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

drew_ · January 2001

"I found the ride to be a bit more jostling than I would expect on a brand new car. Maybe I was expecting too much?"

Some vehicles have firm suspensions, regardless of whether they're brand new of a few years old. However, check the cold tire pressure of all four tires after your vehicle has been sitting overnight. If the pressure is higher than what is indicated in the owner's manual (under the normal load, cold tire pressure section), this could explain why the ride is firmer or busier than expected. The factory usually overinflates the tires so as to prevent flatspots while the vehicle is being transported. Dealers usually forget to deflate the tires to proper specs while delivering the vehicle to the customer.

Good luck!

drew_ · January 2001

I believe Phil just answered your questions above. Please let us know if that was the problem. :-)

Drew
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pymm · January 2001

I am driving a new LX 01 and love the van, but I too am experiencing a "sometimes" door rattle on the passenger side sliding door. The rattle mostly happens over uneven road or bumps. It's starting to drive me nuts. I took the car to the local dealer, and he didn't hear the rattle, of course, and acted as though it was all my imagination. I then examined both sliding door panels to find that the panels for the door that's rattling are a bit different from the one that doesn't rattle. Bear with my description here. I'm no mechanic. The panel that DOESN'T rattle has three "points" on it ("points" that push in easily with your finger), and the panel that DOES rattle has only two. Is this normal or some indication of the problem? I would appreciate help here. I have read other posts that suggest a service bulletin on sliding door gaskets. Is that my problem? How, in short, do I help direct the mechanic to the problem?

grplavloff · January 2001

"I was wondering how many of you have gotten brakes done and at what mileage.
Mine have been done three times already in less than 31,000 miles!
"

According to the results of Consumer Reports' customer surveys, brakes are one of the Odyssey's two biggest problem areas. The other is "hardware".

mschafer · January 2001

I have 80k miles on my 99EX. On principle, I replaced the front pads at 60k miles. FWIW, they didn't need it, and the rotors were *not* turned. I have not yet done anything to the rear brakes.

h20guy · January 2001

Ody 2000 lx one year old 8500 miles absolutely no problems as posted on this page. I think most owners with no problems don't post but that's just my 2 cents. I also get a kick out of watching the battles rage on over who's van is superior than the others. Keep it up its great sport!

mliong · January 2001

I took my 2000 in for that exact problem.

The dealer fixed it the second try by re-aligning it. They mentioned that all Odyssey's will drift to the right because the right side of the engine mount is heavier.

True? False?

After the re-alingment, it was the same as Phil47's.

dblarson1 · January 2001

I have a 99 LX that I bought at a local auto auction through a private dealer. Unbeknownst to both of us, it was a "gray market" Canadian Ody and thus the warranty in the US is void. I found this out the hard way when I tried to get my "groaning brakes" repaired under warranty at the local dealer and they wouldn't do it. Which is a bunch of hooey if you ask me, but that's another topic. Learned a lesson the hard way there, I guess.

Anyway, my problem now is the passenger side sliding door (manual, since it's an LX). The door can't be opened from the outside. Since I knew the dealer wouldn't fix it for free, I actually pulled the inside door panel off to see what the problem was, and there is a white plastic part with a lever arm that trips a linkage to the door latch when the outside handle is pulled. The lever arm has broken completely off. Is this a problem anyone else has had? The plastic part looked pretty wimpy for having to do a job thousands of times during its life.

