Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-75, 76-90, 91-96
The CE warning light came on my 2000 Odyssey at @101,000 miles. Honda said it was the catalytic converter (CC) and wanted $800 for a replacement. I never heard of doing exhaust work at a dealership so I took it to Midas and for $350 had them install a new CC. CE light stayed off for about 300 miles then it was back on. Back to Honda for a diagnosis and they said it was the CC. Back to Midas, different CC plus new O2 sensors for another $350. Two days later the CE light was back on. Ignored it for about two weeks, but the vehicle just got rejected in Houston, TX for state inspection. Inspector said they can't hook up their test equipment when the CE light is on. Back to Midas. Midas confirmed with HQ that yes, they have had problems with the Honda's. They have a new CC to try as it is on order and will be installed NC. Meanwhile, Honda is parked due to the expired inspection sticker. Checked the air filter and it was clean and even blew it out. Waste of time.
I had my 2000 Odyssey with 130000 miles come up with the check engine sign. Dealer told me that it was a CC problem and wanted $900 for it.. Since my inspection was getting closer, I had no choice except to do it as I had read in this forum about after market CC's and how they did not work. I called Honda of America and after few calls, got them to pay for it.. I am not sure if this will apply to everyone, but at least it is worth a try.
Hello again. I'm the guy with the alleged "air filter cure", back with my tail between my legs. The light stayed off for three solid weeks after replacing the air filter and spark plugs (tune-up). CEL lit up two days ago, and I just confirmed it's the dreaded P0420. Back to the drawing board...
I'm about to add some Prestone 0 to 60 Octane Booster (cleans carburetors and fuel injectors) to the gas tank. If the light remains on throughout this tank full of gas, I'll start trying premium grade for my next few fill-ups. I'm not holding my breath, but if the light goes away I'll report back. Otherwise, assume it didn't.
Sorry...
This is a follow-up to my comments on December 27th regarding my CEL and apparent CC problems. I had the Honda dealership reset my CEL and then proceeded to replace my air filter and used gas additives. This was over 3 weeks ago and my CEL has NOT come back on yet. Furthermore, it PASSED the Oregon DEQ tests two weeks ago with no problems. The more reviews I read about this problem, the more I doubt it's a CC problem (maybe more likely a gas quality problem).
The 3rd CC from Midas seems to be working fine. Midas told me the previous two CC weren't built quite right in that the sensors were to close to some other component. I did replace the last of the two original sensors and have only burned regular gas. If I had it to do over again I would have sucked it up at the Honda place and paid their outrageous $800. Three trips to Midas was a pain and spent the same as I would have at Honda.
Clockwork...I get chills reading the eerily similar stories that we've experienced over the last 6 months with this hunk of junk.
Purchased a 2000 EX in May 07 on a whim from a one-owner senior. We purchased on a whim because we knew we wanted a van and we loved Hondas based on the 163K '95 Accord I have with nothing, but routine maintenance done. We figured "used Honda with 80K, we got at least another 80K to go". Should have done the research about this year model.
It all began in July 07 with the CEL coming on in the middle of the Smokeys on the return drive from a 2500 miles. round trip trek from the midwest to FL and back. We had 88K on the odo. Stopped in at the local Auto Zone and had them run a scan. EGR valve came up as faulty. Guy at AZ said that we could get back home to MO no problem, but we won't be getting good gas mileage. Took into Joe Mechanic in our town when we got back. He ordered after-market EGR, replaced, and cleared CEL. Kid you not... the light came back on as we pulled out of the parking lot of the mechanic. He said he would have to call Honda. Surprise, we needed Honda OEM parts to get it to work. Mechanic got part 2 days later (due to the closest Honda dealership 1 hour away from us). Changed out EGR with "Genuine Honda EGR". Got the car back and GTG for about 3 days. Light came back on... EGR again. Mechanic (scratching his head) said we better take it to the dealership. Did research online that night about this year model and that's when I began to panic. I saw one post say that Honda paid for a new EGR valve outside warranty because they want to wash their hands clean of this year/model Odyssey. Took it to the dealership with what happened with the local dealer and the code we are getting. Of course we had to pay the $100 for them to use their code machine to check the code. We left the dealership to shop for the day and got a call an hour after we dropped it off. It was the dealership saying it is the EGR valve, but CEL is still coming on because the entire EGR system need to be replaced (pipes, valve, components, etc.) They said it would be roughly $1K. My wife started crying and I started researching ways to sell my kidney on the black market. We composed ourselves and called Honda corporate and gave them a long version of our woes. They took our name/number down and said they would call us back. Well... corporate never called us back, but the dealership did! They said that they would replace the system at no charge and accept the old EGR from our hometown mechanic. We ended up $78 out of pocket for labor at our mechanic and he refunded us for parts from the first visit. Problem solved.
