| ellymiss |
I bought my 2003 Pilot in 2006, Certified, from the dealer. Within a month of owning the car, I had significant brake dust and was feeling a resistance while driving. They basically treated me like an idiot girl and blew me off. Months later, I insisted they take a look....
Came back with that my front left caliper was shot and so were my breaks. With a little fight, I insisted that since I had been complaining about this from a month after I bought they car, they pay to replace both, and they did.
Fast forward 6 months to today....as I write this my car is sitting at a Honda dealership in Delaware and I live in Maryland. It broke down on me last night coming back from NJ. It appears that now the REAR RIGHT caliper has blown, smoke and all, and blew my ABS and battery. So it was towed to the Honda nearby and someone came to get me.
My concern is this---I feel like this has become a year and a half of ongoing caliper problems. I almost feel as though the car was never properly certified and perhaps they changed the oil, vaccumed it and called it certified.
Has anyone else had these kind of issues with the calipers? I am very frustrated and know that tomorrow will be a fight since it's no longer under warranty, but I feel it's been ongoing since I bought the car.
I am totally regretting buying a Honda right now.....:3: |
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| N_Jay |
Which dealership in DE?
How many miles when you got it?
How many miles now?
Bad calipers are rare and two is odd, unless the previous owner did not take care of the car.
I don't know what you mean about "blowing smoke and the ABS and the battery.
If the caliper was leaking you can get some smoke when the fluid his the hot rotor, but that makes little difference other than a little extra clean up.
I wonder if the original caliper failure was from an existing ABS problem?
Neither should "kill" the battery. |
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| ellymiss |
It's in Newark.
It had 42000 miles when I bought it and 62000 now.
I could see smoke coming from the rear tire area in my side mirror. From my understanding, the caliper seizing up does something to the ABS, which can short out the battery?
I had asked about it being an ABS problem the first time around because really what was most noticable is when I touched the brakes between 50-60mph...it was like something would catch or grab and the car would jerk forward. But it only did it in that speed range.
Which dealership in DE?
How many miles when you got it?
How many miles now?
Bad calipers are rare and two is odd, unless the previous owner did not take care of the car.
I don't know what you mean about "blowing smoke and the ABS and the battery.
If the caliper was leaking you can get some smoke when the fluid his the hot rotor, but that makes little difference other than a little extra clean up.
I wonder if the original caliper failure was from an existing ABS problem?
Neither should "kill" the battery |
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| N_Jay |
quote:
Originally posted by ellymiss
It's in Newark.
It had 42000 miles when I bought it and 62000 now.
I could see smoke coming from the rear tire area in my side mirror. From my understanding, the caliper seizing up does something to the ABS, which can short out the battery?
I had asked about it being an ABS problem the first time around because really what was most noticeable is when I touched the brakes between 50-60mph...it was like something would catch or grab and the car would jerk forward. But it only did it in that speed range.
Something seem strange.
Did you have any warning lights when you noticed the smoke?
If not, I would ask them to explain EXACTLY what they thought happened.
If the caliper stuck, the ABS would still do nothing until you caused another wheel to lock up.
If the ABS stuck on, it could cause the calipers to overheat, leak and smoke, but that should put on the ABS light, and should not pull so much current as to kill the battery.
Something just does not seem to make sense.
I don't know much about Martin Honda, but do trust Union Park Honda in Wilmington. |
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| ellymiss |
Something is VERY odd for sure!
The only warning light that came on at 1st was the battery light. Then once I pulled over and restarted the car, the ABS light came on.
The managers all seem to agree. Something is weird...2 calipers like this just doesn't happen.
It's still up in DE and they are working on diagnosing the exact problem right now. I'm hoping to have some answers soon.
I also went ahead and called Corporate so we'll see what happens!
Something seem strange.
Did you have any warning lights when you noticed the smoke?
If not, I would ask them to explain EXACTLY what they thought happened.
If the caliper stuck, the ABS would still do nothing until you caused another wheel to lock up.
If the ABS stuck on, it could cause the calipers to overheat, leak and smoke, but that should put on the ABS light, and should not pull so much current as to kill the battery.
Something just does not seem to make sense.
I don't know much about Martin Honda, but do trust Union Park Honda in |
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| ellymiss |
UPDATE:
Turns out wasn't the caliper...ths smoke was coming from under the car and out the back...
The following needs to be replaced:
A/C Compressor, belt, reciever filter, 2 gaskets, a hose leaking coolant, and struts.
ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!?!??!!
Of course nothing is under warranty and they are telling me 1500 JUST FOR THE COMPRESSOR...not including the struts!