I'm scared to death thinking what the dealer will want to charge to fix this, but I don't see any other options. Thoughts, anyone?

auburn63 · January 2001

Have you tried to call American Honda and tell them your story and see if they will give you some help? There customer service is usally very helpfull. That is assuming you have under 36,000 miles. Other than that since you have had the panel off and or still have it off, why not see how much the part is(like at the dealer and or online) and do it your self, they aren't that hard.The hardest part I would have to say is aligning the child lock arm but that even isn't all that bad. Good luck..

mclindakay · January 2001

Went in for my 15000 warranty maintenance checkup (actually have 16,500 miles). Indicated that the front brakes were down to less than 20%. Asked if covered under warranty - told oh no - that's just normal wear and tear due to city driving. Never had another vehicle that the brakes wore out at 16000 miles. Any one else had problems with the brakes or had any luck with having covered under the warranty.

mschafer · January 2001

See my earlier post (#356) about my experience with the brakes.

joed12 · January 2001

>Did you try out the other keys that you were given? It may be that the key or the engine >immobiliser is malfunctioning, hence the key is not being recognised and the vehicle is not
>allowed to start.
Don't think so....

We _also_ had the exact same thing happen....dead-dead...no turn, no warning lights. Tried the other keys. Tried jumping the batt from my truck. When the dealer's wrecker came, the guy tried jump w/ his portable charger...and it worked!~ Dealer said they thought it might have been a "intermittent" bad cell in the battery, though it load tested normal...yeah, right.

3 is a trend...

joed12 · January 2001

...is driving us nuts (when it makes that awful noise when the car is in gear and the power doors are still open)...anyone know how to disable it?

Also, I haven't looked closely yet, but my crossbars also make a lot of noise - any trick to taking them off (only need them for ski trips)? The dealer put them on and it looks like a gorilla w/ a screwdriver did it based on the marks all over the side bars.

app1nag · January 2001

...also post 354 deals with brake issues I have experienced...Neil

newodyowner · January 2001

I was wondering if anyone had an explanation for this. The last time I filled up, I reset my trip meter to see how many miles I would go before having to refill. I refilled after 211 miles (shortly after the gas indicator came on).

Since the tank is supposed to have a 20-gallon capacity, I divided 211 (the miles I drove) by 20, to get 10.55 miles per gallon. That's a heluva lot lower than the advertised 18 city/20 highway.

I wonder how much gas is supposed to be left in the tank when the gas indicator comes on? Maybe if I let it run dry, I would have got better results?

caviller · January 2001

We're getting 16-17 mpg now, in a mostly suburban commute. Winter conditions and reforulated gas probably affect it a lot where we live.

Our low fuel light comes on with 6-7 gallons left in the tank. The guage reads "E" with 4-5 gallons left.

dblarson1 · January 2001

I did call Honda Customer care right after my experience with the dealership, and they were marginally sympathetic to my situation and absolutely unwilling to do anything about it. I'll probably check online for parts, although I'm unsure about how easy it will be to find them.

gasguzz · January 2001

366. Your formula seems erroneous. You used up 211 miles but did you use 20 gals? How accurate are gas gauges/indicators (gas pumps and odometers are, by law at least)?
By rule of thumb... lock the pump nozzle and fill until it shuts off, record the mileage. Using as much gas as possible and at next fill (using the same pumping technique), note the fill volume. Then, divide the number of miles driven by the gas volume you just pumped in.
Does the pump fill the tank accurately to 20 gals? Not necessarily, your error margin is where the pump shuts off by backpressure - but still within 1 gal. Other variables - use the VERY SAME pump and use the first notch to lock the nozzle, and you may not normally get a proper mpg reading during break-in.
Good luck and let us know.

phil47 · January 2001

Get your last gas receipt and find out how much gas you filled, that quantity is how much you used to drive 211 miles. It assumes you always fill your tank to about the same level (usually pretty close). Don't use the tank capacity (or low fuel light or "E"). As Caviller mentioned, there is still plenty 'o gas left even then.

