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**Letter to Honda regarding STARTING PROBLEM**

14K views 77 replies 33 participants last post by  smurray 
#1 ·
Ok, here is the official letter to American Honda and Honda Canada that "Birdman" and I will be sending..

If you wish to be part of this letter to support getting a solution to the ignition problems that many members are having please sign up. Canadian members also welcome as I will be sending a letter to Honda Canada as well..

****Information Needed****

Full Name
Full Vin#
Address and Phone number
Dealers Name and address if known
************************
I must have this information to put you on the list with the letter.. You may leave the information on this thread or please send me (gopilot) a Private Message, this way our Vin information and phone numbers etc will be protected. The more people the more I feel Honda will attempt to solve the problem faster..

I will be responsible for feed back from Honda Canada, and "Birdman" from American Honda.


Here is the letter:


Dear American Honda/Honda Canada:

The purpose of this letter is to alert you to a potentially serious problem with the new 2003 Honda Pilot. A large number of Pilot owners share their experiences on the internet at www.honda-pilot.org. Generally the vehicle seems to be well-made, versatile, and easy to drive.

Unfortunately, many owners have had a bad experience with their Pilots not starting reliably. The major symptom is that the starter will crank, but the engine will fail to start on the first try. Subsequent attempts require very long cranking times and often the engine will run rough briefly after it starts. We are concerned about a number of things related to this problem. First, under some circumstance such as very cold weather, the engine may not start at all. Second, the increased wear on the starter motor may shorten its life. Third, the hard starting and rough running may lead to problems with the emission control systems. And, finally, it's possible the problem will get worse as the vehicle ages so that eventually it will not start at all which could lead to a safety issue.

Dealer service departments have generally been little help with this, claiming that they have never heard of the problem and that they can do nothing if they can't reproduce it. Some service departments have actually claimed that the symptoms are normal. A few possible sources have been suggested, including a faulty electronic key control system, a loose timing belt due to a faulty tensioner, fuel supply system problems, EGR valve, or ignition problems.

We ask that you solve this problem by determining the source of the trouble and issuing a technical service bulletin to all dealers regarding a repair. It is a shame that an otherwise fine vehicle is marred by a developing reputation of hard starting and dealers who can't fix it. We do not believe it is are service departments fault because there has been no fix that has been handed down to them. We ask for your immediate response into this matter.

Sincerely, and much thanks



The members of honda-pilot.org

P.S. Here is a list of all our members with Vin#'s and personal information that are having the ignition problem.
 
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#4 ·
Final call for anyone that wants to be a part of our letter to Honda regarding the starting or ignition problems..


Please send info to me "gopilot" in private message.

please send by Jan 24.. thanks

rob
 
#6 ·
Regarding your proposed letter to Honda: Good job! I think it may be wise to add one more reason why this should be considered a serious problem - that is of safety. If a car stalls in an emergency situation and cannot be re-started, the safety of the vehicle's occupants can be at serious risk.

Just my 2-cents.
 
#8 ·
This line should be changed from

P.S. Here is a list of all our members with Vin#'s and personal information that our having the ignition problem.


to

P.S. Here is a list of all our members with Vin#'s and personal information that are having the ignition problem.

The second 'our' should be 'are'.
 
#9 ·
BTW - this has only happened to me once - right after I got the Pilot. It hasn' happened since.

Today is our first really bad snow/cold day and the vehicle has been sitting outside all day. I'm curious to see what happens.
 
#12 ·
erpeters said:
GKSmith is correct the "our" should be are, we are having a problem, it is our problem!:4:

Ok guys, thanks for your help with the spelling. BUT... Please read again.. It is correct the way it is.. I cannot see the error, therefore will leave as is.. "our" and "are" are where they should be...

are is getting repeated to many times it's driving me.

rob:2:
 
#13 ·
Yesterday when I read the thread from work, the last line read:

P.S. Here is a list of all our members with Vin#'s and personal information that our having the ignition problem.


- notice there are two "ours".

From home it read:

P.S. Here is a list of all our members with Vin#'s and personal information that are having the ignition problem.


Most likely this is a problem due to our cache server or my web browser at work not refreshing the content. I will check it again when I get to work to see how it reads.
 
#14 ·
"We do not believe it is are service departments fault..."


THIS was the sentence needing correction.
 
#15 ·
Letter

Haaaaxcellent - as Montgomery Burns would say!

