Honda Odyssey Care and Maintenance

dtran67 · June 2011

Did you figure out the problems with the misfire. I have a 2000 Odyssey. I was a great van until the misfire.

ben70 · June 2011

No problems until dealer performed the recall. None. After the recall was performed all the brake fluid leaked out. After stopping the leak and bleeding the pedal is soft. Honda service really screwed up our Odyssey and now they tell me that the soft pedal is normal. We have to pump the brakes to stop. Have an appointment with a local independent garage to have the repairs done at my own expense; whatever it costs I'll pay. I can't put my family at jeopardy. After this fiasco I won't be using Honda's incompetent service department in the future.

momwithkids · July 2011

Hi, I have a 2009 EX-L, and drive it in town mostly. My freeway driving is limited to flat roads in SoCal. I know the Ody is a heavy vehicle, but I was very surprised to find that my 2 year old vehicle needed the rotors resurfaced and front brakes pads replaced at 32K. The problem I'd been experiencing was that it shuddered violently when I braked on the freeway. The tech told me that this was a "normal" complaint (!) and just meant I needed to have my rotors resurfaced and brake pads replaced. He told me I was lucky that my car had lasted so long (!) . He said brake pads get replaced and rotors resurfaced on a "normal" ODY anywhere from 12K to 20K - this is not a warranty covered action.

I told him that my old Sienna went much longer and he said it was likely that was true, because the ODY is a "very heavy car yet people drive it for everyday" (DUH)

I'm wondering what other people's experience has been? I'm considering trading in the car, because it seems ridiculous and somewhat dangerous to own. Does anybody own the 2010 or 2011 ODY and have these problems? Is it an overall Honda problem? The tech seemed to suggest it was, even pulling up his own Pilot records to show me that he had his brake pads replaced at 20K.

hondaoddity · July 2011

My wife has the 2006 model, and yes we have had to do the same thing. New rotors and brakes due to violent vibration when braking at highway speeds. We might have gotten to 25 or 30 k miles before we had to do it.

In addition, we have found out that because we did not have the work done at a Honda dealer, there may be a problem with the master cylinder. There is a campaign to have the master cylinder replaced.

I think the weight issue is bogus. I honestly think it is a design defect of some kind. Either the rotors aren't large enough, or a problem with the anti-lock braking system. The rotors are warping, and this just should not happen with regular driving.

azkid2 · July 2011

I do very little stop and go driving with my 2008 EX_L. I had the front brake rotors turned and new pads at 75k miles. The pads were still 40% good, but changed anyway.

Click and Clack the Tappett Brothers on NPR say easy starts and gentle stops save a lot of wear and tear on vehicles. Try to drive as "far ahead" as possible and slow down and try to coast to a stop when practical. Everyone drives differently and "YMMV".

svemuri · August 2011

Hi,

I have 2007 Honda Odyssey EX-L with 45000 miles. Currently, it is showing maintenance minder A1, which amounts to Oil Change.

My question is

Should I get complete 45000 service, which is about 200$, which includes oil change, transmission fluid change and other checks/refills.

or

Get the oil changed now and respond to next service minder when it shows up ?

Thanks,
Sudhakar

hondaoddity · August 2011

If you haven't had the trans fluid done yet, I would do it if it is part of the 45,000 mile service. I try to do them every 25,000. (I also have that done at the dealer. If something goes wrong, it's on them to make it right.) It's far cheaper than $2000+ for a new transmission.

I really don't like this "guessing game" maintenance stuff. I'm too old school. Tell me what mileage it needs to be done on and I will take care of it.

svemuri · August 2011

I changed transmission fluids at 30,000 miles. A non-dealer shop that specializes only in Honda/Acura (Honda Acura Connection, San Jose, CA), say that I can wait for 60,000 for next change.

But, the dealer shop always push me to change the transmission saying it is dirty/discolored.

Sudhakar

mthi · October 2011

Have '03 Odyssey with the remote horn signal not working. I saw 2 owners with this issue but can not find any answers to correct this problem. Anyone have and answer?

jtschira · February 2012

Had the same difficulty and suspected a 3rd screw. Thanks to this post I knew what was going on. I used a length of thin nylon webbing from a tie-down strap to get a hold of the forward edge of the lens housing without chipping the paint. Just push the webbing into the thin gap along the forward edge / corner of the lens and you have a good way to pull right near the stubborn fastener.

nit2 · March 2012

I have 67k miles on my 2003 Odyssey. About 2 months back I noticed that at 55 - 60 mph, my Odyssey started to show a distinct jiggle in the ride. Not noticeable it at lower speeds. So I had all 4 wheels aligned. The garage told me that the alignment was really off. When they did the alignment, they rotated the 4 tires - front-to-back. All seemed good.
Ten days later, I noticed that at 55 mph, the steering wheel exhibited a different type of jiggle and I realized that my left rear tire was missing the weight that would be there to balance the tire. So I had all 4 wheels re-balanced and test-drove the car on the highway at 55 - 60 mph and all seemed good.
Less than a week later, I noticed that when I start from a zero, there is a slow jiggle (shimmy?) coming from the steering wheel. At 55mph the jiggle is very noticeable and I get a sound that coincides with the jiggle and appears to be coming from somewhere beneath the car - not the smooth sound I used to hear when all was well. I also notice that to drive straight ahead, the I need to keep the steering wheel turned about 5 or 8 degrees turned to the left.
Has anyone come across this? Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.

hondaoddity · March 2012

It is possible your alignment was not done 100% correctly. All steering boxes have sweet spot that is "straight". Typically it is when the center of the steering wheel is "level". It sound like your steering wheel might have been turned when they did your alignment. The wheels might be set correctly, but if the wheel was turned when it was done, then the vehicle is going to want to travel (drift) either left or right depending on how the wheel was turned during the alignment. If you are finding yourself fighting the steering wheel to keep the car going straight, that is the problem.

The shop should have a tool that rests on the driver's seat and pins the steering wheel to keep it where you want it.

Another possibility, though unlikely, is the cotter pin was removed (broken) from the spindle/disc nut and the disc and wheel are working their way off the spindle. I did have this happen once when I had my discs replaced. The idiot mechanic never put a cotter pin through the nut and spindle and my wheel and disc were literally bouncing around back and forth on the spindle. Fought to have them pull the wheel and still never got an apology for the dangerous situation they put my family in. And, no, I did not go back.

Either way, something is definitely not right with your front end.

Good luck

nit2 · March 2012

hondaoddity, many thanks for the reply. Very helpful!

harpua2626 · March 2012

I ended up with an ugly, deep gash on my glove box and decided to replace it. The glove box itself only took a few minutes to replace but I need get the lock cylinder out of the old glove box and into the new one.

I don't see any retainer to release when I peek under the latch and am at a loss.

Can anyone help?

Thanks!

Honda Odyssey Care and Maintenance

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