2005 Odyssey - Drivers side heat does not work
10-15-2009, 07:05 PM
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2005 Odyssey - Drivers side heat does not work
Hi,
I have a 2005 Odyssey EX? (and a 2003 MDX) with about 76000 miles on it. Everything has been pretty good on it (apart from power steering problems) until recently. As soon as it got cold, we discovered that the Driver side heat does not work. The car has dual zone AC controls; the passenger heat works and the rear heat works. It is just the Drivers side that does not work. I BELIEVE that the air conditioning works fine, but it hasn't gotten hot enough for me to really verify that.
Honda has taken two shots at fixing it. First they said it needed a new thermostat. I was skeptical, but they ordered the part. When it came in, I asked what happens when it didn't work. The service guy chuckled, but of course it did NOT work. They spent another 4 hours fiddling with the computer and calling the Honda "help desk". Ultimately, they decided that the Heater Core needs to be replaced.
Has anyone seen this problem before? Does that make any sense to you guys? I mean, the passenger heat works fine, so what failure mode could cause the heater core to break so that the heat works on one side and not the other?
I realize that this is a huge pain in the butt to fix (and $$$ too). I just want to make sure that they do not take the car apart and figure out that they don't have the right parts to really fix the problem. Any advice you can give would be appreciated.
Thanks!
I have a 2005 Odyssey EX? (and a 2003 MDX) with about 76000 miles on it. Everything has been pretty good on it (apart from power steering problems) until recently. As soon as it got cold, we discovered that the Driver side heat does not work. The car has dual zone AC controls; the passenger heat works and the rear heat works. It is just the Drivers side that does not work. I BELIEVE that the air conditioning works fine, but it hasn't gotten hot enough for me to really verify that.
Honda has taken two shots at fixing it. First they said it needed a new thermostat. I was skeptical, but they ordered the part. When it came in, I asked what happens when it didn't work. The service guy chuckled, but of course it did NOT work. They spent another 4 hours fiddling with the computer and calling the Honda "help desk". Ultimately, they decided that the Heater Core needs to be replaced.
Has anyone seen this problem before? Does that make any sense to you guys? I mean, the passenger heat works fine, so what failure mode could cause the heater core to break so that the heat works on one side and not the other?
I realize that this is a huge pain in the butt to fix (and $$$ too). I just want to make sure that they do not take the car apart and figure out that they don't have the right parts to really fix the problem. Any advice you can give would be appreciated.
Thanks!
10-20-2009, 08:19 PM
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Re: 2005 Odyssey - Drivers side heat does not work
Is the air mix motor any cheaper to fix or do you still need to take apart the entire dash?
I do have a little more info which makes me doubt that the heater core is bad. I got a meat thermometer and shoved it in the duct. The ambient temperature was about 56 (and sunny). I could get the temp to vary anywhere from 43 to 80 degrees on the driver side by manipulating the passenger controls and manually turning off the A/C. I know you have to mess with the passenger controls because the computer doesn't like it when the two are set very far apart. The A/C made the biggest difference - defeating that significantly improved the upper range of temperature.
Does this sound like a mix motor problem, or could there be a computer problem?
I do have a little more info which makes me doubt that the heater core is bad. I got a meat thermometer and shoved it in the duct. The ambient temperature was about 56 (and sunny). I could get the temp to vary anywhere from 43 to 80 degrees on the driver side by manipulating the passenger controls and manually turning off the A/C. I know you have to mess with the passenger controls because the computer doesn't like it when the two are set very far apart. The A/C made the biggest difference - defeating that significantly improved the upper range of temperature.
Does this sound like a mix motor problem, or could there be a computer problem?
10-21-2009, 06:29 PM
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Re: 2005 Odyssey - Drivers side heat does not work
Not quite following you. You got the temp to change between 43-80 degrees by adjusting the passengers temp? And manually turning on the A/C?
As far as the location of the motor, it's easy to replace and is easy to get too.
As far as the location of the motor, it's easy to replace and is easy to get too.
10-21-2009, 07:02 PM
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Re: 2005 Odyssey - Drivers side heat does not work
No, not just the passenger temp. I kept the two temps in sync, for the most part. My point was that if I left the passenger controls alone, the computer would resist greater than 10 degree differentials between the two - at least that is what I have noticed driving the car.
I'll try to take better data tomorrow. It's been a bit tough, though, because we've had really nice weather.
I'll try to take better data tomorrow. It's been a bit tough, though, because we've had really nice weather.
01-22-2010, 07:03 PM
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Re: 2005 Odyssey - Drivers side heat does not work
I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we did figure out what caused this problem. The bad news is that it was really expensive to fix.
Anyway, Honda looked at mine forever and ultimately said it was the heater core. This made no sense since the heat still worked on the passenger side. My shop agreed and felt it was the air mix motor. This shop HAS seen this problem, and they thought that was going to be the problem. However, they had the ability to stick a camera down there and they told me that everything was working just fine. Ultimately, it WAS the heater core. This part is not that expensive, but the labor cost is pretty high - at least 8 hours - because they have to take the dash completely apart to get to the parts regardless of whether it is the air mix motor or the heater core.
My mechanic was curious about the whole problem, so they sawed the heater core in half. They said that it is designed in such a way that one side could get heat while the other is clogged. Indeed, one half of mine was clogged with sediment or something similar. I thought I had had mine flushed, but apparently not (or not good enough).