1. please send info on how to privaltey transimit my data for the letter

2. please post copy of letter sent once all the grammer is worked out

3. For maximum effectiveness based on my history with a Japanese sub supplier to Honda... send it to Koki Hirashima, president and CEO of Honda of America Mfg. and CC to: Larry Jutte, senior vice president and general manager of Honda America Mfg.

Perhaps you could sign it with the names of all of us that send you the data they may wnat to contact us individually and not as a group for fear of exposure... of course i am sure the info will be posted here but they are more likely to go into a mode of containment and worry about wide spread negative publicity could kill the succesful ramp up of this new vehicle
:25:
 
#16 ·
Thanks for all the responses and PM's regarding letter to Honda!

Letter is now final, and will be sent this week.

As soon as Birdman and I get a response, we will post. Unfortunate that lots of us have this problem, but it is great we are doing this as a team...

thanks again

Rob..
 
#17 ·
before you send the letter PLEASE

rob
id like my name and data on the letter as well but need to set up pm and dont have time now will try to figure it out within 24 hours..previousyl tried to convey this to you in a post but did not hear back
Jim
 
#18 ·
For those that are interested in the letter to Honda about the starting problem--I finalized the letter to American Honda and included the names, addresses, VINs and dealers (no phone numbers or forum user names) of all those that sent a private message to gopilot about wanting to be included. The final letter had only minor typo corrections and edits from what is posted earlier in this thread. It was sent today. If anyone who sent gopilot a message about wanting to be included would like a copy of the letter, PM me and I will reply with it. It takes 2 PMs because it is too long for one message. I hope for a reply from Honda soon and will post to this thread as soon as I (we) hear back. gopilot is sending the letter to Canada Honda on behalf of Canadian owners. Birdman
 
#21 ·
Well yeah i know but then why offer to pm it as the birdman did?

my wife is teling me this problem freuqency is increasing so some resolution will be nice here.

thanks again to you both birdman and gopilot for taking action here:4: :6:
 
#22 ·
I guess it really does not matter if it is PM or not, Birdman does not want any of the personal info on this thread to be released. He is only going to give it to the people who are part of the letter who really want to see the whole thing... I am assuming..

rob
 
#25 ·
Response from Honda Canada

Well, thanks guys for all your support regarding our letter to Honda with the "Starting Problem"

I did get a response but it was a Joke.






Dear Mr. Viveiros

This will acknowledge and thank you for your letter of January 30, 2003 regarding the 2003 Honda Pilot.

(Hello, we all did over 20 of us??)

On receipt of you letter, we brought your comments to the attention of the Service Manager at Terrace Honda Sales, by forwarding a copy of your letter to him and also contacting him by telephone. Service Manager advised us that technical staff at the dealership inspected your Pilot, and no malfunction or manufacturing defect was detected at that time.

(Actually this is not true, I never had my Pilot inspected for this problem, I just mentioned it to them, But I am going to get it inspected now!)

Unfortunately an intermittent issue is very difficult for a technician to diagnose if the occurrence does not take place at the time of inspection. Accordingly, the service manager would like to suggest that you contact their Service Department to schedule an appointment and have the vehicle re-inspected if the symptoms appear more frequently, or if you can demonstrate the particular situation. If necessary, the Service Department will also be able to contact our Technical Division for additional technical assistance.

(Contact our Technical Division? Why the hell did we write this letter anyway? Is this not Honda's job since they have our letter right in-front of them!?)

We have documented you comments, Mr Viveiros, and we thanks you for your consideration in writing to us. We have every confidence that your dealership will be able to resolve any abnormality, as long as they are able to experience it occurring.

(It is not just me that is complaining here, there is also no acknowledgment that this letter had over 20 members from Honda.org)

Yours very truly,

Honda Canada Inc.

Philip Ofenberg
Customer Relations Specialist.

CC D Yole, Western Zone
CC Service Engineering Department.



*It looks like our friends at Honda did not even take this letter seriously at all. I am a little surprised since for me this is uncommon and usually Honda fixes it or assures me that they have at least had other people complaining about this problem.


Well, I hope American Honda responds with a fix, I will be making an appointment that is going to be a long one.. I don't want it back until they find out what it is.. (My service tec did approach me at my workplace and he is the only one that really wants to find a fix for this.. He is a really good guy.. He also said that the he has had tons of civic owners with this problem) So there is no darn way we are the only one's complaining.

My only question now is.. Why is Honda ignoring or not admitting to this problem?

Now they have irritated me.. not good.
 
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