Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda odyssey. The contact stated that while the driver was entering a residential driveway, the vehicle erroneously accelerated and crashed into a home. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where the contact was awaiting diagnosis of the failure. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure and current mileages were 113,331. The consumer stated days later at the collision center. When the vehicle was started up it continued to accelerate. Updated 2/11/2013*js updated 03/28/2013*lj updated 04/23/2013
2003 Honda Odyssey acceleration complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 30 of 30, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Transmission failed. When I stopped the transmission was severely smoking. Concerned of a fire, removed the family form the vehicle immediately, and then called for a tow truck. $3000 for a new transmission. Now having to replace the transmission again 20k miles later. Same issue with transmission overheated and has failed. American honda motor is aware of the defective transmissions and will do nothing. This is clearly a design and safety issue honda is failing to address. Spoke with transmission repair facilities and they confirmed it is a design failure and honda is keeping from the public. 1-failed PCM module 2-failed torque converter ( low follow atf fluid causing drag and overheating).
The vehicle was moving at the speed of 55-60 MPH. Suddenly few jerks were noticed and vehicle failed to receive torque/speed from the engine. Engine was otherwise appear to be on and functional. Vehicle came to complete stop on a very busy highway and started rolling backwards (since the highway was up sloping), while in drive mode. Vehicle was then put in park mode. On further attempt, it would not engage in any other gears. Further diagnostics suggested "transmission failure" code p0730, which needed transmission change.
As original owner of 2003 honda odyssey engine buying car from weir canyon honda in anaheim hills california. My engine block light, tcs, lit up at 153,000 miles. I have been experiencing a major transmission problem between 2nd and 3rd gear as car seem stuck and I am unable to accelerate. This is not safe at all since my van can be rear ended when it's stuck in this mode. My mechanic advises everyone from not to buy any honda as his shop rebuilds honda transmission all the time and makes a fortune from the poor victims of honda owners like me. Go to http://www.odysseytransmission.com/home/whattodo consider yourself forewarned! If you're looking for a reliable and safe mini van, do not look at honda odyssey.
Accelerator stuck while traveling on highway. Vehicle would not slow down. Gas pedal was like a sponge and the vehicle just kept accelerating. Rode the brake until I could get to a parking lot where I could not stop the vehicle. Slammed the car into neutral while the engine continued to rev. Then slammed into park and turned off the van. When I tried to start the vehicle 30 minutes later it would not start. I will call triple a to tow me to dealership. Very scary incident especially because I had my 13 year old in the car. Came close to crashing into other cars while trying to slow down.
Minivan started to accelerate upon push of accelerator (rpms jumped significantly). Jerky/harsh acceleration from 0-40. Severe shudder of van when decelerating between gears. Malfunctioning overdrive (will not down shift to d3, 2, or 1st gear while rolling. Reverse gear did not work unless the car was started again.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda odyssey. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing sudden and unintended acceleration. The contact stated that they have had thirty-two separate occasion of the sudden acceleration since purchasing the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure only occurred when they were coming to a stop and traveling no faster than 5 MPH. The engine rpms would then increase and the contact would have to turn the vehicle off. The contact stated that the vehicle had been at the dealer for six weeks. The dealer had eliminated wear and possible electronic causes for the failure. The contact stated a regional inspector for the manufacturer inspected the vehicle as well and advised that there could have been a bunched up secondary floor mat that caused the failure. The contact does not feel the floor mat caused the failure. The failure mileage was unknown and the current mileage was 118,900. Updated 07/27/11*lj the consumer stated the gas pedal only returned to the upright position when the then engine was turned off and sometimes it required two or three cycles to get the gas pedal to return. Updated 08/31/11.
2003 honda odyssey van (85k) shudders when accelerating at about 22 MPH, particularly uphill. I have taken it in twice for this, to the dealer, who says they can find no cause. While I was picking my van up today from being serviced and to address this issue I overheard another customer talking about his van shuddering. His is a 2004 and it happens at 45 MPH. The customer service rep told me that they had 3 vans in today, all with the same complaint. No problems found, but if I wanted to take a technician with me and replicate it I could give them a call.
2003 honda odyssey has a unintended acceleration and had to apply brakes severely to control the vehicle this happened twice for the vehicle and was informed to the dealer and honda of USA.
