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Honda Odyssey: Problems & Solutions:(1995-2004 Models)
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We were on vacation when our emissions systems light came on. I mistook it for the "maintenance req'd" light, because I knew THAT light would be coming on and had already scheduled our 90K mile service. When I took the Van in for service the next week and then picked it up I didn't see the light on 'till I'd left the lot. I called and asked what was the deal and they said "it was on when you brought it in"..... alrighty.... I'd just spent $460 for a 90K mi service and they didn't address an existing issue. Needless to say I got a little snarky then called my husband to please talk to them since I was on overload. In the end I brought it in the next day and they checked it, found the problem to be a leaky gas cap and changed the gasket all at no charge. That made me happy. Unfortunately the happiness was temporary. Around a week later the light came back on. Once again (yes we did try these the first time after I'd noticed the light after the service) I tried all of the tricks to get the light to turn off and on the advice of the service lady drove 10 -12 trips (she said the 3-6 trips don't always work to turn off the light). To no avail. $104 and 4 hours later they replaced the existing gas cap (with the replaced gasket). (Cost of cap... $10! uggh!).... Light was off. Here we are another week or so later and the danged light is back on. Tried all of the tricks again and the 10-12 trips. It's scheduled to go in again tomorrow. Husband is going with me.
What I wonder and what I'm most frustrated about of course is the cost of all of this. Exactly how many times should *I* have to pay the danged labor costs (parts cost not withstanding) while they figure this out? Especially if it's found to be a faulty gas cap. They said it was a _ _ _ _ code (can't remember the #... probably on my paperwork) and that amounted to a gas line leak(or something like that) which added up to my gas cap being replaced. Am I or should I be responsible for this ongoing issue if it's something along the same lines but should've been diagnosed as something MORE than the gas cap in the first place?
I guess my real frustration is that I can understand if it takes MY Dr. several times and many tests to diagnose something odd going on with me.... BUT I don't have a computer in me that spits out codes that gives the Doc a diagnosis. So I really don't understand the ball being dropped here.
Any insight? Am I off base being so frustrated? Am I right on? Am I in left field speaking a totally foreign language? LOL!
Thanks for any advice you can offer.
Vonnie
Oh yes... I have searched the archives and found "some" on this but nothing specific enough and hope no one minds me burning a new thread here.
1) rear liscensce plate loose (odd but has happened).
2) more common, the nut that holds the spare tire and/or jack in place is loose. SInce the spare is in the left rear, a likely culprit. Open up the tire cover, and make sure that everything is tight.
3) One of the kids left a soda can under their seat, and it is rattling around (hey, you never know!)
I think worst ever is a bit strong. There have been some unfortuneate teething pains, probably a combination of a new design + new plant and workers. SHouldn't happy, but it does. Quite likely tht the '06s will be more "hondaish".
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
why don't you calmly suggest that with the cap seal replaced once, and the cap replaced, perhaps the real root cause lies elsewhere, but results in the same code.
i have to ask - you are properly tightening the cap so you hear at least three clicks right?
I am picking up my vehicle today because they say there is no risk in driving it, and they have ordered parts that will not be here until some time next week. They have been working with Honda Tech Support, and are only 70% convinced that the parts they ordered will fix the issue...makes me feel so reassured. Anyway, they think the solution is to replace the front and rear engine mounts. I'll let you know if this fixes the problem next week.
At 2980 miles I took it in for an oil change and asked them to check it. They found nothing wrong and claimed that was the mileage that the vehicle gets. I mentioned the sticker mileage and they said that they were not responsible for those estimates 20/28 and must report those numbers. Testing is done by EPA. The national customer service was no better. Please contact me if you have similar results or improved mileage. I am going to pursue this as best as possible.
I am aware of goodwill repairs authorized by Honda where the charge for the total job is $0.00. Now the cynical question: Is it reasonably conceivable or likely that Honda authorized the goodwill repair and paid the dealer for the entire job (that is, part and labor, although, understandably less than what the dealer would typically charge for the job) and that the dealer elected to not "pass along" the entire goodwill "value" to me? Or, do other types of goodwill repairs exist, for example, just for the part, or those provided by the dealer (without any interaction or authorization from Honda)? Marketing effort by the dealer?
