Five problems related to tailgate have been reported for the 2009 Honda Odyssey. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2009 Honda Odyssey based on all problems reported for the 2009 Odyssey.
On two recent occasions, the tailgate has lowered itself without the driver pressing the tailgate button on the dashboard or on the tailgate itself. It lowers without giving the normal audible signal. And in both cases, there was a minor injury occurring as a result of the problem. Once to a child, and the latest to an adult. In the latest incident, the drivers head (ear) was impacted by the downward force of the tailgate, pressing the head against the left rear corner of the vehicle while the driver was leaning into the rear compartment. Very painful to the driver's left ear, but not immediately requiring medical attention. The service department of our local Honda dealership - where the vehicle is normally maintained - states this VIN is not under recall for faulty tailgate struts or related.
The tailgate struts that support the tailgate (back) door of the minivan failed (collapsed) when the door was in its open position. This caused the back door to slam shut with great force. The struts are cylinders filled with gas under pressure used to pop the door open and hold it open. The door is very heavy and did not fail in a failsafe manner (lockup for example), instead the system failed to support the door in its open position. There is a recall on this very problem, make, model and year: Honda Odyssey 2009, however, my VIN was not included in the recall. Honda inc confirms that they are receiving reports like this one from other people whose cars were not made part of the recall.
The struts failed to hold up the tailgate and fall on my wife head, during the loading of our groceries on our recent grocery's outing. The two gas-powered tailgate struts (support rods) that raise and hold up the power tailgate of the Honda Odyssey van's equipped with them failed to hold up the tailgate. They are now no longer functional.
While opening my tailgate on my Honda Odyssey van yesterday at around 6:00 p. M. It fell down on my head. What would cause that to happen? I did not do anything to try and fix it. The dealership was closed.
As I was unloading groceries from the rear of my van, the lift gate suddenly and unexpectedly dropped on me. I was not injured but if I had been a small child or a weak elderly person it could have had tragic results. The same problem occured when I tried to open the gate a second time while standing safely away from the vehicle. The problem seems to be with the stay assembly tailgate opener which keeps the gate in the open position. There was no problem earlier in the day when I loaded groceries into the van however. .