Honda Odyssey: Problems & Solutions:(1995-2004 Models)

gleamc

It's been a long time since I was last here so I may have missed this topic......

I have a 2000 EX with 50,000 miles and no major problems, but...

Has anyone replaced the light for the clock?
The dealer wants $40.00 says the dashboard has to come out.

Can I replace the light without special tools?
Should I even try?
Help

gleamc

I have a 2000 EX and I Pick up and drop off people all the time. It was a pain to always remember to put the van in park, so I made a simple change that lets you open the power doors only when the van is not moving, but can still be in gear.

If anyone is interested in how that is done let me know.

stever

Check out this post (and the one following):

pmarvin Oct 31, 2001 7:27am

Steve, Host

mliong

Did the doors ever open on you guys when your were out of the Parking gear?

Check your junction boxes to make sure that the contacts are all clean, as well as check to make sure the sliding door open/close sensors are working properly.

The sliding doors should never open when in any other mode but Park.

mschafer

I've replaced it in my 99 EX. Cost was about $2 or $3 for the tinesy little bulb. It is a bit of a pain to remove parts of (not the entire) dash, but with a little patience it's not a problem. It does help to have access to the shop manual which shows you step by step. They could have designed access to change this bulb a little better than they did.

spangler1

In response to #2404 of 2416 2003 Power Sliding Door Automatically Opens.

I have had the same problem on my 2000 ODY ever since delivery. It is always the passenger side. The driver's side door has never malfunctioned. It has opened (sometimes fully and sometimes partially) while parked in the garage; is several different states; and, once when the vehicle was in motion. It has even opened with the doors locked and once when the internal power switch on the dash was off. Also it has opened when the batteries were out of the remote controllers. Several of the door malfunctions seem to occur after the vehicle has been exposed to vibration or shock such as driving on a gravel road or hitting a pot hole but I have not had a problem to occur during exposure. My local dealer has been very cooperative and tried several times (at least 15) to fix the problem to no avail. Honda Tech Line has been no help. We had the local district field engineer look at the problem but he could not find the cause since the problem occurs so intermittently. Honda extended the warranty on the doors. I called Honda's 800 number about 3 weeks ago (for the second time) and talked with a "Case Worker". She essentially said that unless the customer can demonstrate an intermittent problem actually occurring and witnessed by a Honda Tech, she does not consider it a problem. With that comment I said " Honda must either fix the problem in a reasonable time or replace the vehicle". Guess she got the message and got Honda engineering involved again. They recommend replacing the "Multiplexer" which they will do next week. They also inferred that this is not the only vehicle having the problem. I contend that Honda has an electronic problem with the control of the passenger side sliding door. My suggestion is to keep after them until it is fixed. I have posted several accounts of the problem going back almost 2 years.

Incidentally I have had a couple of other recent malfunctions which may be related. Once during the night the horn started blowing and the lights flashing. Another time the door only opened about half way when actuated from the external door handle. this latter incident was followed by the doors refusing to lock from the remote control. after setting for a while the locks worked OK.

golic

We had a 2000 EX, our problem is we would close the doors, when you pulled into drive the alarm sounded as if the door was open.

Even though all doors were closed, locked, and the indicator lights were off.This seemed to happen most often in cold weather.

We spend about 6 times at the dealer to fix. Our only solution was to try opening/closing, rebooting (restarting the car) or turn the power doors off to just turn off the alarm. Very intermitant propblem.

Problem is gone now, we just picked up our '03 Ody, I hope.

pat84

I have had an experience where I locked my Odyssey with the remote and set of the panic alarm on a nearby Accord. I could turn the Accord panic alarm on and off each time I hit the Odyssey lock button. My point is that there may be an over lap of your Odyssey door switch with another Honda vehicle. It would sure explain some forms of intermitant.

spangler1

In response to #2407 Passenger side door... by phil47

I went through the discussion of size of the passenger side sliding door control button on the remote controller with Honda. The door lock button is about, if not, the same size as the passenger side door control button. In my case I have never had the vehicle to lock itself for no known reason. But I have had the door open many times. Statistically one would expect the door to lock itself as many times as it opens itself if the button size were the problem. The Honda field engineer agreed with my argument but replaced the remote controllers twice to see if the controllers were the problem. Even had me remove the batteries from both controllers. Still the door opened intermittently. So in my mind, the evidence doesn't point to a controller or a controller button size problem.

phil47

I was only referring to my situation.