It cost me close to $1000 at this shop. The dealer wanted more like $1400.
Anyway, Honda looked at mine forever and ultimately said it was the heater core. This made no sense since the heat still worked on the passenger side. My shop agreed and felt it was the air mix motor. This shop HAS seen this problem, and they thought that was going to be the problem. However, they had the ability to stick a camera down there and they told me that everything was working just fine. Ultimately, it WAS the heater core. This part is not that expensive, but the labor cost is pretty high - at least 8 hours - because they have to take the dash completely apart to get to the parts regardless of whether it is the air mix motor or the heater core.
My mechanic was curious about the whole problem, so they sawed the heater core in half. They said that it is designed in such a way that one side could get heat while the other is clogged. Indeed, one half of mine was clogged with sediment or something similar. I thought I had had mine flushed, but apparently not (or not good enough).
It cost me close to $1000 at this shop. The dealer wanted more like $1400.
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03-24-2010, 02:10 AM
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Re: 2005 Odyssey - Drivers side heat does not work
Interesting post dude....discussion are always helpful in one way or the other. Thanks for giving out information. It’s really nice and mean full.
05-19-2010, 08:40 AM
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Re: 2005 Odyssey - Drivers side heat does not work
Has anyone successfully installed a coolant filtration system in a Pilot?
Might this, along with careful attention to the coolant itself, prevent fouling of the core?
Pop
Might this, along with careful attention to the coolant itself, prevent fouling of the core?
Pop
02-08-2011, 09:59 AM
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Re: 2005 Odyssey - Drivers side heat does not work
Hi - I have a 2007 Odyssey Touring and JUST got back from the dealer because my driver's side heat blows cold air (the passenger side and rear vents are fine).
The dealer narrowed it down to the heater core as well but couldn't believe it was already bad after only 30K miles. He called his Honda rep and Honda clearly knows there is an issue as they immediately said that the coating inside the heater core (maybe the hoses too) is likely peeling off and clogging the vents. They were looking into it as they have had some calls lately on it. Therefore, our dealer is going to see if Honda will reduce the cost/help me out (it is a $1,600 job!)
The dealer narrowed it down to the heater core as well but couldn't believe it was already bad after only 30K miles. He called his Honda rep and Honda clearly knows there is an issue as they immediately said that the coating inside the heater core (maybe the hoses too) is likely peeling off and clogging the vents. They were looking into it as they have had some calls lately on it. Therefore, our dealer is going to see if Honda will reduce the cost/help me out (it is a $1,600 job!)
02-09-2011, 02:42 PM
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Re: 2005 Odyssey - Drivers side heat does not work
i have seen this a handful of times also with the heater cores, seen the air mix door motors go which are an easy fix but the heater core is more common. also heating related i have seen a TON of heater valves go bad that causes on both sides though.
02-17-2011, 06:59 AM
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Re: 2005 Odyssey - Drivers side heat does not work
So to close the saga on my heater in my 2007 Odyssey, I learned some interesting things. I ended up having my mechanic look at it and he separately took everything apart and diagnosed that the heater core was clogged. However, he flushed the system which fixed it. So we agreed on a $650 price given how much time he put into it.
Right after that, Honda called me and said they have a known problem with the heater cores in the later model Hondas where the coating peels off and clogs it (must be what my mechanic flushed out). Honda said they would agree to replace the heater core for only $450 to make it right. I thought this was great, but I had already spent the $650 and it worked fine (and now I don't have to worry about the coating peeling off again).
Honda knows there is an issue with this, so if you have this issue with a later model Honda Odyssey (I would say 2007 or later), then it is worth calling Honda about it to save a lot of money.
Right after that, Honda called me and said they have a known problem with the heater cores in the later model Hondas where the coating peels off and clogs it (must be what my mechanic flushed out). Honda said they would agree to replace the heater core for only $450 to make it right. I thought this was great, but I had already spent the $650 and it worked fine (and now I don't have to worry about the coating peeling off again).
Honda knows there is an issue with this, so if you have this issue with a later model Honda Odyssey (I would say 2007 or later), then it is worth calling Honda about it to save a lot of money.
02-26-2011, 04:28 PM
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Re: 2005 Odyssey - Drivers side heat does not work
So to close the saga on my heater in my 2007 Odyssey, I learned some interesting things. I ended up having my mechanic look at it and he separately took everything apart and diagnosed that the heater core was clogged. However, he flushed the system which fixed it. So we agreed on a $650 price given how much time he put into it.
Right after that, Honda called me and said they have a known problem with the heater cores in the later model Hondas where the coating peels off and clogs it (must be what my mechanic flushed out). Honda said they would agree to replace the heater core for only $450 to make it right. I thought this was great, but I had already spent the $650 and it worked fine (and now I don't have to worry about the coating peeling off again).
Honda knows there is an issue with this, so if you have this issue with a later model Honda Odyssey (I would say 2007 or later), then it is worth calling Honda about it to save a lot of money.
Right after that, Honda called me and said they have a known problem with the heater cores in the later model Hondas where the coating peels off and clogs it (must be what my mechanic flushed out). Honda said they would agree to replace the heater core for only $450 to make it right. I thought this was great, but I had already spent the $650 and it worked fine (and now I don't have to worry about the coating peeling off again).
Honda knows there is an issue with this, so if you have this issue with a later model Honda Odyssey (I would say 2007 or later), then it is worth calling Honda about it to save a lot of money.
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