Not. About 2K miles. later (Oct 07) the transmission began missing on cold mornings (starts). It would jerk and slip until the car warmed up. Reasearched online... surprise again! The transmission on this years model is a lemon. We thought we would press our luck with the dealer again, but this time we were on vacation to a family's house in another city. Local dealership took it in and ran a diagnostic. The transmission is completely shot. They quoted us $6K (don't know if this is accurate or just dealer pricing). Wife began crying again. I went out and bought some scratchers tickets. We called local tran shops and all suggested going through Honda (believe it or not). We called Honda back and told them to go ahead, they said they would pay for the part if we covered labor. We were pretty happy about that so we started moving money around to prepare for payment. It took them three days because they had to order a part from another city. We were upset about that and was going to plan on chewing them out because it put us a day back in our vacation. We showed up at the dealership and the invoice had a big fat goose egg. Honda was covering us completely for the transmission. My wife hugged the teller and said "God Bless You". We were happy campers and it envigorated our loyalty to the Honda name.
Fast-forward 4 months later. CEL light came on two days ago. Had it checked at local AZ. P0420 something with the catalytic converter. I bought an oxygen sensor to replace myself until I read online. I'm going to go back to AZ and return the oxygen sensor.
The car now has 93K miles and I'm thinking we are going to press our luck again with Honda. I have no choice. All the bad stories I'm reading about Midas CCs and money spent is scaring us. I don't know what else to do.
My advice to you if your woes are just beginning with this vehicle is take it to the dealer. If they aren't telling you what you want to hear, call corporate. It's worth the time and humbleness to beg and plead with them. They want to keep you as a customer and this '00 Odyssey is a bad dream they want to forget. They know it too!
Good luck and Godspeed!
Just a quick follow-up to my 12/27 and 1/21 comments regarding my 2000 Odyssey with the CEL and apparently bad CC. It has now been over 6 weeks and 2,000+ miles since resetting my CEL, replacing the air filter and using the fuel additive. My CEL has not yet come back on. If you read my 1/21 comments, I noted that my vehicle passed DEQ in early January AFTER the CEL had been reset (doubt that could have happened if it really was a bad CC). Still think it might be an issue with the gas. I haven't purchased any Costco gas since then and am only using Chevron, and plan to give it another dose of fuel additive for good measure.
My 2000 Odyssey has never let us down on a trip.. but... let me count: two new transmissions, 2 egrs, 1 catlytic converter. The 1st tranny was replaced free of charge at 60K and then again at 115K also free of charge. My CC went bad and I went with a local muffle shop. CEL stayed off for 1 month then back on again. I took it back to local muffler shop about 3 months later when I finally had time to leave it. The guy replaced the sensors with what he called a "problem solver" which has fixed the Cel now for 5K miles. BTW, that guy charged me nothing for the fix which I appreciated.
I realize now why the local honda dealer keeps bugging me to trade it in... so they don't have to be bothered with the repairs. Its now got 140K miles on it... and if my son wasn't going off to college out of state... well I'd trade it. But I'll just hope I can get another 4 years out of it.
By far and away though, this has been the most expensive car we've ever had to simply maintain.. even with HONDA covering most repairs. Seems like there is a $500 bill at least once a year.
My toyota 4runner has only cost me $300 for the 70k miles I have on it. I think my next minivan will NOT be a Honda!
Boy, you guys have me scared to death! I've got a 1999 Honda Odyssey van that has 93K miles on it and you guessed it, I've got the same P420 code that's telling me my catalytic converter needs to be replaced. I was contemplating replacing it myself with an aftermarket one, but based on what I've read I'd might as well just "flush" the money down the drain! I'm going to try the air filter, fuel additive and buying fuel from a reputable fuel dealer. Hope that works! Unfortunately I live in one of the states (Maryland) where my vehicle won't pass emissions if one of the codes are set. I'll keep you posted.