Thanks!
anybody have this problem? the range "miles to empty" keeps showing zero miles. it doesn't change no matter how much gas i have. Anybody know how to kick it so it will work? Everything else works on the multi-info display!
Less than 3 days with the 2006 and already there are problems!
Here's my nightmare story: I picked up my new Ody last Saturday and brought it back to the dealer on Monday to resolve the whistling noise. Dealer said they can't locate exact problem and will work with Honda tech line. It is now Friday and no resolution. I have asked the Dealership to keep it and give me my money back. We'll see what happens.
I had mine for a month now with 1700 miles.
The van pulls to the right side most of the time.
Dealer swapped front tires but the problem was still there.
They re-aligned the van second time with some adjustment to left, but that didn't fix the problem either.
The dealer told me that this is the driving feature of Ody and I am not the first one to notice that but it is not a problem.
Is that true?
Also, there is a paint deffect and the dealer installed full nose mask and spash guard as a treat.
I am not fully happy with the Ody as I had a accord before w/o any problem for the first 8 years.
However, with my experience on other car and SUV, this is not too bad.
Perry....
We have at 2005 Odessey Touring... beautiful... 3400 miles... all the sudden we have a small tremor when driving and a bit of a whining sound. Can only tell because the car was so quiet and smooth to begin with.
Took it in to the dealer... 20 days and counting later... NO RESOLUTION!!!
First the replaced the drive shafts on the driver side
Second the replaced the ball bearings
Third... ready for this... BRAND NEW TRANSMISSION!!!
Fourth... Engine mounts
Fifth... Tires!!!
Sixth... Monday they will replace the rotors!!!
We have started mediation talks with Honda and contacted a Lemon Law attorney as this car is now officially a lemon. WOW I can't believe it!!!
Question to this community... My wife and I both love the Honday Odd. I am not a fan of minivans but this one... I love. What would you do? Get another one? Or move on to a different minivan family?
Thanks
First the replaced the drive shafts on the driver side
Second the replaced the ball bearings
Third... ready for this... BRAND NEW TRANSMISSION!!!
Fourth... Engine mounts
Fifth... Tires!!!
Sixth... Monday they will replace the rotors!!!
I think they have no clue! A new dealer may be in order! Mine has 5000 miles without a hiccup. can't believe that they changed the Tranny without knowing for sure. Thats not a good sign.
The dealer has been directed by Honda's Tech Service out of California to make all of these changes. In fact the dealer states that he car is too new for their own mechanics to pinpoint the issue hence Honda Tech is directing all the repairs.
At one point they were going to send out an engineer to look at it. But God knows what will come of it.
After reading though this message board... I am becomming quite perturbed about our purchase. We are a family of Infiniti's have owned them since the wife graduated MedSchool. This is our first Honda and well the CAR itself is what I expect of a 40K car when they replace the transmission and they still don't know why the noise is comming... what do you do???
Any lemon law experts know if this would qualify?
20 days... one visit
6 repairs, 3 major ones
same problem persists
thanks
Dashlights are quite bright, even when lights are off, so driver is not prompted to turn lights on at dusk.
You need a screwdriver to retract the plus-one seatbelt back to the roof. (???!!)
Power sliding doors driving me crazy, but I'll probably get used to that.
Anyone else frustrated with these items?
which has been running fine until last Tuesday 08/23 when the check engine light/TSC(occasionally) came on and the van started to run rough. I read the owners manual and it said to check the fuel cap and if ok, advised to take it to the nearest dealership to have it checked. I did that and the diagnosis indicated misfiring of 5 of the 6 cylinders. The EGR according to the dealership was fine. The service dealer mentioned that there was fuel contamination and recommended to remove fuel and clean system and a throttle body cleaning and refill with premium gas. This option would cost about $1058.- We don't know if this would solve the problem. We took the car back to see if we could get a second opinion and see what other options we have. Has anyone experienced the same problem with the engine and if so, was there a solution?
