Looking for answers on some strange behavior in a 2005 Honda Odyssey minivan. We have had to jumpstart this car a few times in the past, since one of the kids will occasionally leave a dome light on and we sometimes fail to notice this. About a year ago we replaced the battery. Recently, some weird electrical happenings have left us scratching our heads.
Saturday: Cold weather, but not extremely cold (about 10 F). Car starts fine. Drove ten minutes to store. Power side door won’t operate (have to push it shut manually.) After half an hour in store, we return. Power side door opens fine, car starts normally.
Later that day: Car will not start. Won’t even crank. We begin to set up a jumpstart. I’m starting to think that the battery is failing prematurely, or the alternator is failing to charge the battery, or perhaps there is an unknown draw on the battery that I need to track down. But here is where it gets a little weird. I push the van into the driveway and align our other car close enough to jump. Van is now in park, keys in ignition, ready to attempt start. Jumper cables are in back of van. I open the rear hatch and grab cables. I close hatch. Upon closing, van instrument cluster lights up. Van will now start and drive as normal.
Sunday: Van acts normally. Four starts, each trip about ten minutes.
Today. Van starts, drives 10 minutes to destination, parked for 2 hours, then will not start.
Usually, when the van gets jumpstarted, both the radio and the nav system ask for a security code to restart (normal for when battery dies or is disconnected.) Sometimes, however, only the nav system needs the code, and the radio is fine.
So, does anyone have a theory as to how opening and closing the rear hatch could instantly resuscitate the car? Loose wire? But what wire in the back of the car would be essential for the ignition? The battery cables are tight at the terminals.
Slamming the door may shake the wires and connectors some. It may have a bad ground or other connection. About once a year I go around the car and loosen a little then tighten down the various ground wires such as those from the battery to the engine, battery to frame, and frame to engine.
Also check the battery cables very closely. Sometimes the wires get corroded or frayed and it’s sometimes where it’s not very visible. I had to replace the battery wiring harness for my wife’s PT Cruiser a few years ago. One of the cables was all but gone.
Have you used a voltmeter on the battery with the engine running? It should be over 13 volts DC minimum. But I don’t think this is the problem.
We had a similar issue with our 2002 Odyssey after trouble-free ownership for about 4 years. Car working fine one day, dead the next. Replaced battery, same thing a few weeks later. Jump start, worked fine for a few weeks, then some random morning it was dead. We took it to the dealer and explained what was going on, they kept it for a few hours and could not identify anything specific. They did, however, check all wiring to ensure it was all wrapped and secured properly (the wiring in the dash, where you normally would not access it), and they made some adjustments there, and we have not had this problem since.
So, confirming what JerrySTL said - have the wiring checked by the dealer, as there is probably one wire contacting a metal part somewhere hidden that is draining your battery.
Thanks for the replies. I had not considered the grounding wires-- definitely worth checking, along with a closer look at the battery cables. My inspection may have been cut short by freezing fingers.
I have read threads on odyclub.com but never joined. Perhaps it’s time.
My wife has made an appointment at a local independent shop, but if they’re stumped we’ll try the dealer.
I’ve owned two Odys and have found the community there to be one of the best single-topic ones around. I’d bet that if you post your problem in the same detail as above, someone will tell you exactly what’s wrong, including where to get the replacement connector that’s causing the problem.
I went to the parking lot where the van was stranded earlier today. Looked at all wires I could reach. One connector was loose, so I removed and re-installed it. The battery terminals were pretty dirty, so I cleaned them. The negative terminal was a little loose, which was either a new development since the weekend, or something I did not notice earlier. So I tightened it as best I could. The cable clamps on this car are a pain to use and do not seem to grip very well. I bought some little shims that fit over the battery terminals, but they turned out to be too thick for the cable clamps to fit over them.
Anyway, the car started without issue, so either I fixed the problem by my tightening and cleaning, or the intermittent problem was showing its intermittent-ness. If the problem is gone for good I will look into securing the battery cables better. It seems to be a common complaint on these cars.
