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Honda Odyssey Window/Door/Hatch Problems

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Comments

  • marplus5marplus5 Member Posts: 1
    We are having the same problem and the dealership is telling us they can't replicate it.

    I am calling them back and sharing your post. Thank you.

    Also, I am filing with Honda.. :lemon:
  • jennifernvjennifernv Member Posts: 2
    I finally got my door fixed, after two dealerships and multiple calls to Honda HQ.
    I was able to duplicate the problem, they saw it, but it was not frequent enough to diagnose. I even recorded a video to show them I wasn't crazy.
    After being on a first name basis with the service manager, I recommended (and they finally agreed) to "pick a part"
    Afterall, there are only 2 main components, and a couple small parts that could be the problem.
    So, they picked one part to replace - and if the problem continued they could swap my old part back in, and pick another.
    My door was finally fixed, then I really fixed the problem by selling a Honda and buying a Toyota!
  • math1eumath1eu Member Posts: 1
    Hi fmichael,

    Did you solve your problem? We've had the same one: doors refuse tu close properly when it's very cold (last week it was -20). Ours is an 2008, bought used at the dealer in 2011. Last winter we didn't have any problem.
  • fmichaelfmichael Member Posts: 95
    The problem still exists although ya never know when the passenger sliding door won't close...Usually happens after some moisture has built up, and the following day the temp drops considerably...I'm guessing it's a faulty/leaky seal that'll trap moisture.

    It's been frustrating to say the least; I've taken it in several times - twice when the door was acting up (as in not closing properly, and the door alarm is going off)...All they (Honda service techs/service writers) do is let it sit in a warm work bay, and voila - no more problems :mad:

    Afterwards they lube the sliding door components - however it's usually no more than several days, and it'll happen again...I've opened 2 cases with Honda America, and they haven't done much either - usually telling me to go back to the dealer when the door acts up again...Then once again all they do is let it warm up - blah blah blah :mad:

    What I've found is to let the van idle/warm up for several minutes, and cranking up the heat; this has worked a few times in which the door will then close properly (did it just this morning actually).
  • ramy1995ramy1995 Member Posts: 39
    i know, weird. the passenger sliding door in my 2000 ody, closes but sign in dashboard shows door open n dome light stays on ( which ran battery few times). and you cant lock car with remote coz? car thinks sliding door still open although it is totaly closed. trick is to use you butt< yes your butt, and here comes the advantage of big butt to bump the door after it is closed toward the back of door itslf, and it closes fine and u can lock car with remot..
    also, i v to say, somehow what looks like the roler on bracket that guide the door is bumbpy at closing. door shakes little bit and jerks, then comes to close
    i cleaned all contacts and no use
    anyone knws?
    dan
  • cristian1cristian1 Member Posts: 10
    You did good by cleaning the contacts on the door and the frame! Now save your butt for a better use and look for a switch that it's covered by a small ruber bumper! Underneath that bumper wou will find a switch which it's your problem! Either the switch its broken or a wire that goes to it disconnected from vibration! However from your "butt" description I tend to believe that your switch just needs to be adjusted and you will be back in business!
    Best of luck to you and be safe!!
  • fraxsisfraxsis Member Posts: 1
    Ha! I thought I had a poltergeist following me to the grocery! Luckily, it has only happened on warm, sunny days! I thought maybe there was a sensor that detected the interior of the car was too hot and rolled the windows down...that or the poltergeist! Does your 2011 passenger side window to continue to work even if the key is out of the ignition? Mine does...not sure if it is supposed to! Thanks for the info!
  • nayaknayak Member Posts: 16
    edited April 2013
    Hi,