My 2001 EX is now getting around 13.7 L/100 KM (17 MPG) around town. Considering it's winter and it's really stop and go driving (and I only have 2500 miles on the van), I'm very happy with the mileage.

bikerguy · January 2001

Perhaps I could be of some assistance with your computation issue. Let's assume, from many prior postings, that your low gas warning light came on with 4 gallons left. So, you used 16 gallons to travel 211 miles. That works out to 13.2 mpg, still pretty low, but better than 10.55. Gas mileage should improve as the engine continues to break in.

dmathews3 · January 2001

I finally checked my around town mileage here in Michigan and got 15.7 with around 4300 miles on it. Not great but with below 0 weather etc. not bad.

mike734 · January 2001

Yes newodyowner your gas mileage seems low. You are lucky the van does not come with a 40 gal tank or your mileage would have been 5.28 mpg. Perhaps you could get an after market gas tank of much smaller capacity, say 7 gals. Then your mileage would be over 30 mpg!!!

Sorry, I could not resist.

krism1 · January 2001

We have not been able to decide between LX or EX. Are the power sliding doors prone to frequent malfunction? Are they easy to fix? Do the problems recur? Please give us your opinion. We like the EX features but don't want to deal with constant nuisance.

mschafer · January 2001

I have a 99EX with 80,000 miles on the "clock". Not the first problem with the doors. Not yet.

newodyowner · January 2001

First of all, thanks to the people who offered suggestions regarding calculation of the mileage - I guess my first attempt was a little simplistic and didn't really take the actual gallons I had in that tank to calculate the mileage. I'll try again and let you know.

Second, I'm a little confused about how and when TCS (traction control system) works. I know you can depress the button the dashboard to enable it, but it seems that every time I get a wheel spinning on snow or ice, the TCS light on dashboard comes on, whether or not the button is depressed. Does the TCS enable itself automatically when it senses wheel spin?

pat84 · January 2001

Interesting. I took my 99EX in for it's 30K mile service. The service manager told me my front brakes were down to the last 20%. I asked if there was a warning spring like device on the brake pad. (I had experienced this feature on a Dodge Caravan I once owned.) He said "yes ". That means if you hear an intermitant noise getting more regular as you use or let off the brakes (the noise sounded like a bad wheel bearing), get your brakes replaced. The sound starts before your rotors get scored.
Now I wonder what really is the status of the brakes. I do some stop and go driving commuting. I can't imagine brakes wearing out at 30K miles much less 15K miles.
I am waiting to hear brake noise. I always resist "problems" found during planned maintenance.

mike734 · January 2001

<<I know you can depress the button the dashboard to enable it>> NO. Pushing the button DISABLES TCS!
<<Does the TCS enable itself automatically when it senses wheel spin?>> YES, but only when the system is on. This is explained fairly well in the manual. It is a little counter intuitive so you have to read it a few times. Bottom line: Leave the button alone and TCS IS available.

tomgates · January 2001

If you see a light on the dash for TCS then it is DISABLED, if the light is off it is ENABLED, if your wheels spin the TCS light will come on letting you know it's working. So far this winter in Pittsburgh, PA I've had no trouble getting around.

It's been awhile since I've cruised the Town Hall section of Edmunds and it's good to see that the problems that people have had have pretty much remained the same. Nothing new and earth shattering.

I'm coming up on 1 year ownership of my '00 MB EX and still happy that I bought it. No problems with it at all.

dmathews3 · January 2001

Also remember it only works up to 18 miles per hour unlike most GM cars that work at any speed. The idea on slick roads with TCS is to take off slow to let it work if tire slips. Floor it and TCS will work but not do any good because power overides it and all you end up doing is wearing out the brakes. The reason the switch is there and as far as I know in all cars with TCS or whatever they call it is if you get stuck. When stuck you want to turn off the TCS or you will just burn up the brakes.

mschafer · January 2001

You also want to disable it if you have to run the baby spare on one of the front wheels.

pmsuite · January 2001

There is an explanation of why the service bulletins for Honda are not appearing at http://www.alldata.com.

