Alternator/generator/regulator problems of the 2002 Honda Odyssey

The contact owns a 2002 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 mph, the air conditioning turned off and the engine lost power. All the warning indicators illuminated. The contact discovered that the alternator bracket was fractured. The failure occurred three other times. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000.

While driving the vehicle normally, we noticed all of the dashboard "idiot lights" coming on intermittently when we would make a turn or decelerate. Finally they came on and stayed on and the air conditioning stopped working. We took the van to our trusted mechanic and he found a broken alternator bracket. He welded it and sent us on our way. Two weeks later, the same problem happened. He then installed a new alternator bracket. About 10 days later, the same problem occurred and he found the new bracket had also broken. He thought that perhaps the alternator was "dragging" on the belt and causing strain on the bracket, so he replaced the bracket and alternator. Car worked fine for another week and then the same problem occurred. He researched the issue and found that this is a design problem with Honda Odysseys, but that Honda is not fixing the problem. Also, because my van is a 2002, he said that Honda would not likely help me in any way. I called Honda and that was indeed the case. I am having a fourth bracket installed and we'll see how long this one lasts.

About 20+ times, while driving and then applying the brakes at low speed, all of the dashboard/instruments panel lights flashes on briefly, then turns off. The Honda dealer could not fix this problem because they could not reproduce this intermittent problem. Then on 10/14/2011, the same thing occurred again but in addition to all of the dashboard/instruments panel lights flashing, the steering wheel locked up where it could not be turned and almost caused an accident (almost ran over a pedestrian). Luckily the brakes still worked. After turning off the engine, pulling out the key, and then restarting it, the problem went away. . Read more...

While driving, all the warning lights illuminated on the dashboard. The dealership replaced the alternator on November 2002 then the consumer received a NHTSA recall letter on the alternator. The dealership replaced the alternator. One month later, while driving the problem recurred. The dealer replaced the component on April 29, 2003.

Consumer states while driving, sometimes all the indicator dash lights came on. The consumer was told by the mechanic, since they were unable to duplicate the problem, they could not repair the vehicle. Then she states the same thing happened again and she took the vehicle to the dealer, this time she states they told her that the problem was her alternator, which they replaced. Then she states on 4/16/04, while she was driving all the indicator lights came on again, but this time she heard a funny noise. She states that her spouse, then got out of the vehicle and lifted the hood. There he found that the serpertine belt had come completely off.

When driving my Odyssey, normally in the 30-50 mph range, all or most of the dashboard indicator and warning lights will flash intermittently for a brief second or two. The numerous (25 + ) times this has happened is frightening because one thinks the van has stalled. There seems to be no pattern or connection such as playing/not playing radio, a/c, amount of gas, etc. . . I will say 75-85% of the occurences happen on the road leading to our subdivision (usually 30-50 mph driving). Also, I'm sure there have been instances I have missed it because it can happen so quickly; one actually has to be looking at the panel. Honda says to drive the van since it is not stalling and there appears to be no inherent danger. Honda's policy is they cannot do anything until they replicate the problem. Interesting! what are they going to do when it happens --- there's no time to take a picture. I've considered running a video camera, but it's so unpredictable when it will happen. There seems to be about a dozen different instances of this happening (according to Honda), but they cannot replicate the problem. Guess what? the replication is not likely going to happen unless a service manager or technician takes temporary ownership of one of these vehicles for a month or two. Sometimes the flashing occurs once every month or two, maybe several times in one day or a week. Just because the service technicians cannot duplicate the problem, does that mean some of us are hallucinating? is anything being done or explored based on the information given. Honda, imagine this: if you actually replicated the problem and saw all the dashboard panel warning and service lights flash, what would that mean to you and what would you do? this is not imaginary! I am keeping written documentation of each time this issue is checked and reported, mainly for post-warranty issues.

Srs warning light remains illuminated on dash board. The dash lights illuminated and the steering wheel audio controls went haywire. When the consumer pushed the up button on the radio, it changed the track number. When the consumer pushed the down button, it turnred the volume up. One dealer replaced the steering column and fixed the audio problem. This didn't work. Another dealer replaced the alternator, which seemed to have worked.