2000 Honda Odyssey EX from North America - Comments

2001 Odyssey has been to the shop 6 times (the first was about a week before the warranty runs out) because my manual doors were sticking. The first 2 times they lubricated everything. The 3rd they replaced the door seals and center roller ($500).

The door hasn't closed flush since. I picked the car up and they said the door was "perfect". Lets just say that when I got the car home (and in the light), it was much less than perfect.

--pl.

Okay, here goes; YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO FIX THE DOORS!!! Not completely anyways. I worked in Shelburne Ontario Canada for a while at the plant that makes the subassembly for these. The problem is basically due to incompetence at the management level. I actually had a "Group Leader" tell me to "Get the F#%&$ out of here" after explaining that I wasn't trained to do maintenance on one of the robots!!! This is normal here. I'm not saying this to "get back" etc, It's just fact.

The employees really do try, but are overworked and undertrained and often bullied. For instance this problem:

They are required to inspect the tracks for burrs as once the vehicle is built it can't be fixed!!! Usually a new employee can check about 3, then trying to keep up cannot physically check anymore!!! They also screw up the sensor mount for the same reason. Again, I stress, THEY DON'T MEAN TO!!! This plant was designed for 350 units per week and in 2000 when I was there they were up to 650 shooting for 800!!! With equipment breakdowns and Honda fining them for "Quality issues".

Unfortunately, the consumer pays for this. I actually like this vehicle, but would not buy one as I've seen the conditions they're built under and wouldn't trust my 3 daughter's lives to one because of it.

Den.

The above makes interesting reading! We have a 1999 Odyssey and are very pleased with it on the whole. We had a door problem once - in winter of course, where we experience very cold weather - but not since. However, we have had recurring break noise problems - rear - which just don't want to go away. The rotors/drums have been skimmed and even replaced - still noisy when braking fairly gently as the vehicle comes to a stop.

A couple of other comments. A solenoid is not a motor, but an electric 'switch'. We found turning the buzzer off at the panel helped when we had the door problem too. And it took many visits to finally get that 'engine' light to stay off until required. We bought extended warranty after several visits to the dealer, and would recommend it highly.

The Odyssey is definitely a classy vehicle, and a dream to drive. (We previously had a disaster of a 1998 Windstar - never again!)

Bought the Odyssey 2000EX in 2001 and the past two Decembers, when the weather turned cold, the passenger sliding door locked up. First frost this morning and, sure enough, a dead door for the third time. The vehicle is now off warranty and so now it's our responsibility. Let me know if there is any class action activity going on, because there certainly appears to be grounds. Email cehnis2000@yahoo.com.

Bought the Odyssey 2000EX in 2001 and the past two Decembers, when the weather turned cold, the passenger sliding door locked up. First frost this morning and, sure enough, a dead door for the third time. The vehicle is now off warranty and so now it's our responsibility. Let me know if there is any class action activity going on, because there certainly appears to be grounds. Email cehnis2000@yahoo.com.

I have a 2000 EX for about four years. Never had many problems except with two recalls: sliding door and dashboard light. That was until now. The driver's auto side sliding door was having problems of sounding the buzzer while driving occasionally. Recently, there was a freezing rain, and the door was frozen, trying to open it failed, so did the other door. However, when the ice melted, the right door worked fine, but the left door went dead, and the "sliding door" light at the dash board came on, which dictates a visit to the dealer. I was told the total repair bill will be $85 (for diagnosis) and $780 plus tax. The dealer said a Junction switch need to be replaced for both sides, I balked at the cost, he told me that he will try to see if Honda can cover the cost although it's out of warranty on time (4 years) but not on mileage (35k miles). It could be because many customers were having the same problem, later he told me that Honda will cover it. Lucky for me. However, I will have a non functional door for three weeks.

'99 Odyssey - 3 Transmissions Later

Haven't even finished paying off the loan and we're working on our 3rd Tranny! How deflating. I was wondering if I am covered under the lemon law. If so how do I go about it?

Evidently the bearings keep wearing on the driver side, resulting not only in worn bearings, but a break in the seal. I had this exact part replaced in August of 2002. It seems like a two year problem. I don't know what will happen when the warranty expires.

Honda Odyssey:

Earlier, an individual mentioned the problem of the door sliding smoothly, but not actually "pulling in" or latching. One door on my van is intermittent, sometimes it works, other times not. The other one is fine. A push on the edge of the bad door will shove it in.

I have cleaned and oiled the track, but cannot figure out, by looking, just exactly what mechanically is taking place with that final little "latch action." I see that side of the door has a hinge with a spring on it, and some nuts, but I am reluctant to start tinkering.