It says that Alldata is negotiating with Honda to publish the data.

http://forums.legend.org/Forum1/HTML/000640.html

rictom · January 2001

I have a 2000lx with about 1700miles. Lately I've noticed a slight buzz noise when I'm stopped at a light. It sounds like it's coming from the dash or underneath area. I remember reading about the speedometer cable? making a noise?
When I take my foot off the brake the noise goes away. It usually doesn't come back. Seems to happen when I first start the van and drive a few minutes, then it goes away.
Does that sound familiar to anyone?
I believe the fix was a weight or a little more slack in the cable...
Thanks

gopal_a00 · February 2001

I bought a Odyssey 2001 EX at a dealership in north Seattle, December of last year. The fuel gauge (and indicator) is reading empty even with 7~8 gallons of gas left in the tank. I took the car to service three times till date and the service guys couldn't figure out. Called the Honda customer support for NW US and and got a response from service mgr because of the call made. The response is "There are several reported cases of fuel gauge problems in 00 & 01 Odysseys and Honda company is working on a solution. They may have a recall once they figure out the solution. Until then service people have noted the reference # of the tech support case# and will inform me once the solution is available".

Can I invoke lemon law to get a replacement?

Thanks!

kelsen · February 2001

First, 'lemon laws' vary from state to state, so your question needs to be answered locally.

Second, unless there is some operational problem with your vehicle (the misinforming gas gauge is not one) I would imagine that it would not be worth attempting, irrespective of your prospect for success.

My '01 EX does the same, but seems to be learning - the gauge is somewhat more accurate (and the 'low fuel' indicator as well) at 6000 miles than it was in it's first several tanks. Once you have a general knowledge of your vehicle's gas mileage, knowing when to fill up is pretty simple. You can always fill up when it tells you to, or you can wait a bit if you're comfortable with that.

Dave Kelsen.

darge · February 2001

This well known problem occurring in 4th gear when increasing speed at about
50 mph (fluttering noise) has been reported here numerous times. I've looked
thou most all messages
but fail to see any reports of Honda's fix for this problem. Has anyone had a
tray replacement as a satisfactory fix for this. I keep getting " they're working
on it" kind of response. Have had 2000 Odyssey for better than a year. If anyone
has had problem fixed ple3ase post message

mtsang · February 2001

FWIW, I have a 99 EX. My gauge was inaccurate in the top quarter range, i.e. it never read full. My dealer replaced the sender unit and the gauge has been working fine since. It's now predictably reading full and near empty.

Mike

mrperfect · February 2001

The torque converter is not locking up properly. Other complaintants have had the transmission replaced -- which appears to be the fix.

coolscene · February 2001

I just took delivery of a Ody EX with cross bars and had the same experience as some of the members wrote about wind noise (when driving more than 40 mph). I bought the vehicle in massachusetts and live in new england. I am not sure if dealer did a sloppy job on this..I understand the options are (1) remove them completelyl or (2) turn up the volume in radio..Before I jump to any conclusion would like to hear from anyone who has dealt with this issue.

advise..coolscene@yahoo.com

makersmark · February 2001

My wife and I recently test drove an EX and like its features/add-ons over the LX. We were concerned, however, that the power door closes TOO SLOWLY. Is it possible to turn off the power function and close the door manually on the EX? Does this create considerable wear and tear on the gear/motor? We have young children and the concern is that someone could jump into the van while the door is shutting. Probably a ridiculous thought, but a concern nonetheless.

I would like some commentary on problems with the EX power doors. Thanks.

hotspur · February 2001

The debate on relative safety merits of power vs. non-power sliders has gone on here seemingly forever. Yes, of course, it's possible someone will jump in front of the power doors. But it's also possible someone will jump in front of a non-power sliding door as it's being slammed shut manually (and I've seen some slammed at guillotine speed). The former will detect the "obstacle" in the way and retract (and there's also been some debate as to how hard it will "pinch" before retracting). The latter will likely keep on slamming.

I don't think there's a definitive answer as to which is safer. Either way, it really needs to be impressed on the children to stay clear of any sliding door.