Any information on a similar issue would be greatly appreciated!
It is a goofy design. I just leave my headlights on all the time, they turn off automatically a few seconds after you shut the drivers door. The Touring has real auto-headlamps, it's apparently a luxury feature on Hondas books.
You need a screwdriver to retract the plus-one seatbelt back to the roof. (???!!)
Not quite. Just use the seatbelt latch, it fits in the gap to release the other latch.
Power sliding doors driving me crazy, but I'll probably get used to that.
A little more detail could help! What's driving you crazy?? I have zero complaints with mine, can't imagine not having them.
I have this problem with my 2000 Odyssey EX. 68K miles.
When I turn on the A/C it blows cold air for a while and then after sometime it starts blowing the hot air. I reduce the A/C by a degree or so, the A/C starts blowing the cold air again. Then after sometime it starts blowing the hot air. The cycle repeats. It doesn't matter what the outside temp it is, day or night, etc.
But during all this, the rear controls is not affected and continues to blow cold air through out.
Has anybody experienced anything similar to this? Any help would be appreciated.
I hate to go to a dealer without having any clue what the problem might be.
Thanks.
In other words, what's to watch out for on this van--problems, defects or quirks that you have noticed turning up again and again in this forum?
thanks!
Shifty the Host
the 3rd row seat strap got stuck after the seat is folded down onto the floor.
now..no way to lift the seat back up without any leverage...so the seat seems
stuck, and I can seem to lift it back up without the strap...any suggestions?
thanks alot!
The part will be here mid week this week as far as we know. 'Till then they've given us back our van and ok'd us to drive it telling us no damage will occur. They've been very kind and helpful and we've been pleased so far with the way they're handling all of this.
I do appreciate your insight and trying to help. I do always tighten my gasp cap so I hear it click a few times (more than 2 or 3 times) every time...since the first time THAT was what it was years ago!
Thanks again.
Vonnie
any idea what it could be ? or someone else had a similar prob ?
Thanks
Any luck on the solution to this problem yet? My Ody 2000 left door has the same exact problem.
Please Help!
Thanks
Hope you find a fix.
With the back system, you really can only control the fan speed, and whether it comes out the ceiling (a/c) or floor (heat). You have no control over the absolute temperature of the air.
The front system uses a cabin temp sensor to control the vent air temperature. I have never worked on a Honda system, but it probably is much like others. Typically, both freon is flowing thru the evaporator, as well as hot water thru the heater core under the dash. A set of air doors direct flow between the 'cooler' and 'reheater'. In addition, valves control the flow of freon (cooling) / antifreeze (heating) thru the respective cores.
On my '02 EX, when you first select a temp with the fan control on auto, the air will blow cold until the sensor says the temp is reached, at which point the fan will slow, but the air usually remains somewhat cool to maintain the setting. I don't think the air is as cold (probably some warm air is been mixed in), but I cannot remember feeling it actually go warm. If you dialed the temp down a degree, the fan will speed up, and the air will get colder, until the cabin reaches the new temp.
I suppose the air could conceiveably get considerably warmer if say you went from bright sunshine into deep shade, like a tunnel. If this is not the case, perhaps you have a sticking valve on the heater core hot water line, or an air door isn't responding right? Or the temp sensor itself (or receiver unit) is screwed up?
Steve
Now, for the front side A/C, I live in Florida, where currently the temp is in 90s. I set the temp at 85, blows cold air for a while, and then switches to hot air. I don't think its any leak in the Freon. Because if so, even the rear A/C would have had the same problem.
I am thinking there are might be two sets of controllers (one each for the rear and front). And possibly my front controller has gone bad. And to me this controller is something which regulates the cold air and hot air in the van depending on the temp settings I have made using the dial on the dashboard. This is my theory.
Does my Controller theory make sense? Also do you think I might damage the entire A/C system by driving around like this?
Thanks guys.
Actually, I think the dash controller only adjust the rear fan speed, not the rear temp.