    We have a 2008 Honda Odyssey EX-L with about 45K miles on it. A few days back, we noticed that the tailgate trunk door was not going up automatically. From some search, we found that the item called "tailgate struts" makes all of it happen and it has been found faulty by Honda (
    http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2012/0222/Honda-recall-involves-Odyssey-miniva- ns.-Is-yours-on-the-list ) and there is a recall for it. But we were not notified about the recall, and a recall also does not show up on the Honda recall website against the VIN. Dealer says that it costs $86 for each side and will cost me about $225+ in total including labor !!
    I am wondering:
    a) Why do I see recalls against the struts but my specific van VIN is not included in the recall list?
    b) Has anyone else done a replacement from another store/internet? This seems to have happened to others too, so please share part information. I believe a couple of substitutes are: Stabilus SG126007 ~$95+ or Strongarm 6238 ~$51. Any feedback on these specific parts and/or your own experiences?
  • liegeliege Member Posts: 4
    We have had issues with the sliding doors on our 2006 Odyssey since the first week (we have documentation for three months after purchase). The challenge was getting it to the dealership when it was acting up. They made us feel like we were imagining things and insisted that the sliding door system was not known to have problems. When the problem was finally detected (one would not work at all) it was repaired. Not too long after, the other broke....and on and on. Honda service indicated that the problems were not related. We experienced electrical issues as well. Honda service told us they were not connected. Because we were having problems, we had our Odyssey serviced at a Honda dealership well beyond the warranty. This past year we began taking it to a local independent mechanic who was able to explain exactly what the problem was (he even explained the incremental deterioration of the system between repairs) and how the electrical issues tied in. We now have no use of one door at all and to use the other door, we have a choice: pull the fuse controlling the doors, which leaves us with no interior lights, no remote and no automatic locking system; or else leave the fuse so that the door works automatically and we have lights and locks, but then the brand new battery dies after less than 24 hours if the vehicle is not driven. Honda will not stand by their workmanship. You can only correspond with their customer service department. We sent letters to top US executives and included documentation. They do not bother to respond and/or just forward it on the customer service who make it clear that there is no recourse beyond their determination. Evidently, Honda will do nothing for a vehicle out of warranty. Our mistake was only having it serviced by Honda while it was under warranty. They MUST know there is a problem with this system. From what we are learning it would seem that they just bank on the fact that it does not become full blown until it is out of warranty. Basically, we have just been told, 'you have to understand, that is what happens with a 7 year old vehicle'. Yet our older Volvos are going strong. Class action sounds like a good idea to us.
  • nayaknayak Member Posts: 16
    An update:
    I called up Honda (recall option) and asked them why my van was not selected for the recall. They asked me to go to a Honda dealer and show the problem and ask them to contact Honda. And that is what I did and then after a couple of days, Honda approved the work at no cost (!!) and the Honda dealer installed the new struts. I am sure having 2 Honda vehicles currently and a history of Honda purchases must have helped.
  • tntentnten Member Posts: 1
    Last Thursday, it was raining when we parked and locked our 2012 Honda Odyssey in front of our hotel, so naturally, all windows and moonroof were closed. There was a terrible electrical storm all night long with lightning, hail, thunder, downpour. We were worried the hail would damage the car we love so much, but imagine our shock the next AM when we got to our car to find all 4 windows and moonroof open all the way, and the interior absolutely soaked. When we called the dealer, we were given the story that we had probably inadvertently hit the unlock button twice, activating the stupid window feature. We assured them that we knew for certain that we had not, since we had checked to be sure it was locked. We were also told that maybe another Honda owner nearby had the same signal, or that it could have been caused by an electrical signal from the storm. Whatever the reason, my van is waterlogged, and I'm wondering what the long-term effects will be. Does anyone know? Plus, now I'm paranoid that it will happen again. By the way, when you hit unlock the second time, you have to hold it down for a few seconds for the windows to go all the way down, so its not that easy to do it inadvertently.
  • cristian1cristian1 Member Posts: 10
    Sir, I hope my message will find you enjoying your day! I'm sorry to hear about your incident;(
    Honda Odyssey it's a very complex vehicle but at the same time can be improved! They have been working on this car for over 13 years and I owned two Honda Odyssey different years and I was able to notice the differences. What happened to you it's not new, and you should be reimbursed for any damages to your personal property and the car!
    It's not your fault! This "window opening situation" it's been noticed on 2010,2011,2012... It's a problem with the car... The dealer has no clue how to fix it that's why they give you all the BS excuses to get rid of you!!!
    I'm sorry to hear this and I hope that somehow this won't happen to you again!

