Honda H6 (6-speed)

Honda's six-speed automatic — in the Pilot and Ridgeline.

Honda's automatics are unusual and this one is no exception: they use parallel-shaft gearsets rather than the planetary arrangement almost every other automatic in this catalogue uses. That is why Honda transmissions have their own repair procedures, their own failure modes, and their own fluid — and why advice written about automatics in general applies less here than anywhere else on this site.

Honda ATF is not a substitute-able fluid. Using a generic ATF produces a shudder on the torque converter's lock-up clutch within a short distance, and it is the single commonest self-inflicted fault on a Honda automatic.

Its recurring complaint is exactly that shudder — a fine vibration at light throttle at a steady speed — and on this transmission it is a fluid-condition symptom first and a mechanical one second. A drain and refill, repeated, is the standard first remedy rather than a flush.

It is not the nine-speed ZF fitted to the Pilot and Ridgeline's later and higher trims; the two appear in the same models in the same years and share nothing.