Topic: Looking at a Honda Ridgeline

[johngenx]

As an aside, there is one mod that all MDX/Pilot/Ridgeline owners should be doing.  As the rad ages, the barrier between the engine coolant and the trans fluid can fail, causing the transmission to be flooded with engine coolant, destroying the transmission.

A simple and cheap fix is to install an aftermarket trans cooler.  The OE cooler is then capped off, and if/when the OE rad goes south, the trans is isolated from the rad.

My poor Ridgeline owning neighbour found this out after his rad broke.

[airbalancer]

how are Toyota Tacos price out in Alberta ?

[johngenx]

how are Toyota Tacos price out in Alberta ?

The same as all Toyota products: ridiculously high.

[ktm525]

As an aside, there is one mod that all MDX/Pilot/Ridgeline owners should be doing.  As the rad ages, the barrier between the engine coolant and the trans fluid can fail, causing the transmission to be flooded with engine coolant, destroying the transmission.

A simple and cheap fix is to install an aftermarket trans cooler.  The OE cooler is then capped off, and if/when the OE rad goes south, the trans is isolated from the rad.

My poor Ridgeline owning neighbour found this out after his rad broke.

Sounds similar to the the failure prone Volvo sytem. Thanks for the heads up but I will likely ignore till I am out of warranty. As for the Tacoma I find them really lacking in interior quality etc. The doors etc feel light weight (ie cheap) etc. Actually it reminds me of my 88 Toyota 4*4..

[johngenx]

Sounds similar to the the failure prone Volvo sytem. Thanks for the heads up but I will likely ignore till I am out of warranty.

For most owners I know now, they do it the day after the warranty expires.  Nissan has this problem with 2007- Pathfinders as well.  I would be suspicious of any cooling system that piggy backs the trans cooler with the engine coolant rad.  This seems to be a flawed design for anyone that uses it.

[bridgecity]

Sounds similar to the the failure prone Volvo sytem. Thanks for the heads up but I will likely ignore till I am out of warranty.

For most owners I know now, they do it the day after the warranty expires.  Nissan has this problem with 2007- Pathfinders as well.  I would be suspicious of any cooling system that piggy backs the trans cooler with the engine coolant rad.  This seems to be a flawed design for anyone that uses it.

I thought most systems run this way.  There is a guy on hondapilot.org that has looked further into the failures on Pilots, and the vast majority of them are coming from 2005 Pilots in the northern states (where road salt is used).  They don't seem common, but are occurring.  Makes me think I should plug off the internal cooler as I already installed an external aftermarket cooler.

[ktm525]

After about 5 years perhaps it is a good idea to just replace the stock transmission cooler with another.

[johngenx]

I thought most systems run this way.  There is a guy on hondapilot.org that has looked further into the failures on Pilots, and the vast majority of them are coming from 2005 Pilots in the northern states (where road salt is used).

My neighbour's Ridgeline is a 2008, but over 100K, so out of warranty.  For the ~$200 cost, it seems cheap peace of mind to me.  His trans, rad and so on ran over $5K by the time it was finished...

[Fobroader]

how are Toyota Tacos price out in Alberta ?

It seems that the owners of these trucks think that they are made of solid gold and insulated with pure uncut cocaine, expensive as all hell. Like someone mentioned, the interior is very, very cheap and I found them very loud on the highway. Plus, the cab is quite small.