I drove to the dealership where I bought they car and they just shrugged their shoulders and said "sorry, nothing we can do"
Needless to say I have opened a complaint with American Honda and will continue to fight them! This is ridiculous!
All of that, plus a caliper and brakes within 18 months!!!!! |
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| sblvro |
| usually if you buy certified they give you the 100,000 mile warranty unless you waived to pay for it. anytime you buy used it is good insurance to buy the "certified=warranty." |
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| marcucci |
Was there an actual problem with the AC? Meaning, did you have any symptoms?
With regards to your comment on the "inspection", generally it is just a quick check of things and does not include any serious teardown of components. There could very well have been a building problem that reared it's head after you took ownership.
When it comes to brakes, there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that a brake failure should be able to do to damage a battery. Worst case if the ABS pump locked on it could drain the battery but recharging it could fix it. It may be that the battery is old, weak, and needs to be replaced, but should otherwise not be related to the failure.
If a caliper siezes or leaks it could potentially take out the ABS wheel sensor or wiring on that wheel due to heat, fluid spray, etc.
Post back on the AC. I noticed my 2003 that I just bought w/67k miles on it was low on refrigerant and I had to add some. I was surprised but it is not completely unhead of for a vehicle with this age/miles. It could be that your AC was improperly serviced, but your parts list doesn't say much about the failiure.
I'd also challenge everything for an explanation, I've seen LOTS of dealers turn a broken AC/alternator belt or low refrigerant situation into a "you need a new compressor, drier, etc., etc.". Some of these guys are just ruthless. It could be that you need it or it could be that they know people don't want to be without AC or risk having it not done right the first time.
On the struts, how many miles do you have? Unless they could show you a clear leak or you can tell the car bounces on the road or has handling issues... this is a common "adder" that dealers like to throw in to make a few bucks. |
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| ellymiss |
Still no word from Honda yet...
As far as the AC goes...I felt that the past couple of weeks that it wasn't as cold as it had normally been. It was working and I DEFINITELY had ac...just thought it was hot out or that I might need to get more coolant. Never thought it was a bigger problem.
Tell me this...what EXACTLY can cause the ac compressor to seize up...the belt being bad? The lack of coolant? I spoke with another mechanic that said they may not have to replace the entire compressor but without looking it, he couldn't say.
I'm not as concerned about the struts yet. I just need to get this sucker running again. I've been calling around to other local mechanics in Newark, DE to get some prices...they are on average a few hundred dollars cheaper, but without going there I don't know if they are reputable....any good recommendations???? |
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| marcucci |
quote:
Originally posted by ellymiss
Tell me this...what EXACTLY can cause the ac compressor to seize up...the belt being bad?
No. A bad belt will just cause the AC to not work at all (could cause you to lose the power steering belt because they are in close proximity) but replacing the belt would be a simple fix.
quote:
The lack of coolant?
No. The system is designed with a dual-pressure switch to protect against too little or too much refrigerant (FYI, AC refigerant = R134, sometimes called "freon" is NOT the same as engine coolant). The way the system is designed it is really impossible for low refrigerant to kill the compressor.
There is a case, though, where someone could have serviced the system improperly by opening it up to the atmosphere and not vacuuming it down afterwards, or introducing moisture to the system, and that causing the problem. If the system was not working well when you first bought the car and someone had previously tried to fix a leak (poorly), they could have introduced contaminants that killed the compressor over time. It's plausible but if you've had the car 2 years like you say and the dealer always did the work it is really not probable at all that someone screwed up the system. And if they did, it's the dealer's fault.
It's rare for a Honda AC compressor to fail from old age if it was not improperly serviced, or just leaked refrigerant.
quote:
I'm not as concerned about the struts yet. I just need to get this sucker running again. I've been calling around to other local mechanics in Newark, DE to get some prices...they are on average a few hundred dollars cheaper, but without going there I don't know if they are reputable....any good recommendations????
No suggestions there but I would ask to see the damage to the AC system. If it leaked as violently as you say (you could see smoke in the mirror!) there should be a visibly leaky hose and AC refigerant oil all under the hood or the car near where the leak was. If a line blew the system should have shut itself down immediately and the compressor should still be OK. You would need the line, a drier/filter/accumulator assy, and system service (vacuum & recharge). There should be nothing else. My guess is that the compressor is an add-on they want to make some money off you on. I would press them on why they think the compressor is bad and why they want to replace it.
I don't have my shop manual yet (just picked up my car last week) but perhaps someone else can scan the pages on the AC system regarding the dual-mode switch for you that show how the system will protect itself. |
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| tangotango99 |
| AC systems in a vehicle I believe are equipped with a device called low pressure cutoff, it disengage the clutch(turn off) on the compressor when ac system is low on refrigerant. |
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