2002 Honda Odyssey LX from North America - Comments

Nothing major have gone wrong with my van.

The suspension makes a popping sound when I first move it in the morning.

The van also make some kind of bump noise when ever the van is cold started with the AC on. Will be taking it to the dealer to have both issues checked out soon.

The van has excellent power compared to other vans and most SUV's. 240 HP on regular gas with 5 speed automatic transmission is great.

Handling is pretty good for the size.

The brakes are also pretty good, maybe the the new rear disk brakes helped.

It would be nice if the middle seats can be moved apart a little further, so that I can mount both car seat in the middle row and more easily get into the rear, which would keep the rear's fold-down capability available. Right now, I'm forced to have 1 car seat in the left middle and 1 in the left rear.

The driver sits a little too high for me.

As a family van, it needs a trash bin really bad. Also it can use deeper and/or adjustable cup holders.

When I turn on the defrost, the A/C comes on automatically. This is not a bad thing if I can manually turn it off, but I can't. Also, the rear climate control is poorly designed, hot air MUST come out on the lower vents, vent or A/C MUST come out of the roof vents. Heat is ON or OFF, I can't send warm air through any of the vents!!!

I haven't been getting very good gas mileage, about 18 MPG combined. However, we try to drive a little faster here in California then some of the other states.

All-in-all, even with the minor stuff listed above. I think this is currently the best mini-van.

As for the comment about the AC coming on automatically when the defrost is selected, that is a good thing. AC lowers the humidity in the car, thus helping the defrost process. That's how it's supposed to work.

I find the A/C staying on without manual override during defrost operation annoying. The evaporator holds a little bit of water such that if I try turning off the defrost after the windows are clear I often get condensation on the windows again. Also, I prefer not running the A/C during the first minute or so after a cold start.

Our Honda Odyssey has a severe humidity problem when it rains outside and there is more than one person in the car. The defrost barely keeps half the front window clear (only the lower half) and the rear never defrosts. It looks like the cause of the failure for the rear humidity problem is the fact that the heat and A/C are separate in the back and therefore no air drying occurs.

Looks like there is no solution to this problem either. My cheap old Dodge minivan didn't have this problem when the A/C worked. (But then their A/C's don't work for long)

I have seen some of the minor problems others have stated in this section. I have had to apply silicone lube on all the doors' weather striping due to the doors sticking to the weather striping; Gas mileage is still significantly below EPA estimates; So so defrost design; Driver's seating position less desirable then any Honda I have ever driven, my brother's 1976 Civic CVCC included; and poor dealer support (Scott Robinson Honda, Torrance, CA).

Also, I have found that the van's handling is much improved when the front tires are inflated slightly above Honda recommendations (36 PSI Front/Rear). I'm using 40/36 F/R. The handling is pretty loose at anything below 32 PSI.

You need the AC to come on when it defrosts for two reasons, 1. The compressor speeds up the process. 2. Your ac fluid tends to trap mositure over time, if you don't run the AC in the winter months the lines rust out and your into costly AC repairs.

I do concur that running the AC during defrost speeds up the process, as the AC also functions as a dehumidifier. However, when the outside temp is already fairly low, 50F or below, running the AC compressor is of limited value for defrosting the windows as the process of heating up the air from 50F to 80F will reduce its relative humidity a great deal. Also, the refrigerant we use in our AC system is sealed and it operates at a positive pressure. The only way moisture can get into the system is if we refilled our refrigerant incorrectly and put moisture into the system. The system could and does retain moisture in the heat exchanger under the dash. If your system is rusting out in the winter time, it might be due to the use of salt on the road to keep the road from icing. This is not an issue in Sunny Southern California.

Also, Honda replaced our 5-speed transmission at 41K miles, after the warranty expired!!! It started shifting hard at around 30K and the transmission barely worked when we took it in. It took 4 days for our local Honda dealer to obtain authorization from Honda USA. The installation took 2 days. $0 out of pocket.

The dealer had earlier performed the tranny recall installing the oil squinter and I had installed Honda’s external tranny cooler at around 10K. This may indicate a transmission design that is susceptible to heat related failure.

The van is now a bit over 70K miles. No new issues with the re-built transmission installed by a Honda Service Center a few years back @ 41K miles.

We also had a bad SRS air bag sensor in the front passenger seat, it was difficult to replace by the dealer, it took them 3 tries to do it right.

One of the middle seat belt buckles broke, Honda dealer replaced it at no cost.

The sliding doors still sticks if I forget to apply silicone lube to the weather striping every 6 months or so.

Also, the front suspension is very sensitive to wheel balance and roundness of the tires.

Both front brake rotors warped between 40 - 50K miles. Got some inexpensive rotors from Kragens, no problems so far.

One additional note regarding the transmission, I had installed the small transmission cooler from the towing package at ~ 20K miles. It was not difficult to install if you are mechanically inclined. You need to remove the front bumper cap, but it's just a bunch of plastic snap-screws and install a couple of screws that holds the tranny cooler in-place and connect a few small hoses. The instructions were very clear.

I view this upgrade as cheap insurance for the transmission and would recommend it for any Honda and Acura Vans and SUV's using the 5-sp transmission from ~2002 - ~2005.

Bought the cooler from www.handa-accessories.com, I use them about once each year, no problems so far, I think they are a Honda dealer selling over the Internet, typically discount is ~30+% from Honda retail.