Honda 3.5 V-6 transmissions, which were the bad years?

Contemplating a fleet addition of either a Ridgeline, Pilot, or Odyssey. What were the bad years for their transmissions or which years were better?

The bad years were the ones with no transaxle oil changes.

IIRC after 2005 things improved.

I worked with a former Honda tech, and he recommended changing the trans fluid in the auto trans at every oil change for every single Honda auto trans. He didn't have a lot of confidence in them regardless of the year unless this had been done.

I'm thinking that Honda tech was overshootImg the mark. Unless he's advocating for 30k mile oil changes.

After about 2003 things were improved. However, I think the "bad autos" are overblown on the internet and a few jaded Honda techs.

Are the automatic's all the same in the Ridgeline, Pilot and Odyssey's with the 3.5?

I have an '03 Odyssey with about 260k kms (160k miles). It's on the original transmission and just got its first transmission fluid change this past summer. It seems to be just fine. I also suspect the internet has blown this out of proportion a bit.

I have had a couple of Odyssey's with the dreaded TCS light and weird acting transmission. Unknown service Hx before I owned them, but not typically Honda reliability by any stretch. Would love to have a Pilot or Ridgleline for light towing duties, but if it indeed is them same trans as the Odyssey, I think I will pass.

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My understanding id that 06 is the first good year. FWIW, everyone I've known with a v6 Honda had their trans go.

99-04s are generally regarded as the worst in Odysseys. '05 and '06 are a little bit better, and then in '07 the Odyssey had the same transmission as the Ridgeline. I'm not sure if the Ridgeline always had that transmission, and have no idea about the Pilots.

We have an '05 Odyssey, and I do a 3X drain/fill about every 30K with Honda's ATF. Ours seems to shift fine with 127k on it. One other note is that the motor mounts are pretty weak on these.

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Didn't know if there was a year cut off or not. My folks have a 2007 Odyssey never had a problem with trans. I know Ridgeline's came out in 2006 not sure about Pilot's 2003 or 2004 I think. Pilots re considerably cheaper, so leaning that way. Just need to confirm if trans are the same or not.. Any thoughts on a website that would give good info?

Billy_Bottle_Caps wrote: Are the automatic's all the same in the Ridgeline, Pilot and Odyssey's with the 3.5?

The Ridgeline, Pilot, and Odyssey are the same vehicle, just different looks.

At least, I've done transmissions in all of them and they all looked the same to me...

The main problem IMO is the torque converter is TINY. It has diameter but it is maybe three inches thick.