I'm not sure how good it would be for the power mechanism to close the power doors manually on a regular basis.

raven88 · February 2001

The driver's side door on my EX has lost power and can only be opened and closed manually. The passenger side works fine. I am getting a 25 code for the inoperable door. Can anyone enlighten me about the cause of the problem, how long the dealer might take to fix it, and whether it can be fixed effectively?

Thanks!

mschafer · February 2001

Possible Causes: 1.) Faulty Slide Motor. 2.) Any short in the wire(s) between the SLMOP circuit and the SLMCL ccircuit. 3.) Faulty power slding door control unit.

auburn63 · February 2001

There is a service bulletin out for code 25's also.This is mainly for 1999 and 2000. The reason for those was usally a poor ground or mis-adjusted(out of alignment)junction switches.If you have a 2001 most of them have been poor contacts.Repair time will depend on how soon they get to it but actual repair is about an hour or so for the bulletin.

phil47 · February 2001

Have you seen any problems related to the "my van was dead in the morning even though I hadn't left my lights on" at your dealership, and if so, what's the deal?? It seems very similar to a problem I once had that was "apparently" fixed by a PCM replacement. Thanks.

odyfan · February 2001

Hello auburn63,

I have a 2000 Ody LX, manufactured in August 2000. While the car is at complete stop, there is a clunking noise when gear is shifted from D4 into R. All other gear positions are noiseless and no clunking noise while moving in reverse. Is this noise normal? what cause it?
Thanks for any info!

auburn63 · February 2001

Phil47
No, I have not seen any of them. I was wondering if any of the ones doing it had alarms or if they had left the overheads on in the back. I will try and remember to ask tech line the next time I am on the phone with them.

odyfan
Although it is always tough to diag noises on the net, there are some engagement noises that sound like you described and they are normal.I would think that what you are hearing is normal but if you are not for sure take it in to the dealer for a check.The cause of the normal noise is in the design of the trans. Most of the time the noise will be at it's worst when there is a load on the trans, like when on a hill and need to shift.

darge · February 2001

Mr Perfect
Thanks for your response.
Do you know anyone specifically who has solved problem with trany replacement
The word "apparently" in your respoce will not fly with my Honda dealer. Do you by any chance
have a message number to support your claim. Ultimately I need to connect with somone
who has solved this problem with Honda. Thanks for responding

johnnyrf · February 2001

I do not recommend using the EX with the power doors turned off because the doors do not operate like normal doors when the power is off; they resist motion and are cumbersome to close. Having had the power doors for 1 1/2 years now, once you get used to them, it's hard to live without them.

lsg1 · February 2001

I have my SS 01 EX for exactly one week, and love it. Today was my first chance to drive it in the snow. The streets were really slushy, and the tires were making a really loud sound on the slush. It almost sounded like I was running over rocks. It was making a rumbling sound. I have never had this on any other van that I owned. The Traction Control light did not come on, so I am thinking it was not TC. Am I correct to assume that when TC comes on, the light goes on?
Does anyone notice a really loud noise when driving over snowy/slushy roads?

Thanks

kelliag · February 2001

I know for a fact that the Odyssey has been having transmission problems. My Sister-in-law's '00 DX hunks when going in reverse. Honda has scheduled her to replace the transmission.
My problem is major. I have a '00 X. I parked on a driveway, left the car running, in park with the emergency break engaged. I got out of the car and was walking up to the house when I turned to look at the van, it was rolling down the driveway. (We live in a very flat area) I managed to catch the car and hopped in to stop it. When I took off the emergency break and put the car in drive, the car acted as if it was in neutral. I had to put the car into park again to engage it. Honda could not find the problem. I did write a letter to them and am happy to say they responded in less than a week. My car is going back in this week. I witnessed my neighbors' '00 EX roll down her driveway a few months earlier. Her car was in park, engine turned off and keys in her hand. As in my case Honda could not find the problem. Told her to use her emergency brake. Didn't work for me.

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

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

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