Here's a mod so that you can open the sliding doors no matter what gear you're in. It has only been tested on my own Ody (2008 EX-L Navi+RES) but according to the schematics should work on any 2008 Ody. I don't know about earlier Ody's but I can tell you what to look for if you've got the wiring diagrams for 2005-7. See ckonarske's mod for 2nd-gen Ody's ('99-04).
Lest anyone think this wildly unsafe, this mod leaves the speed sensor connection alone. So the doors won't open while the car is in motion. I do not understand why Honda felt it necessary to add the Park interlock on top of that - and the Park interlock is what this mod addresses. If you don't trust your children to stay belted in, you can always lock the doors. Rationalizing time over.
I'm going to describe the professional way to do the mod. You can do it differently or use other tools than the ones I mention; however, my description will leave you with a professional result. Reversible too so you can undo it if necessary. Assuming you have all the tools and parts, it should take 20 minutes at the most. Yes, it's pretty simple.
Tools needed:
medium flat-blade screwdriver
small flat-blade screwdriver
large pliers or vice grips
wire lug crimping tool
wire stripper and cutter
torx driver (T30)
flashlight or utility light
Parts needed:
6" of 16 gauge multi-strand wire
shrink wrap or electric tape
1 ring terminal crimp connector
1 female spade crimp connector
Step -1: It is not necessary to disconnect the battery.
Step 0: Make sure your sliding doors work properly. (I've read so many complaints about the sliding doors not working properly that it only makes sense to start with a working car!)
Step 1: Remove the front passenger sill trim.
How: Stick your fingers underneath the outside and pry up. There are hinge-like hooks toward the inside so the piece will swing up and into the car. Remove and set aside. You should now see this:
Step 2: Remove front passenger kick panel trim.
How: Ignore the fuse cover door. Reach behind and pull down and out. It's necessary to pull down to clear a button located at the top of the panel evident in this next picture:
Step 3: Expose the brown connector.
How: There's a big white connector in front that is in the way. Now I admit that if you're lazy and willing to risk it, you can simply reach around, cut the blue wire coming out of the brown connector and ground it (continue with step 10). But if you want to be able to reverse it, keep reading...
Pop the white connector off the stud (raise it up) holding it to the wall. Then disconnect the white connector. When you're done, it will look like this:
Step 4: Separate the brown connector from the small white one next to it.
How: I used a pair of channel-lock pliers but vice grips or any big pliers ought to do it.
One jaw underneath the brown connector and the other atop the white connector. Squeeze and the brown connector will pop free.
Step 5: Open the brown connector.
How: Use a big screwdriver to push in the lock and turn it to lever the two pieces apart.
Once apart, it will look like this:
The posting software won't let me put any more pictures in a single post so I'll finish the explanation in the next message.
Lest anyone think this wildly unsafe, this mod leaves the speed sensor connection alone. So the doors won't open while the car is in motion. I do not understand why Honda felt it necessary to add the Park interlock on top of that - and the Park interlock is what this mod addresses. If you don't trust your children to stay belted in, you can always lock the doors. Rationalizing time over.
I'm going to describe the professional way to do the mod. You can do it differently or use other tools than the ones I mention; however, my description will leave you with a professional result. Reversible too so you can undo it if necessary. Assuming you have all the tools and parts, it should take 20 minutes at the most. Yes, it's pretty simple.
Tools needed:
medium flat-blade screwdriver
small flat-blade screwdriver
large pliers or vice grips
wire lug crimping tool
wire stripper and cutter
torx driver (T30)
flashlight or utility light
Parts needed:
6" of 16 gauge multi-strand wire
shrink wrap or electric tape
1 ring terminal crimp connector
1 female spade crimp connector
Step -1: It is not necessary to disconnect the battery.
Step 0: Make sure your sliding doors work properly. (I've read so many complaints about the sliding doors not working properly that it only makes sense to start with a working car!)
Step 1: Remove the front passenger sill trim.
How: Stick your fingers underneath the outside and pry up. There are hinge-like hooks toward the inside so the piece will swing up and into the car. Remove and set aside. You should now see this:
Step 2: Remove front passenger kick panel trim.
How: Ignore the fuse cover door. Reach behind and pull down and out. It's necessary to pull down to clear a button located at the top of the panel evident in this next picture:
Step 3: Expose the brown connector.
How: There's a big white connector in front that is in the way. Now I admit that if you're lazy and willing to risk it, you can simply reach around, cut the blue wire coming out of the brown connector and ground it (continue with step 10). But if you want to be able to reverse it, keep reading...
Pop the white connector off the stud (raise it up) holding it to the wall. Then disconnect the white connector. When you're done, it will look like this:
Step 4: Separate the brown connector from the small white one next to it.
How: I used a pair of channel-lock pliers but vice grips or any big pliers ought to do it.
One jaw underneath the brown connector and the other atop the white connector. Squeeze and the brown connector will pop free.
Step 5: Open the brown connector.
How: Use a big screwdriver to push in the lock and turn it to lever the two pieces apart.
Once apart, it will look like this:
The posting software won't let me put any more pictures in a single post so I'll finish the explanation in the next message.