Three problems related to check engine light on have been reported for the 2008 Honda Odyssey. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2008 Honda Odyssey based on all problems reported for the 2008 Odyssey.
Takata recall . On the highway I noticed a burning smell with no other indication that anything was wrong. Then check engine light and reving of engine and shifting issues.
2008 Honda Odyssey van - bought brand new October 2008 3 weeks ago, while driving on the freeway, the engine suddenly lost power, cruising to a max speed of only 25 mph no matter how hard you step on the gas pedal. Have to put on the hazard lights and cruise on the shoulder of the freeway to exit on the nearest ramp and have to drive back home using side streets on a speed of only 25 mph, no more, no less. Brought the said van to the Honda service center since it is brand new and still covered with the warranty. Released after 1 week, and was working on the way home without glitch. Then the day after, upon starting the engine, the check engine light went on, and the motor gives off a weird humming sound and won't accelerate to no greater than 25 mph again. Brought the van back for service and after 1 week was released and was working fine when the same thing happens again as forementioned. Have to let the dealer service center tow it back for service again for the 3rd time and have to demand a loaner car at this time while they ponder (or guess) what's wrong with this van.
New 2008 Honda Odyssey ex-l minivan / may 28, 2008 took delivery a few days later, in June. Two weeks ago the engine light mysteriously came on for 1/2 a day and then turned off by itself. A week later the tire sensor light came on. On wed ( Nov 12, 2008) while driving my 3 year old & 8 year old sons to school, the throttle started to stick. It did it once lightly - did not respond when I took my foot off the gas. I applied the brake & the car stopped. The engine settled down and we set out again & it did the same thing. We stopped but were one block away from school & the engine sounded normal again, so we set off again. This time, while going up a fairly steep hill, the engine took over and the throttle went on full blast - the regular brake would not stop the car ! I applied the brake- mashing it to the floor & we kept going forward ! I put it in neutral & put on the emergency brake which stopped the car right before hitting the parking lot fence but the engine was screamingly high & I thought it might blow. I shut off the engine with the key & it stopped. We had aaa tow it back to the dealership 30 min later. The service dept. Did investigate & was able to see the engine light error message from two weeks ago - but we were told that it was "an odd unrelated sensor code" that had nothing to do with the throttle. That code was a sensor malfunction & it was reset. The dealership kept the car over the weekend & on Monday we were told that they were giving the car back to us with nothing fixed because they could not track any other error messages & could not reproduce the problem. The dealership called Honda who declined to replace the computer. The dealership asked if they could replace the computer as good will & Honda told them the dealership would assume all risk for liability - so the owner of the dealership declined to replace the computer. We are now faced with this new/lemon car that has a life threatening computer glitch/virus and no recourse.