    Be safe and God Bless you and your passengers!
    Cristian
  • liegeliege Member Posts: 4
    Honda customer service told us that previous ownership makes a difference. Unfortunately, Honda does not value customer trust and faithfulness to Honda certified service. Our 2006 Odyssey was our first Honda purchase. We had issues with our sliding doors within weeks of purchase and made the mistake of trusting Honda service to resolve the problem for about 6 years , despite the fact that it was considerably more expensive than having our vehicle serviced locally. We did not learn about the connection between our electrical issues and sliding door issues, or have it confirmed that both were very common with Odysseys, until we finally took our Odyssey to an independent mechanic. Honda had led us to believe that all of our repairs (both under warranty and then at our expense) were not connected and were not at all common. We will not purchase Honda again because they will not stand by their product.
  • cristian1cristian1 Member Posts: 10
    The automatic sliding doors it&#146;s a great benefit and the 3.5Liters engine and 270+HP its what you may want to consider when buying a family minivan! I had two of them and what I have learned is that once you left the dealership lot, the entire smile, kindness and courtesy of the dealership employees it&#146;s gone! I have learned to keep the car and try to fix it myself as much as I can! Going back with the car will be just a waste of time and increase of frustration not to mention that your car WILL turn in to a &#147;take a part&#148; vehicle to fix the cars that have to live faster than yours…
    The sliding doors can be easily reset by disconnecting the car battery for a few minutes and you are back in business. BUT make sure that the sliding rail it&#146;s clean (don&#146;t lubricate)! The door it&#146;s designed to push with approximately 35lbs. when the door its obstructed will open back but if this will persist the door will shot off. And has to be reset, disconnecting the battery.
    I hope this will help, be safe and God bless you and your passengers!
  • jerdesabjerdesab Member Posts: 11
    Yes, you have to press and HOLD the button to open all windows. Mine is 2007. after a year stabilizer was changed, after few months torque converter was replaced. good thing still under warranty, but if I were to decide again. I WILL NEVER BUY HONDA AGAIN.
  • cshondacshonda Member Posts: 12
    So we had a lot of rain this week and now it sounds like there is about a gallon of water sloshing around inside my passenger sliding door. What damage if any might this cause and what happens if it stays in the door for any length of time? I have no idea where a seal is malfunctioning...
  • cristian1cristian1 Member Posts: 10
    It's ok for some Amount of water to make it in to your door! For that reason all doors will have some small draining holes located to the bottom of the door! Now the problem is that sometimes dust gets in there and other things. All those in combination with water turn into mud and your draining holes will get clogged
  • cristian1cristian1 Member Posts: 10
    Find those holes and help the water get out! The only damage could be its rust but if you lift the window up and take the door panel off you should be able to evaluate and prevent the rust! Clean the inside of the door and using thick Vaseline apply a very tin coat of Vaseline on the inside of the door!
    In Germany they use this technique on their cars! Here in AZ I saw many WV with spots of Vaseline coming out due to high temperatures!
  • manteethmanteeth Member Posts: 1
    Hi liege,

    You mentioned electric as the problem with your sliding doors, can you be specific on what you had to fix or replace? My sliding doors on my 2006 Odyssey will not unlock or open electrically or manually. My kids have to climb in and out of the back hatch. I have taken it to the dealership and they can't get the doors opened at all. They told me they would have to basically tear out the inside door panels and they could break to get to inside of the door to see what was wrong with it.
    I bought this Odyssey new in Sept 2006 and have had nothing but problems with it!! I have replaced so many things. This is the list of items I have done thus far:
    Power Steering Pump
    Torque Converter
    Sliding doors rollers
    DVD player
    Inner tie rods
    Outer tie rods
    Wheel Bearing
    Main fuse box
    Starter
    A/C leaking currently and not working. Need to get fixed
    Sliding doors will not unlock or open at all.

    Needless to say I will not buy another Honda!!

    Any info and suggestions you can offer will be much appreciated.

    Thanks
  • skeezerskeezer Member Posts: 1
    Starts ok. Les Schwab ran battery and alternator test - both tested ok but they replaced positive terminal connector prior to checking. However the radio anti-theft light is blinking and radio does not work nor does it prompt for an unlock code as it has in the past when battery was disconnected. Prior to this a couple times while driving all dash lights went out while driving down the road a couple times but are working now. Seems like a loose connection somewhere but no idea where to start looking. Have ruled out the battery and the alternator at least.

    Any ideas based on these symptoms? Current status is the radio's anti-theft light is blinking on all the time and radio is inoperative. Next step would be to check the fuses for the radio and radio's anti-theft system? Or ...?