The problem may be that you've set the temp too high (at 85) coupled with the location of the in-cabin temp sensor. After blowing cold air for a while, it may then detect that the cabin air is too low (82 or 83) and then switch to warm air to bring it back up to 85. You might try either a lower temp to see if the same problem occurs or use the system in manual rather than automatic mode.
The reason I set this at a relatively higher temp (though outside it is in mid-90s), is to get cold air-hot air process started. Though keep in mind that low 80s still cool air when outside is that hot.
And I am trying this in Manual mode. And not in Auto mode.
I have tried at lower temps and hot air still blows, but though after a relatively longer period. (after it has cooled the cabin and reached the low temp).
When I have tried at say low 70s, when the hot air starts blowing in, you can feel it as really hot.
I started noticing it a few weeks ago. I was rear ended a while ago. So I am not sure whether that caused. Try telling that to the insurance agency -)
Our Honda dealer is sending a tow truck as I write this to pick it up. I realize this will be covered by warranty but I was wondering - does this sound like a dead battery or a starter or an alternator problem? The van is 2 weeks old and only has about 700 miles on it. I hope this isn't an indication of bad things to come.
Thank you
Steve
Things are better now but not completely perfect. I have NO vibrations on some roads while others give me a HINT of vibration. I also adjusted the tire pressure down to 33psi from the recommended 35. So far I found the psi adjustment to make a big difference in ride quality and the vibration is down to a slight annoyance at 70mph. I'm still not happy as I don't expect any vibrations for a 30k+ vehicle but I'm going to give it some more time. I truly feel at this point that the tires are at fault and that the steering wheel is just overly sensitive for these tires. I will update the forum if I discover something new but tell your dealer to check on that service bulletin to see if that helps. Not sure if the psi fix will work on the PAX tires but check into that as well. All in all I think I would have been happier with the Toyota Siena.
Again, if you take a good look at the labeling and functions, these rotary knobs only control the fan speed, and the mode (heating thru rear floor vents or cooling thru ceiling vents). The dash knob combines both rear knob functions into one.
We run the front system almost exclusively on full auto, with the temp setting at 68 - 69' F. With it set this way, the system cycles as I described yesterday. If you are running the fan speed manually, it might account for why you get a blast of hot air. The system's first line of adjustment to maintain cabin temperature seems to be to reduce the fan speed from full blast to minimum when the desired tempature is reached. If you have set the fan speed yourself, the system cannot adjust this, so it's next course of action would be to switch on the air reheat function to warm the interior up. I would imagine the same thing could also happen if you had the rear fan on cold high. If you overcool the interior using the rear, the front might switch on heat to compensate.
Try using full auto mode and see if the system acts normally.
Steve
In your case, it could be the battery, but not necessarily so. At least your dealer washed the vehicle. Mine left it out for 2 weeks and it came back dirty inside and out. Have dealer check with honda engineering. In the mean time, keep a jump start battery or cables in the car. You might need them even with a new battery if the problem is excessive drain.
If, like mine, yours needs a matrix module, it will probably have to be overnighted in, along with some 1 use trim panels that are destroyed in order to get to the part.
Let us know what happens.
The vehicle is in the shop for 20 days or more.
The vehicle is in the shop for the same repair 3 or more times.
I remember my father had a 95 Ford Windstar in 94. He had a transmission replaced at 11,000 miles, and an odd clunking noise. The dealer tried a few things to fix it, but no correction. Finally, the sent out a Ford rep to go for a ride while my father was in the car. My father pointed out the noise to the rep, and he said that there is no problem. Could you believe that the factory service rep, even while hearing the noise, said they will not fix it further.
He took it to another dealer outside this rep's zone. A service tech went for a ride, heard the noise, and 2 days later, it was fixed, and no more noise.
Since you are so far into this mess with the Odyssey, I would reccommend that you go ahead with the lemon law process. Chances are you wont get too far, as the dealers will usually just settle it with you before it gets to the end, as it costs them more money and more publicity. If I were you I would stick with the Honda, and find yourself a new dealership for service. :lemon: