2020 Honda Odyssey: battery drain or dead battery

Filed Oct 24, 2025 · Engine · CA

I was driving with family to a family trip up to the mountains to enjoy the snow when at a rest area I noticed the odyssey just had a slight delay to turning on before continuing the trip. No lights no signs of anything going wrong. As we continued our trip back onto the freeway on a curvy road and night time the odyssey didn’t want to shift gears wouldn’t speed up for freeway traffic. Immediately started pulling over. The odyssey would make like jerking movements decided to call the tow truck and it quickly escalated to draining the battery. After being at the tow facility for one night it completely didn’t want to even turn on next day. Put a new battery and still drains the battery. I took it to Honda service to run a diagnostic and they come back saying the engine is seized. No lights no signs didn’t see this coming with only 87,000 miles. With a black screen displaying electrical issue at times.

Filed Oct 18, 2025 · Driver assistance, Electrical · GA

Complete infotainment system loss and screen blackouts Repeated “Network connection lost” errors Inoperative reverse camera and parking assist systems Ongoing 12V battery drainage due to system faults My Honda dealer has diagnosed the problem as a defective floor wire harness and advised that the entire harness kit must be replaced at an estimated cost of approximately $7,000. While I greatly appreciate the 80% goodwill coverage already offered, the remaining $1,400 out-of-pocket expense is still a significant hardship — particularly since this is a known and documented defect affecting vehicle safety systems. This issue directly impacts the federally mandated rear visibility system (FMVSS 111), rendering the reverse camera and related safety functions inoperative. As such, this is not simply a convenience or infotainment problem, but a critical safety concern. Honda is charging $7000 to fix it and now it says it’s the floor harness kit. They are only covering 80%. I’m required to pay 1400 even though this is a known problem with this vehicle and it’s been occurring since I have owned the vehicle due to multiple visits to the dealership for a resolution, thousands of dollars being spent trying to figure out what it was, we already replaced the head unit and Head unit harness, multiple sensors on the doors, which were not even necessary because the battery was draining from the head unit and now I have no camera and my car is crashing and shutting off and Honda is refusing to escalate

Filed Jul 8, 2025 · Driver assistance · MD

My Honda Odyssey, after a hot summer day showed error codes related to the front camera. The Adaptive cruise control problem (ACC), Auto high-beam (A); Road departure mitigation system, collision/braking mitigation system; lane keeping assist problem (LKAS) now are non-functional. Various internet users complain of the same issues without a conclusive source for the problem. It is either related to battery voltage or front-camera failure (possible due to heat/sun exposure). The 2020 vehicle was purchased used from dealer in 2024 where the battery was stated to have been replaced/new. Further, my vehicle has the infotainment package (TV/DVD) which has also previously drawn down the battery even after the car was shut off (i.e., the electronics and/air conditioning are drawing too much battery and causing low voltages that impact the camera-based sensors). Multiple internet users complain of parasitic battery draw, fuses, poor oem batteries, and faulty behaviors with the camera system.

Filed Jun 2, 2025 · Driver assistance, Electrical · MO

Our Odyssey has had mounting concerns w/electrical system. These are safety issues. 10/20. Work done related to electrical system-rear camera having issues. Left/rt rear door wires were replaced due to recall. Software update completed. Gage control module software updated-know issue.10/23: rear windshield wiper not functioning-electrical issue & pump malfunctioned. Idol stop was not properly working. The car would stall out at stoplights as lifting foot off the brake & attempting to accelerate. Battery was replaced at this time & the vehicle was only 3 years old-we were charged. Issues with our car are electrical related & are seeing many others with similar issues. 8/24-11/24: key fob batteries died. After batteries were changed, issues with the power windows began immediately. Windows would not going/up or down all the way and were sticking. Soon after they stopped working all together. Auto locks wouldn’t work & the gas tank latch had to manually open to fill the gas tank. Finally took the car in for diagnosis. Said the motor in the door was broken & needed to be replaced. We were not convinced that this was the real issue b/c the problem began immediately after the fob battery issue. Instead of new parts, the dealer glued pieces together & gave us a discounted price. This was & is a real safety concern especially knowing windows were altogether not functioning & we don't believe that it was properly addressed. 2/25: After snow/icy weather front passenger side windshield wiper dispenser/sprayer wasn’t working. Upon checking, discovered it had become dislodged. Adjusted the piece & reattached this piece into place. As soon as car was turned on ,right after reinserting the piece into place warning lights came on-all brake/lane mitigation lights. After diagnosis, said it was an issue with camera at windshield & the camera needed to be replaced. Odyssey groups state electrical issue are know and many w/2020 Odysseys. 5/25 Issues are beginning again with idol stop.

