Steering Is Tight problems of the 2006 Honda Odyssey

While there is already a Honda service bulletin issued concerning problem (bulletin #: 11-039). The response by Honda is not adequite. The problem is that the steering wheel is hard to turn at low speeds (such as turning into and out of parking spots). Although this defect with the power steering pump only occurs at low speeds it it still a safety issue. The fact that is is very hard to turn the sterring wheel can reasonable lead to pedestrian accident such as pedestrian becoming pinned against a car. Honda extended the warrenty on this part to 7 years / 100,000 miles. I have under 80,000 miles on my car but Honda claims I am a few months beyond the 7 year date. Honda should be required to further extend this warranty as many people will not be able to afford this expensive repair and it could leave to injury to persons in parking lots.

At low speeds the power steering is very tight and difficult to turn the wheel. Example: parallel parking.

Power steering is hard to turn while parking.

While the vehicle was in the slow motion or trying to park position, the steering is very tight and unable to handle the vehicle. The other day I am almost hitting a vehicle becuase I am unable to turn the van while pulling from a parking lot. . Read more...

I received a letter from the american Honda dated summer 2011, regarding the warranty extension of the "steering wheel is hard to turn at low speeds and engine rpm. " the term is up to 7 years or 100,000 miles. I bought my van in August of 2006, however, since I drive almost 100 miles a day (home to work), I have more than 100,000. Here is my concern, I have been complaining about this said problem (regarding the steering wheels is hard to turn) in the Honda dealer in corona even before receiving this letter, but all they said that it could be related to cold weather. Later on about 4 months ago, they said the power steering pump needs to be replace. Right after I received this letter from american Honda, I gave them a call and told them that I'm already having this problem before, and that this is a known problem, but I didn't do anything about it because I was broke. I asked them if I can bring my van to the dealer to have them replace the power steering pump eventhough my mileage now is more than what they want which is 100,000 miles. They said, they can't help me because they are strict on warranty extension. And, since my mileage is now 165,000 miles, they can't help me even if the years qualifies me. They said to contact my local dealer where I bought the car and where I bring my car for repair and see if they can give me a discount to fix it. The point is it is not fair for them to set a limit on their warranty because this is an obvious factory defect. They should have covered the Odyssey 2006 regardless of the mileage because based on this letter, it is obvious that there is a lot of complains about it. I do not have the money to fix this problem, but I am hoping that by reporting this, we can consider this product defect as a recall.

Tl * the contact owns a 2006 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that the power steering was hard to turn and would sporadically exhibit an abnormal noise when driving at low speeds. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer had been contacted to report the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileage was 48,356.

When driving my 2006 Honda Odyssey at speeds under 10 mph, the steering wheel is extremely hard to steer. When driving above this speed, the steering seems to be function properly.