It usually involved the passenger side door and I could almost always attribute it to the remote. Either it was in my pocket, in my wife's purse while getting banged around, in my hands while I was also holding something else (groceries, etc.), or one of my kids had been playing with it. As to why not the Lock button...For one, I probably wouldn't have noticed it as a problem (not like an open door!). Also, I just bunched up my keys on my key chain (includes around 6 keys and 2 remote openers) and noticed that the Passenger door unlock button seems far more susceptible to being bumped by the head end of one of the other keys or remotes. That solves my mystery...I guess it doesn't help yours.

mliong

Honda recommends that you do not place any other set of keys with your Ody keys. This was stated in the manual - something to do with the immobilizer chip in the keys getting scrambled, or some sort.

Spangler - you've got a lot more patience than I do. If my power doors suddenly openned in drive mode more than once I'd be suing Honda. A lot of people here paid a big premium for their Odys so that they can haul their kids around in relative safety.

Having it open my kids in the back (even with their belts on) is not something anyone should tolerate, IMHO.

phil47

"Honda recommends that you do not place any other set of keys with your Ody keys. This was stated in the manual - something to do with the immobilizer chip in the keys getting scrambled, or some sort."

Yeah...I read that. They said it might cause problems when starting the van as the computer wouldn't recognize the key/chip. I've never had a problem in 2.5 years, so I'm not worried about it. I have enough trouble keeping track of one set of keys let alone multiple sets!

mliong

I just keep them in separate pockets! Hehehe!!!

mghoreth

I don't want to be too pessimistic, but I also did the fluid flush and changed the linear solenoid (Honda paid for the parts, $150 labor out of my pocket). I also thought that this had fixed the problem..... that is until about 5K miles later.
I now have a new transmission that Honda put in (parts, labor & rental included).

PLEASE NOTE!!!! ANY TRANSMISSION RELATED PROBLEMS SHOULD BE REPORTED TO HONDA AMERICA, BEFORE YOU SPEND ONE PENNY OUT OF YOUR POCKET.

I have found that if you've done the scheduled maintenance as mandated, they have worked with me very well. Or, maybe it's because I've owned Honda's for 22 years????

kwh2

I got more information about the noise with my 2003 EX(see mesg#2394).
1. Noise only occurs when I drive 50-70mph.
2. when the car is in nuetral, there is no noise.
3. In early morning or late night, there is no noise: I guess it is weather temperature related.
4. Noise is periodic: doesn't sound like wind noise.
5. Noise sounds like from the spot close to where the left small speaker(the one under the front winshield).
Anybody has any suggestion? Thanks.

fibber2

I haven't posted in a while, so fighting to catch up.

I believe (in my case) that I am accidently hitting the key fob buttons. They are too easily actuated. I had a Windstar with dual power doors before this van ('02 Ody EX). Ford had a more intelligent remote - it required a 'mouse like' double click to transmit. We never had an unintended action.

On the noise front, the doors began driving me crazy about 6 months after delivery. I took some Maguires (sp?) (like Armor All) to all of the rubber seals and gaskets. It made an amazing difference. I now do it every couple of weeks to keep them quiet. If I let them dry out, the noise and rattles return.

Steve

golic

Last night, I was working in garage with key fob in my pocket...must have opened doors on my 2003 Ody three times.

I had to take keys out, perhaps its time to get a bigger pair of jeans and retire the 1980's circa.

fibber2

I get a loud clunk on the first forward stop after backing up ('02 EX with rear disks). I reported to the dealer that it sounded to me like there was excessive free play between the caliper and carrier.

They called it normal - built in free play between pads & caliper, caliper & carrier, to prevent siezing. Never heard this much noise on any disk assembly before. Ignore it???

Steve

jdbacz

I know there a lot of messages posted about the sticky doors. Our 2000 LX has intermittent problems with this. Right now both doors are almost impossible to open. As a result, the 2nd door handle has broken. We really don't want to spend another $350 to have Honda fix this. Has anybody tried to fix a broken door handle themselves? What kind of a job would this be? Is there a way to get Honda to pay for this, since it appears to be such a prevalent problem? Thanks!

mliong

I think you are experiencing wind noise - I have this intermittent problem on the left side of the car when I drive over 70MPH in an area with a strong cross-wind.

It hasn't happened to me recently (though I bet it will now!), and the Honda techs have never pinned it down.

bigjim01

My passengers insist on trying to open my doors before I unlock them. Someone broke my right side manual sliders opener. Honda wanted $350. Out of warranty so I found a local garage specializing in Honda. He bought the part ( the entire opening mechanism) from Honda for $82 and installed it for me for total cost of $175. I didn't look over his shoulder but it took him less than an hour to do the whole job. He had the side panel off in five minutes. There is a thread over at Odyclub forum about removing the panels. I really think you could do it yourself if you research it a bit. The whole assembly is held in with two or three bolts. My guy forgot to reconnect the wiring harness when he was done. I had to go back and he unfastened the lower front corner of the panel and slipped his hand up inside and connected it that way. Works fine.

nuwiseguy

I've noticed that whenever I get near empty on my fuel gauge, and then fill it up, it never comes close to the supposed 20 gal tank limit. Usually comes in around 12 or 13 gal. All the spec's I can find for the 2003 Odyssey states it has a 20 gal tank... so I'm trying to figure out why mine appears to be much smaller. Anyone have any ideas? Any way I can verify the size of the tank?

thanks in advance!

desertkev

I am very concerned about the sliding doors sticking on the manual (and power door problems as well - although not an issue for me personally). The manual doors on both sides have gotten stuck. Did like others have said - got it lubed and now OK. But my concern is that my wife drives the van daily with our 1 yr old in the back. If there was an emergency and the door sticks again, how do I know my child will be accessible?? I did file a complain at nhtsa.gov. I urge EVERYONE who has had a problem like this to do the same...this should be recalled...what if you can't get to your child in an emergency?? It scares the hell out of me just thinking about it. Go to http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/oscripts/IVOQ/VOQ/voq1.cfm You can submit a complaint there. By the way, if there is a permanent fix to this problem, I would like to know. Thanks.

cindil

I was in a 2001 EX Ody with 19,xxx miles on it the other day and noticed a gas smell. The owner was telling me that she had noticed it before, however her husband said not to worry about it. He works in the automobile business. Is this something that she should be worried about? Has anyone else experienced this?

Also, nuwiseguy, there have been previous posts regarding fuel capacity.

hayneldan

Gas smell can be caused by topping off the gas tank. The gas can get into the canister under the hood and cause the smell until the tank gets lower.Its in the owners manual on most cars. Gas fillup problem, minivans have large shallow gas tanks making the gauge read empty because the float has such a short travel from full to empty.

auburn63

there are new seals available for some models and for the others slip tape can be used but not necessary as the lube works well and for some time. If they do get stuck on you however you can pull out on the upper part of the door at the very top as you pull the release handle and this will allow the door to un-stick..

stever

Dchopp, you have mail. Please fix your profile. And don't skip the caffeine in the morning any more!

Steve, Host

tmorris

I saw something on this, but could not find a resolution.
I have a 2000 Ody EX, problem has occurred twice in two weeks. First time: My wife left the doors open and the key in the ignition while she was cleaning out the van. The door agar dinging turned into a clicking noise that she described as sounding like a clock/time bomb. The van would not start after this. She got absolutely NO response when the key was turned. Called AAA and they jump started the van, check out the battery, etc. Said they didn't see what the problem was. Called the dealer, who had no idea what the problem was. Van continued to run fine, until yesterday. Same problem. AAA came, jump started the van, could not find anything wrong. I saw that a few others had a similar problem back in 2001. Any ideas? Has anyone else run into this problem (and can keep me out of a few wild goose chases ;-) Thanks.

pat84

Sounds to me like your battery was almost totally discharged. You may want to have it checked. If you only drive short distances, it may not get fully re charged after a jump start. You might want to make sure you have your radio code handy.

sz1

Any 2002 Ody owners have problems with their transmissions. I called Honda Customer service when I saw the LA times Article and they told me they spoke with Mike Spencer and his comment about 2002 ody tranny problems and he denied that he said it.

I wanted to see if anyone has had a tranny problem on a 2002.

Steven

stever

Well, that could be true. The stories on the net indicate that he was quoted as saying it was 2000-2001 Odysseys that were affected. link

Steve, Host

pat84

Oh my yes ! The news media is known for its attention to detail and absolute honesty.

stever

lol, and manufacturers never obfuscate.

Steve, Host

mliong

Where... ironically, I learned the word obfuscate!

lisahhh

This morning my "Check Engine Light" (well, I think that's what it is - next to the Maintenance Required light) came on on my 2000 ODY. I have about 70K miles. The van runs fine. I just did a search on the internet and read all kinds of complaints from Honda owners about this light (aka the "idiot light") coming on and the various reasons given by Honda dealers as to what the problem is. (Emissions valve, oxygen sensor, nothing at all, just take out the fuse, etc.)

Anyone here experience this check engine light and what was the problem?

Thanks in advance.

stever

Many auto parts stores now advertise a free check of the codes triggered by the check engine light coming on. Auto Zone is one. That could narrow it down a lot and more cheaply than going to the dealer (initially anyway).

Steve, Host

richcolo

The parts store idea is not a bad one. I just picked my van back up Monday...it had been in for a Check Engine light for two weeks. Mine is a 99 with just under 65,000 miles. The problem was determined to be a bad Catalytic Converter, which is covered to 80,000 miles under the emissions warranty. Honda considered the van to be drivable, so they did not offer a loaner. In Colorado however it is illegal to operate upon the highways a vehicle which you know to have a disabled or defective emissions control device...so we left it there while Honda took its sweet time shipping the part. ("It should be here tomorrow, or maybe the next day...I'll call you.")

If you're going to own a Honda it is helpful to have a spare vehicle. While they may have better than average reliability, when something does go wrong the service (From HONDA...don't blame the dealer when they can't get parts or when HONDA's Tech line won't admit the problem is occurring) is astonishingly poor. This is the third time my van has sat for more than 10 days waiting for parts. I will admit that on one of the previous occasions a rental car (Chevy Malibu) was paid for by Honda. The other time I declined the offered Subaru Imprezza and did without a loaner.

This time broke the camel's back. No matter what happens to this Odyssey, the replacement will not be another Honda of any description. I guess I'm weird but I've had very good luck with Domestic vehicles (except for my first and last Grand Caravan). With that one exception they've all either been perfectly reliable or have spent a total of less than a week in the shop the entire time I've owned them, and I've put nearly 200,000 miles on most of them.

rockycow

Which dealership do you use?

mliong

Does anyone sell one? And how much? It's a pity you can't just hook a darned laptop with an off-the shelf diagnostic software to see what's giving your car grief.

mschafer

I can get them just fine with my laptop and diagnstics software.

bgv99

My 2000 Odyssey developed a major problem- I am told that there was "a material failure" in one engine head, causing the camshaft to seize, timing belt to break and damage to another head and a couple of valves. All this apparently happened while the vehicle was parked (fortunately!), at 39k miles in a well maintained van. I can't claim to understand the technical details of this, but wonder if anyone has had a similar experience? And what's the prognosis once it's fixed? Thanks!

mliong

Where can one purchase the software? And what is the interface needed to connect to the computer?

Thanks!

mschafer

http://www.obd2.com/index.html

vandalay

We just purchased a 2003 EX-L. Love the van so far, but already experiencing some side door problems. I have noticed some damage to the interior door trim (gray trim with our grey interior) due to the side door being closed. I am assuming the door is misaligned. Also, a very annoying rattle has started and it sounds like it too is coming from that same door.

Anyone have any ideas? I will of course be taking it back to the dealer, but I would like to sound somewhat educated to them before they tell me that it's "normal".

Thanks

mliong

Thanks!

artgpo

This is no knock on the Odyssey but it seems to me that it has its fair share of problems. Since it is the darling of the automotive press the defects seem amplified. I really believe that most of the current batch of minis are just about equal. When shopping last month we drove the Odyssey, T&C, Windstar, Montana and Silhouette. My wife rode in the middle or back rows while I drove. We bought the Silhouette GLS because the price and financing were right. This is our fifth mini since 1983 and I am hoping it is the best.

jdbacz

Hubby is going to try to fix our 2nd sliding door handle that is broken, as opposed to paying Honda another $350!!!! Does anybody have instructions on removing the door panel? (This is a 2000 LX). Thanks!

mschafer

Auburn, Getting my 1999 Ody EX ready to sell. Today I all of a sudden and out of the blue got the TCS and ABS lights. After driving it for a couple of blocks, the Brake light came on, and all three remain on.

OBDII gives a DTC of P1676 in the OE Module, which is proprietary to Honda and not translatable by my generic scanner. Can you translate?

TIA!

robr2

...you didn't specifically say so, but did you buy another Ody? I mean, you only got 165K out of your current one. Are you sure that's a good idea? LOL

BTW - how did you put on all those miles so fast?

mschafer

It's only 151,600 miles right now, and getting it ready to sell. This ABS, TCS, Brake light phenomenon is totally new.

Yes, I just took delivery of a 2003 EX-L. Got it in Dallas, but saved enough over the Atlanta dealers to pay my plane ticket, my gas back home and still lots to spare.