2002 Honda Odyssey: doors won't lock, open or latch

Filed Jul 23, 2014 · Body, Brakes · VA

For a few months now I have noticed that when I make left turns, whether from a stopped position or a speed of 0-5mph, the van jerks and slows to a almost stop. I am afraid that it will shut down and cause a very serious accident one day. I have called honda a few times to inquire about it and nothing is being done. The breaks are only a year old and seems to work fine but there is a noise every time I push the brakes. Not the usual bad brakes sound but like a tapping sound. Also the 2 passenger sliding doors will not close or open at times as well as the back windows. The motors has been changed in the panel box, please what could it be and is there any help honda should be doing as they have stated these problems aren't under warranty?

Filed Jan 21, 2014 · Body · 125,000 miles · MN

Honda odyssey 2002 minivan, problem with rear sliding doors on minivan where door is opening while car is in motion. Infant seat is buckled into second row seat adjacent to door, causing serious safety issues with driving vehicle with unreliable door opening while moving. After stopping vehicle and manually closing door, noted the door lock mechanism is not working as expected and unable to lock problem door to prevent door from re-opening.

Filed Jun 2, 2012 · Body · 113,000 miles · OH

Driver side sliding door would not close entirely. Driving with my granddaughter in her car seat and the door opened. Pulled over and I tried to close door but did not entirely close. Locked with manual button but still opened. I scheduled with dealership after weekend to check it out and was told needed latch assembly kit. They didn't state why a new latch was needed but had replaced and total labor and part cost $303.00!! Noticed several complaints of doors opening/ not closing properly on this make.

Filed Dec 19, 2011 · Body, Electrical · 140,000 miles · PA

Driver's side sliding door would not latch. Have had intermittent problems with it throughout the years. At those times, I manually close the door. Two times in the past week, I did this. Seemed to have latched since the light went out. Driving down the road with my 3 year old on that side, secured in a car seat and the door opened - even though I had the switch to manual. Had to try to get off the road, while at the same time putting the switch to automatic and holding down the close button. Very dangerous!!!!! After looking on the internet, I found that this is a huge problem. I would think it would be a severe liability for honda. Currently have approximately 140,000 miles on the vehicle.

Filed Mar 9, 2011 · Locks · 35,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 honda odyssey. The contact stated that both the driver and passenger side sliding doors were inoperable and would not open. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where lubricant was applied to the rubber door seals. The failure persisted and as the contact attempted to open the sliding door, the exterior door handle fractured. And the contact had to abruptly kick the interior door panel until the door was opened. The failure continued to recur sporadically and was not further repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 35,000.

Filed Nov 5, 2009 · Locks · IL

2002 honda odyssey passenger power sliding door won't close changed fuses had it into shop can't seem to fix I'l be driving along and the door just opens thank god my kids are grown up.

Filed Apr 1, 2009 · Body, Locks · 97,000 miles · NH

Drivers side passenger door would not close, it would come very close to closing and then would retreat backwards as if something was in its way, though nothing was. I was able to manually close the door. The same day this occurred, my husband checked the car and tried taking out the fuses to see if we could reset the doors "memory'. The door would then close, no door light was lit on the dash, nor was there a beeping noise which indicates door is open. The door did appear slightly ajar though. My husband drove the car down the road, thankfully this time without my kids in the car, and the drivers side passenger door opened by itself on 3 occasions before returning home, only a couple of miles. We have an appt in the morning at a honda dealer to fix the problem. After doing some research on line, other people report the same thing happening to their honda odyssey minivan as well.

Filed Sep 15, 2008 · Locks · 87,000 miles · VA

Driver side passenger rear sliding door will not latch completely. When the car is moving the door disengages and causes the buzzer to sound. Because the door does not latch or close completely the door cannot be locked. The car must be driven with the door not completely latched which is a safety issue as there are small children in the car.

Filed Aug 26, 2008 · Body, Locks · 77,000 miles · VT

2002 honda odyssey ex - left (driver's side) sliding door opened while I was driving with 4 children in the car. At the time I was making a right turn at a slow speed, fortunately they were all buckled in, but they were none the less terrified by the event. My son, who was closest to the door, is refusing to ride in a car. The car is at the honda dealer in keene, where they say that I need to replace the two sliding door hinges for around $500. I have contacted american honda, and they say that there is no tsb for the 2002 honda odyssey sliding doors (they acknowledge that there is one for the 1999-01 models). I have seen several complaints of the sliding doors opening while driving on 2002 honda odyssey's on websites such as carcomplaints.com and carsurvey.org. This was a frightening event and there needs to be, at the very least, a tsb in regards to this defective door. Thank you for your help.

Filed Apr 7, 2008 · Body, Locks · 59,564 miles · WI

The power sliding door on our van failed causing the door to whip open while traveling on the interstate with our children in the seats next to the suddenly open door (our dog was also in the vehicle and could have stepped out onto the road at 65mpg)! We had zero warning that there was a problem or that anything was wrong. Pulling into a service station they were unable to correct the problem nor could honda or its dealers via phone. We were forced to drive home with the door taped from the outside and traveling at low speeds so the door would not open on the highway once again. What really makes the situation difficult is finding out via the internet that this is a very common problem with fixes posted on numerous pages. Why there is not a recall when something this dangerous could happen and is this common is why I am writing. I am afraid to drive the 35 miles to the dealership!!! The problem is still not fixed because I am afraid to take the van on the highway. I don't remember the exact day or month we purchased the van but we did purchase the vehicle new. The internet fix did not cure the problem but we did try and it looked like it worked for others. We did not use aaa to tow the vehicle since we were at a service station and they called around for us to try and get a solution. A minor problem is understandable but when a door suddenly opens at interstate speeds I believe there should be a recall or at the very least an investigation. Please respond so we know something is being done to prevent this from happening to anyone else and before someone or something gets seriously injured. If our dog fell out onto a busy interstate I couldn't even imagine the chaos that would ensue much less the heartache of the children (thank god for childseats!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Filed Feb 4, 2008 · Body · 41,000 miles · CA

Yesterday (2/1/08), odometers read approximately 41,000. Passenger side sliding door refuses to latch close. After open and closing several times, finally a hard push after the last close, the door latches close. This happened 3 times the whole day. Today, this happened again, while my wife was driving with two small child's. The door won't latch & car won't lock a call to honda customer service, got the answer there's no recall on the 2002 odyssey regarding the sliding door. When ask if 2008 model has all the bugs fixed, answer was "what can american honda do for you". You should bring the vehicle to dealer for check up. I answer there's nothing you can do, thanks.

Filed Oct 20, 2005 · Locks · 62,500 miles · IL · 1 injury

The child safety locks on the power sliding doors of our honda minivan disable the doors from being opened from the inside; however, when the sliding doors are open, the doors can be closed using the inside door handle, even with the child safety locks engaged. Our 3 year old daughter activated the open door from inside, hurting her hand in the interior door handle as the door closed (once the door is in motion, the only way to stop it is using the key fob or the dashboard switch). The child safety locks should disable the interior door handle to both open and close the power sliding doors.