Can anyone comment on which aftermarket catalytic converters they've tried? It seems like a racket that only the $800 Honda CCs are the ONLY ones that work. Has anyone looked at a comparison... Or are folks just getting parts at NAPA?
http://tinyurl.com/332uhg
Just curious if others have been tried.
Have had a 1999 Odyssey EX since new. Only has 51K miles on it, since it's used mainly for short trips around town, with an occasional 100+ mile trip.
Most services have been normal, all done at the dealership we purchased at, with a few other fixes over the years including: brake replacement, instrument panel light replacement (recall), ignition switch replacement (recall), sliding door latch replacement (goodwill/recall), door dent repair (due to previous latch repair!), wire harness replacement (recall), tire replacement (at Firestone).
Over the years we've received at least 3 warranty extension notices, but never needed to "activate" them:
Nov 2001: EGR System Clogging = 8 years / 80,000 miles
Aug 2003: Transmission = 7 years / 100,000 miles
Aug 2005: EGR Valve Contamination = 8 years / 80,000 miles.
Then in December 2007, at 51K, things started to go wrong.
Check Engine Light came on. Took it to dealer in January 2008. Cause: P1456/P1736. They replaced faulty transmission "3rd pressure switch". Price: $307.
Check engine light came on again 2 weeks later. Took back to same dealer in February 2008. Cause: P0420. They replaced catalytic converter. Price: $930.
Dealer also noticed front motor mount and right side mount broken in January, so had those replaced too in February. Price: $520.
So that's a total of $1757 in 5 weeks. Now I'm planning to take a printout of this site to the dealership along with the EGR warranty extension notices mentioned above and see if I can at least get the money back on the catalytic converter part.
00 EX with 107k. Honda re-manufactured AT at 97k under warranty. I started filling up brand name gas two week ago, The CEL has been off for a week at 3/7/9. CEL was on and off since 97K.
Potential hammer-rapping cure for P0420 problem. My 2000 Odyssey CEL has been coming on since 145K, kept resetting it but would re-illuminate after a day or so. On a hunch, laid on the ground and reached under the car with a hammer. Gave the CC about a dozen raps on bottom, side, ends - not enough to dent anything, but good solid raps. Result: so far, so good. CEL has been off for over two weeks solid. My theory is that the hammer raps knocked off accumulated soot or whatever inside... and is allowing the CC to again function within spec.
Mine is 2000 Odyssey LX 119k miles. I have spent almost $ 5000 since last year on this car. May 2007 it overheated, brought it to dealer for radiator replacement $500. Did 1st tune-up, replaced water pump, timing belt, serpentine belt and spark plugs. 2 months ago, CEL came on, codes for random misfires and multiple cylinders. Mechanic said there's vacuum leak; replace manifold gaskets for $800. After 1 week CEL was on again, this time they said ignition coils for $500. Bought 3 coils from AutoZone and replaced them myself. Disconnected battery to reset CEL, after 1 week its on again. I installed new air filter, didn't help. My next plan it to check EGR and IAC valves. Actually, an ex-honda mechanic suggested using premium gasoline with gas conditioners. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
I also had the dreaded Code. At about 95K we had the CODE and the dealer said a CC for $1100. Went to my local mechanic and had it done for about $400.
Car now has $140K and light came on recently and my neighbor checked the CODE and it was the CODE. Checked old paperwork from the dealer and it was the same CODE. After resetting the CODE it came back on after a few days. Since I had nothing to lose, I thought that I would treat the gas line for moisture and run a good injector cleaner through the system. After my wife made a few trips back and forth to work (38 mile round trip mostly highway) the light went off and has stayed off. We have now put about 450 miles on the car without the Check Engine Light coming back on. We also noticed that the car starts easier.
As it turns out, I have an old Mercedes 420SEL that I always put 93 Grade into. Runs great but for the first time ever I have engine knocking. I filled both cars at the same time at the same station and so I think that the gas was bad where we got it. Unfortunately I don't do a lot of mileage on the Benz so it takes a while to work through a tank. Since we use the Odyssey much more we were able to burn through the tank of bad gas and for good measure filled it with 93 Sunoco. The additive I used was Sunoco V-Power available at Walmart for about $7. Use the name brands such as Chevron, Sunoco, Mobil, etc for better results. Also make sure the gas cap is on tight - a lot of clicks won't hurt you. I'll change the air filter next just to get better mileage. GOOD LUCK