    Thanks in advance for any advice.
  • ramy1995ramy1995 Member Posts: 39
    i have almost same problem, doors wont compeltely close and alarm sounds for sliding door ajar, i noticed it is progressive prpblem, as things are getting worst in my 2000 odyssey . it might be a cooincedence that problem started when i noticed that battery is reaching its end of life, not sure...
    lets know if you find out anything, and next time be smarter and dont buy honda odysses lol
  • liegeliege Member Posts: 4
    Hi Manteeth,
    The situation with our Honda doors has been as follows: The passenger side has not opened or closed at all for over a year now. At some point a cable that is a part of the mechanism broke and hung down from the track on which the door slides. The driver&#146;s side would work automatically, but only from the outside or by using the switch on the dash board. However, if the car was not driven for several days the battery would drain and would need to be charged in order to start the car. A local mechanic could not pinpoint where the electrical &#145;drainage&#146; was happening, but found that by removing the fuse controlling the door, the battery would not fail. The downside of that of course was that we would have to open the door manually which was very difficult and inconvenient so, depending on what we needed to be doing, we would put the fuse back in and try to remember to not let the car sit for more than 2 days without starting.
    A few months ago the cable appeared from the driver&#146;s side door. We were suddenly able to more easily manually operate to door, but now the only way to open the door was from the outside since the inside handle stopped working; a rather dangerous situation in the event of an accident. The newest development is that we are unable to open either sliding door, from the inside or the outside!
    Our frustration is that we reported issues with the doors within the first months of purchasing the vehicle new....back in 2006. Honda service denied any widespread issue with their sliding doors. Since the problems manifested randomly, they would not acknowledge that we were actually experiencing problems until they would actually 'break'...numerous times. They have been repaired both under warranty and out of pocket. The problem has just gotten progressively worse.
    Most disturbing is the fact that Honda will not stand behind their workmanship and resolve this issue. We have been in touch with customer service and have written directly to Mr. Thomas E. Shoupe (president of Honda Alabama, where Odysseys are manufactured) and Mr. Richard Schostek (senior vice president, Honda of America Manufacturing). Neither of these gentlemen bothered to even respond.
    It is interesting to read through the list of other issues you have had. I want to go through our service receipts and compare them to your list, but off the top of my head I know that we have had issues with:
    Power Steering pump
    Sliding door rollers, of course
    Tie rods
    Wheel bearing
    Air conditioning lines
    Electrical system
    battery

    For years I had been convinced that Honda was the &#145;gold standard&#146;. That was before we actually bought our first…this Odyssey.

    I would suggest that you at least make sure you file a complaint with customer service. They will probably do nothing, but you will receive a case number which will remain on file for three years from what we understand.
  • sarah77sarah77 Member Posts: 1

    I just purchased a 2005 and I can't seem to open the sliding doors with the key fob. I assume that I need to flip a switch somewhere but I can't seem to find it. Anyone know?

  • honda_owner13honda_owner13 Member Posts: 1

    Same thing happened to me today for about the third or fourth time. I have a 2013 Honda Accord. I love the car except for this one flaw in design. I stopped at the service center where I bought the car and the serviceman stated that it is not a flaw, but that I just need to be more careful in the future. At that point, I knew I was getting nowhere and I needed to solve the problem myself. So I thought hard and came up with a solution. I figured if I put the remote key in a plastic box, it would prevent an accidental opening. I used an old hearing aid box for my key and an old earring box for my wife's key. The remotes fit comfortably in the boxes.

  • rjs14rjs14 Member Posts: 4
    edited June 2014

    My 2005 Odyssey just ripped the door off of itself. Over extending upon opening and routed entire side of my car and both brackets ripped off of the body. Left hanging only by the electrical cables. This car has been nothing but a lemon. Two gas tank leaks, one engine fire while I was driving it, two complete shut downs while driving in fast lane, just like GMC cars have, I was just fortunate I was on city highways and not the freeway or I am sure I would have been hit. I had no control of the car at all. I have replaced two transmissions and just about every other part, including a leaking power steering pump, master cylinder, and all of the other recalled items. Three days after getting it back from the dealer for the leaking power steering pump, it caught fire in the engine while I was driving it 75 miles from home. The dealer later claimed they left a rag on the engine that had caught fire. I have spent enough to buy 3 Odyssey vans in repairs. So furious to find recalls for items I paid for at the dealer. And when I ask about the recalls they say "I haven't heard about that". The first of my gas tank leaks cost me a fortune, and you could smell the gas strongly. I was told by the dealer that it was highly unusual for that part to go out, I was just lucky, and because it is one piece from the gas input to the tank it cost me an arm and a leg. Now I find out it was recalled along with all of the other parts I have paid to replace on this POS. This latest door incident not only cost $2500, but when the bracket threw a bolt it just missed my 3 month old Granddaughter's head! This is the car from HELL. Twice it has shut down without warning, and it just stops where you are. You have no power, as if there is no battery even in the car. The last time it happened a block from the dealer and I made the service manager come and get my car. I wasn't getting back in the death trap. The dealer had my car almost two weeks and said they never found why, they just went ahead and replaced the main fuse. Again now recalled. It's obviously time to contact a lemon law attorney, but curious if anyone else has had these issues. I am the original owner and kept all maintenance up with the dealer.

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