2003 honda odyssey nothing wrong with the car. Driving home about 40mph, slowed to about 20 to cross a street that is crowned. Started to accelerate, the engine just revved. Coasted to the side about 100 yards ahead to get off the street into a parking lot. Car started working again, proceeded home. Had to stop 2 other times to get back home. Checked the web and there are hundreds of other complaints. Called a reputable transmission service, told me that the entire 2009 year was filled with hondas coming in! In fact, he had an identical honda odyssey there when I got there.this is a giant safety problem! I cannot imagine being in the left 5th lane doing 70 and having this happen- or a lock up! From what I have read on the net, it seems honda does not want to address the issue. This is my second honda. My first went 248k miles w/o any major issue whatsoever! That is why I bought another. This is truly a bad safety issue.
Dt*: the contact stated the radio controls worked intermittently. While on vacation, the cruise control suddenly stopped working. The dealership determined this was a common problem with vehicles of the same year, make and model. The defective part also affected the proper operation of the horn assembly, the steering wheel, air bag sensor, cruise control and radio controls. The dealership replaced the cable and reel assembly. The repair only corrected the problems with the radio controls and the cruise control.
Dt: the contact states while driving at 60 MPH the cruise control stopped working. The fuse was checked, but the vehicle has not been to a mechanic for inspection or repairs.
2003 honda odyssey lunged forward while pulling into a parking space.*mr the consumer also experienced this problem three times with her 1997 odyssey which she purchased new in january 2, 1997. All these incidents occurred on extremely hot days.
I have a 2003 honda odyssey which is experiencing numerous problems. The most severe is that it surges when idling (this occurs when the drivers foot is on the brake pedal). This has been occuring for numerous months and I have returned the van to the dealership on several occasions. If the van is in drive it surges forward, if in reverse it surges back. On 2/9/05 it surged backwards into a concrete pole and caused damage to the rear bumper. I have been attempting to resolve the surging issue with my local honda dealership as well as honda USA (and trying to get them to repair the bumper since the damage was caused through no fault of mine) - and as of this date have not had any resolution. I have researched this issue on the internet and have found numerous people with 02 and 03 honda odysseys having this same surging issue. I am also experiencing the following issues with this van and have returned it to the dealership for each: preset radio stations return to factory default without human invention, passenger side sliding door will not close, front passenger airbag turns off when the seat belt is latched, drivers seat will not remain in position.
The accelerator on the car became stuck as I proceeded on a busy street going 60 miles per hour. I tried to stop the car and was unable to. The brakes only slowed the car down to about 30 miles an hour. As a result, I was unable to stop at a red light. Fortunately, that day traffic was light. I was able to eventually stop the car. The honda dealer found the accelerator cable stretched, causing engine to stay accelerating because cable was getting caught up in cable sleeve. Accelerator cable was replaced.
After leaving church, my daughter began to back out from a parking space in our 2003 honda odyssey. She turned to look back as she slowly pulled out of the space. Upon leaving the parking space she turned forward to shift into drive. At that point the van continued moving backward. I yelled to my daughter to brake to which she replied, "I am. I am!" but as she attempted to brake the engine revved and the van seemed to lunge backward on its own over a curbed grassy median and back down onto an adjacent parking lot and into another parked car. The distance travelled was approximately 110 feet. There is some confusion over whether or not my daughter was successful in shifting into drive. However, once the van came to a stop I leaned over to shift it into park, and at that moment it was in drive. Regardless. We both had the feeling that the vehicle was out of control. It was very strange!
While driving 45 MPH, the driver depressed the brake pedal to slow the vehicle down. The vehicle continued to accelerate which caused a collision with two vehicles that were stopped ahead. The driver had to force the vehicle into park to get the vehicle to stop. The front air bags didn't deploy and the vehicle was declared totaled. *jb
On february 11/2003 while exiting the school drive way, the vehicle began to accelerate on its own. The driver tapped the brake and the engine speed increase even more. On november 9/2003 once again the same sudden acceleration. As a result, the driver lost control of vehicle. The vehicle went airborne and landed on the neighborhood fence. There were no injures. The dealer inspected the vehicle several times but the problem had not been resolved. *nlm *sc
Complaint analyst wrote to determine any laws violated by manufacturer, as written by the consumer. As stated in a couple of accidents, the vehicle lurches forward when shifted into gear to reverse. *la the consumer made a u turn, stopped, placed the vehicle in reverse, when suddenly the van surged fast into concrete stairs of a house. *sc
While driving, the cruise control failed to disengage, the consumer was unable to stop or slow the vehicle down. The consumer shut off the ignition and cruised to the shoulder. *ak
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