Filed Mar 29, 2025 · Electrical, Engine · KS

My 2020 Honda Odyssey died at a stop light while driving on 5/12/2023. The auto on/off feature caused the van to turn off at a stop light and then there was not enough power in the battery to start the car again. It had to be towed to the Honda dealership where they could not diagnose the issue. They said the alternator was fine and the battery charged up fine. So no root cause found. Then 6/26/2023 - I drove the van for an hour to the airport and back, parked it in the garage (engine off) for about 10 minutes, and the van struggled to start but did on the second attempt. Then on 7/7/2023 - my wife took the van to the store, came back home and parked it in the garage with the engine off. She came back 5 minutes later to leave again and the van wouldn’t start. The battery was drained. Now it’s sitting on a trickle charger just so I can take it into the dealer. On 7/10/23 - I had the battery replaced and the Dealer did some sort of warranty work to help and that corrected the issue. UNTIL it died again On 11/27/23, I had to get yet again another battery as the same issues began happening and it was deemed a “bad battery”. Throughout 2024 and now into 2025 I continually have the same issues where the vehicle will stutter but still managed to kick back on after an auto shutoff. I have been to the dealer countless times and they continually tell me there isn’t anything wrong. Something is happening that causes this - whether is an electrical parasitic drain or something else. I have heard that other vehicles this has happened to but Honda claims nothing. I also had a case opened with Honda on this that never went anywhere - Case #13952151 There is clearly something wrong and not being able to diagnose it is even more frustrating given the issue. If it drains while driving - I CANNOT DO ANYTHING. I can’t even put it in Neutral to move it manually because everything is electronic!!

Filed Mar 27, 2025 · Electrical, Engine · VA

I am filing this complaint regarding a serious safety defect that persists in my Honda vehicle following Honda's PGM-FI Idle Stop software update. Recently, I experienced a dangerous incident on [XXX] outside Washington, DC. My vehicle completely stalled in heavy traffic, leaving me unable to start my car on the highway. The vehicle would not restart for approximately one minute, creating a significant safety hazard as traffic moved around me. Of particular concern was that during this incident it is not clear whether or not the airbag system would deploy since the car was off. This is a major safety issue and, reviewing complaints online, I am not the only customer to experience this, despite having received the software update. This is not an isolated incident. The vehicle's auto start-stop feature continues to malfunction, repeatedly shutting down when it goes into idle. This issue is also causing significant battery drain, making the vehicle increasingly unreliable and unsafe to operate. Worse, Honda indicates that this feature can act up when the battery is low, but the feature itself drains the battery. You can turn the feature off every time you get in the car, but this is not a fix. I have been informed by Honda there is no way to permanently disable the feature. I strongly urge the federal safety agency to investigate this matter. The current recall repair has proven insufficient to resolve the safety defect, and the malfunction creates unacceptable risks for me and my family. This issue requires immediate attention to prevent potential accidents and ensure the safety of all road users. Please require Honda to implement a repair that allows consumers to permanently disable this feature. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Dec 29, 2022 · Electrical · NC

The speakers of our Odyssey crackle and pop despite completing the recall (MOST bus connectors) recommended by Honda. It has progressed to affect the entire infotainment unit. The unit shutdowns repeatedly while driving which means that the backup camera fails, as well as any navigation one is using while traveling. The hands-free phone features are also affected as one cannot connect their phone to the car. We've attempted repairs at the Honda dealership but they have been unable to provide a permanent fix. Each time they try to replace a connector or un-kink a wire, the problem returns within days. Most recently, the battery died and the car was unable to start due to the constant restarting of the infotainment center.