2021 Honda Odyssey: water leaks into the cabin

Filed Jul 13, 2026 · Locks · 32,329 miles · IL

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that the rear hatch failed to release or open as needed. The contact had to enter the rear seats of the vehicle, crawl towards the rear hatch, and manually release the rear hatch from inside the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that there was corrosion on the PTG control unit and harness caused by a water leak from the roof guard stud. The dealer found that the spot weld was not sealed properly. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer confirmed that the vehicle was not covered under warranty or recall. The failure mileage was 32,329.

Filed Jul 1, 2026 · Body, Electrical · NJ

In mid-March 2026, the power tailgate on my [year] Honda Odyssey lost power entirely. It does not respond to the key fob, the tailgate button, or the dashboard button — it will not open or close by any control. I personally inspected the tailgate area and found corrosion and rust present, consistent with prior water intrusion. I have since learned that this is a widely reported issue among 2018–2021 Honda Odyssey owners, and that a class action lawsuit ([XXX] v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California) alleges a defect in rear body seam seals that lets water leak into the power tailgate control module, causing it to fail. The symptoms and physical evidence I found match those described by other owners and in the litigation. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Apr 24, 2026 · Body, Lights · OH · fire

Power tailgate problems caused by water leaking through body seams. A visible gap in the rear hatch allows water to flow into the vehicle and shorts out control module. This has ruined my control module, caused mold and I noticed a burning smell.

Filed Jan 14, 2026 · Body, Electrical · PA

Power tailgate stopped working. Warning indicator indicated Power Tailgate failure. Dealer found water to be leaking onto tailgate unit from driver’s side roof rail. Recommended replacing and programming new PTG unit and resealing water leak. Repair cost was $1,311.51

Filed Dec 3, 2025 · Body · VA

The power tailgate on my 2021 Honda Odyssey suddenly failed. A “power tailgate problem” warning appeared, and the tailgate became completely inoperable. It would not latch manually or automatically, even when applying force. The latch would spring back open, and no mechanical sound came from the door. Because the tailgate would not latch, the interior lights stayed on, and the vehicle continued to display “tailgate open” warnings. I could not secure the tailgate for driving, which created a safety hazard since the door could not be properly closed during travel. A few days later, both sliding doors also stopped functioning, and none of the powered doors (tailgate or sliding doors) would operate from the interior switches, exterior buttons, or key fob. The Honda service center inspected the vehicle and reported that the tailgate control module was corroded and had clear evidence of water damage. They stated that they would not replace the module until the vehicle was evaluated by a body shop because a water leak was likely present and would continue damaging components. The body shop later confirmed that water intrusion was entering through the upper left rear pillar, caused by a leak in the roof seam area. Water traveled into the rear side panel and damaged the tailgate control module and related electrical systems. Their findings were documented and also confirmed by my insurance inspector. Prior to the failure, there were no symptoms. The only warning occurred at the moment the system failed (“power tailgate problem”). The issue occurred without any impact, accident, or misuse. The defects caused multiple powered doors to become inoperable, which is a significant safety risk for both passengers and the driver. Based on publicly available information, this appears to be a recurring problem in 2018–2021 Honda Odyssey vehicles involving water leaks near the rear pillar leading to electrical control module failures.

Filed Apr 3, 2025 · Driver assistance, Electrical · IA

It started that all the sensor in our car started to go off. We were told we had a bad battery, even thought we had replaced it new just last year. Once we had the battery checked and alternator. The sensors started to act up again, out tail gate started to malfunction. Wouldn’t automatically close. A few weeks ago driving down the road the tail gate opened and the anti theft system started going off while the car was running and still going. Come to find out there is a water leak in the rear that has gotten into the rear fuse box and has cause substantial corrosion. The latch to the tail gate is broken. Honda is telling us our extended warranty doesn’t cover any of this, even though it is common knowledge, that the water leak is a known problem from 2018-2021. We just found out a few days ago.

Filed Jan 10, 2025 · Electrical · CA

On 28-Dec-2024 I noticed the power tailgate stopped working on my 2021 Honda Odyssey. I tried to press the power tailgate button on the key fob, the button on the driver's side control panel, and the button on the tailgate itself, but none of them works. I did some research online and found out it's a common problem in 2018 to 2021 models and the cause was the failed Power Tailgate Control Unit due to water leakage through the cracks on the vehicle body. I opened mine and found there was water in the control unit box which might have caused short on the circuit board. I bought a new control unit a week later and it fixed the issue.

Filed Dec 21, 2023 · Electrical · FL

All of the safety system and efficiency systems had failures which made us take to our local Honda dealership for evaluation. After the first visit we were told that they could not find the problem, although they saw all of the error messages. The error messages appeared again 3 days later so we took it back to our local Honda dealership. This time one of the service reps had seen that problem before and said it probably was due to water entering the rear trunk circuit board controller and shorting out the connections. This was confirmed by a service tech during the 2nd evaluation. After research this is apparently a common issue. We had to pay approximately $700 to fix the situation because Honda does not have this issue as a recall. We believe this is a clear design error that allows water to enter the circuit board housing. This created a dangerous situation as the head lamps as well as the driver safety features and direction signals intermittenly worked due to the shorted out circuit board.