It seems that the door motor is fine and reliable, but whatever "pulls in" the door at the end is not adjusted or working properly in some way. It does not seem like a motor problem to me, but does anyone have an answer. Thanks.

Sliding door light on my Honda Odyssey 2000EX turned on after the seat belt prevented the passenger door from sliding completely shut. The automatic sliding door was non-functional for about two weeks... until I read the post suggesting a reset of fuse 13 on the passenger side kick panel. Pulling this fuse out for 30 seconds to "reset the code" worked the magic.

THANKS for saving me a trip to the dealer and who knows how much money!!!

In reply to the 29 July 2004 comment: I think there is a separate motor for the last "pull in" of the door. On my 2001, there seems to be a separate fuse for each door. Pulling the fuse didn't stop the door from motoring forward, but it stopped short of pulling it in (it just hummed). So, maybe a separate motor, or a solenoid, is involved in the final "pull in".

At least that is how my passenger side door works. The other stopped working all together a couple of days ago, and it is going to cost $350 to fix it. The junction switch needs to be replaced.

I just tried pulling the 13 fuse and it worked. I have a 2000 Honda Odyssey EX. Anyone experiencing a door problem please try this. I'm not sure why it works, but I'm happy that it does. I was using a single door for about two months. Thanks to the individual for posting a solution that doesn't cost hundreds of dollars!!!

The 41 comments preceding this one are very interesting, indeed. We have a 2002 Honda Odyssey EX, and the problems previously described regarding the electric sliding doors for the 1999 - 2001 models have unfortunately followed with the 2002 models, based on our experience. We really like our Odyssey, except for those frustrating electric doors. Our Odyssey has been in the shop 3 times and they still do not work properly. While it does seem worse in winter, we experience problems during the summer as well. Do we regret buying the Odyssey? Not at all. But would we buy another one? This is not certain, given apparent improvements in the Sienna and Caravan which are now comparably sized and now have the foldaway rear seats...

We have a 2000 Honda EX, and had been generally happy with it, but have experienced some problems. In the first year we had the car, the right passenger door would not always work. At my first tuneup, I took the car to the Honda dealership, and told them that the door was intermittently not working. Of course, they said they checked it out, and didn't find anything wrong. As time progressed, the problems with the door got worse, until it didn't close fully on a more regular basis, and finally now the power is totally gone. I have under 42K miles on the car! When I called the dealership, they said it would not be covered under the warranty. My tune up papers (which were dated within the first year of ownership, and within the warranty period)clearly stated on the invoice that I claimed a problem was occurring with my right passenger door. I believe that they should have done the honorable thing and covered the door, since the problem was claimed and noted during the warranty period. It isn't my fault that they couldn't detect the problem. Oh well. My lease is expiring, and at this point, I just want to give back my lemon. I have had other minor problems, such as squeaky breaks, a problem with my navigation system, skipping sometimes on the CD player, and the air /heat does not work in the rear (the control only works if I put it on the highest setting).

Tomorrow morning I will try the advice of the person who suggested pulling fuse 13 to fix the door problem. I hope it works. Thanks to all of your comments. It's good to know that there are others experiencing the same frustrations... I will think twice before buying another Honda.

Unbelievable - It worked! I too have a 2000 Odyssey am have experienced electric sliding door problems. Until two days ago the door would stick when it first started opening. You would have to pull it out from the rear of the door for it to continue opening on its' own. Two days ago it just stopped working altogether and the "sliding door" light on the dashboard came on.

I tried all the classics like checking the appropriate fuses and cleaning the track, all to no avail, but today I found a comment on this discussion board about pulling fuse 13 for 30 seconds. Seemed strange, but it was worth a try. Well much to my surprise (and pleasure) it actually fixed the problem.

While I'd love to hear the explanation for this, since fuse 13 is the clock fuse, I'm sure glad to have found this unexplainable fix. Much thanks to the poster of that suggestion.

I have a 2001 model bought in 2000, and have about 78K km on it. It sounds interesting that pulling fuse #13 (Clock reset) can fix the door jamming problem. I certainly will have to try it. But can it also fix the light on the clock as well which suddenly went out on me? Hopefully someone can share some details on how to fix the light rather than having me pay the dealer $$ to fix it.

And how about the clicking sound at the front of the car... around the brakes area. My dealer replaced my strut-arm which was under warranty, but the noise is even louder now. Any suggestions on what to look for helps!! Has it also got something to do with the fact that the van pulls to the right? Every time my dealer balances and aligns my wheels, it gets worse. The only time when it seemed to drive straight was when I had winter tires put on by a tire dealer, who aligned my wheels as part of the package.