It reminds me of one of my motorcycles which requires to wait with the key in position-II until the fuel pump gets primed, and you can actually hear the pump making noise.
With my Pilot there is no problem when the engine is cold, so gradual loss of fuel pressure over time seems unlikely.
Vapor lock crossed my mind, but that doesn't seem to be an issue with Pilots and injected engines in general.
Overall very similar to what the OP is experiencing, except in my case it happens only when the engine is hot.

So far I have installed a new battery, cleaned the MAF sensor and the EGR valve, without any change.
Low mileage 2011 Pilot - 54k. VCM muzzled at 38k. Stock spark plugs.
Only use top tier 87 and Mobil-1. Mostly city driving, lately about 4k/year.

The next steps will be along with what Nail Grease suggested: adding Techron, italian tune-up and a new PCV valve.

How to diagnose a leaking injector?

Thanks

 

yes I did - all problems went away after I disabled the VCM Tuner II.
I have reverted to my older resistor based VCM supressor. Took me a while to figure out what was going on, must admit

 

did you have this problem before installing the VCM Tuner II or any VCM suppressor? I don’t have any of that on my pilot - it’s still all factory standard.

 

No, for me the issues developed gradually after installing the VCM Tuner-II and resolved immediately and completely after removing the tuner.

Any error codes?

Consider testing or replacing the coolant temperature sensors ($15-20 at Rockauto.com). I think there are two of them (gen-2). I started with replacing the more accessible one along the driver’s side of the engine. When that didn’t help, I was gonna assume the original sensor was good and replace with it the second sensor at the bottom of the radiator. That way I would need to buy only one sensor. But before I got to doing that, I unplugged the VCM T II and that solved all my issues.

Consider doing the Nail Grease tune up list, including new PCR valve (cheap - $15-20), clean MAF sensor using CRC cleaner, clean EGR valveetc, esp. if a high mileage car

 

thanks. Great tips. I read about the engine temp sensor and will try that today. Also read that the main relay under the dash is notorious for a loose solder joint that expands/contracts due to hot and cold temps. This will be my next swap if the temp sensor doesn’t work.

thanks again.

 

So I have same issue with wifes 2012 pilot FWD 99k. Starts right up when cold. After warm or driven and then restarted I get occasional long cranking to start. Its happening more and more now though. I have no VCM controler installed. No lights. I do get the shutter when ECO mode kicks in and sometimes without.

 

For what it’s worth, I had changed my temp sensor (the one on the engine block) and it did not fix my problem. I am starting to think this is a leaking injector. To avoid the long crank when the engine is warm, I turn the ignition to accessory (not fire up the engine) and wait 5 or 6 beeps of the dash and then crank. That seems to work. I’m thinking putting on accessory might do something to clear out a flood situation, but I’m not a mechanic. It’s just a guess.

 

This issue seemed to go away for us after a techron treatment. Was getting some misfire codes so tried the techron. And it seems to have helped with the occasional long crank. No more pausing at position II to get it to start right up.

 

Thanks for this. I picked up a bottle and will give this a try and report back.

 

Did the Techron work? I have a 2016 Honda Odyssey with the exact same issues as above. No codes. Just random long cranks after sitting for 30-60 minutes in the afternoon after starting just fine in the morning.

 

On the 4th gen Odyssey the fuel pressure regulator is a common problem point. Lots of documentation about it on Odyclub.