Quote:
Originally Posted by harvest
I’d love to hear how it drives compared to not towing. We have a new AWD Pilot with tow package towing a 17B. It seemed good but was regularly having a hesitating or slight jerking kind of feel while driving 55 and also 45 through a town. It was subtle and we’ve never towed before today but I could feel it as a passenger. My husband said he didn’t really notice it.
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It's going to shift harder and more often towing, but ours has the 6-speed trans and yours probably has the 9 and I have no experience with that trans. The engine will often run at higher RPM's than you are used to not towing. Braking distances are longer and can be more uneven depending on how the trailer brake controller is adjusted. It takes some time and experimentation to get the right setting.
I was experiencing a lot of hesitation both towing and not towing in the last few months until we got a problem fixed. There was a recent service bulletin that addressed hesitation and a potential Check Engine light. The fuel injectors and fuel rail were replaced at 75,000 miles. The transmission fluid was changed and the transmission (6 speed) was reprogrammed with new shift parameters. I doubt this is what you are experiencing since yours is new(?). I would still talk to a dealer about it. The bulletin work was free ( 4 1/2 hours of labor I think, and expensive parts).
Hesitation is gone now and fuel mileage increased noticeably.
Other than that unlikely scenario, you likely have the 9-speed transmission and at those relatively low speeds it's probably shifting regularly, which may be what you are feeling. Shifts are definitely more noticeable when towing.
One last recommendation: Don't drive in Eco mode -- ever. Make sure the green leaf thing is not on. That's going to make it worse and makes very little difference in actual fuel economy.
It's a decent, comfortable, inexpensive to maintain vehicle that my wife loves, but I feel like Honda transmissions are still garbage after the well known problems in the early 2000's, and I'm not sure I would ever get another one because of that. They are like gold on the used market though because of the perceived reliability that Honda has, so when we do want to trade out it will be easy.