[Mexjames]

Hi there!

Ours is a 2003 Odyssey with about 65,000 miles on the clock.

Lately is has shown some trouble climbing a long grade, which is more or less steep. In the past the minivan has had no trouble there, but as of two or three weeks ago, it feels slow climbing and is sort of shudders, like if it had a dirty spark plug.

On flat streets it also feels kind of slow. I've also noticed that the transmission shifts a little bit hard among the gears.

Because of traffic conditions it seldom shifts to 4th, let alone 5th gear.

Thanks in advance for the advise.

 

[davedrivesody]

Could be one of a million things. I would start off with a bottle of good quality fuel injector cleaner.

 

[Mexjames]

Could be one of a million things. I would start off with a bottle of good quality fuel injector cleaner.

Thanks, I already did that over the week end. If it doesn't work then I'll have the fuel injectors cleaned, a new gas filter installed and I'll check if the dealer cleaned the TB - the service rep said they did it last week during the 65,000 mi service.

 

[ccervenka]

Spark Plugs?

Have you changed your spark plugs yet?

I've changed ours twice ('03 EX with 113K) so far, and I can always tell when it's due when performance starts to lag exactly as you described (especially around 60K miles).

If you haven't changed your plugs, make sure to do so first.....This is one of those service items that you can notice by the seat of your pants right away. I've always used NGK PZFR5F-11 plugs.

...Don't forget to use anti-seize on your plug threads & always ignore the factory plug service interval of 105K miles

 

[sontakke]

You should put a scanner on it. There may be already a pending code which might give you a clue.

A good injector cleaner such as Techron or Gumout_Regane is always a good idea. I always try couple of strong dosage before doing any serious diag work.

- Vikas

 

[Mexjames]

Re: Spark Plugs?

Have you changed your spark plugs yet?

I've changed ours twice ('03 EX with 113K) so far, and I can always tell when it's due when performance starts to lag exactly as you described (especially around 60K miles).

If you haven't changed your plugs, make sure to do so first.....This is one of those service items that you can notice by the seat of your pants right away. I've always used NGK PZFR5F-11 plugs.

...Don't forget to use anti-seize on your plug threads & always ignore the factory plug service interval of 105K miles

I tried a bottle of Techron in the gas tank, to no avail so far.

I guess what comes next, as you suggest, is to get me a set of new spark plugs, plus a serious fuel injector cleanup. Down here in Mexico our fuel is just terrible. Honda recommends changing the spark plugs every 40,000 km (26,860 mi).

I will also have them change the tranny oil - haven't done that in quite a while.

 

[Mexjames]

You should put a scanner on it. There may be already a pending code which might give you a clue.

A good injector cleaner such as Techron or Gumout_Regane is always a good idea. I always try couple of strong dosage before doing any serious diag work.

- Vikas

They charge me here about US$200 just to scan the car, so in the meantime as I said above, I'll put new spark plugs.

Pray tell, how much Techron do you use? I usually put a bottle per tankful, not more.

If I use more, will I damage rubber or synthetic washers or whatever?

 

[William Wiles]

If you read the instructions on the bottle it is for 12 gallons. Put in two bottles. t may take several treatments to work if it is an injector problem.

 

[sontakke]

Can you buy a cheap scanner from Amazon.com? They start as low as (approx) $30 on sale. A good one will run you slightly over $100 but if the dealer charges you $200 for a single incident, you need to invest that money on your own scanner.

- Vikas

P.S. Aren't you the person you rebuilt your own IAC almost from scratch? With your ingenuity you *deserve* tools and toys

 

[OdyinNH]

These days an ODB2 scanner is a must have time saver. I went with a Scanguage. You can pull/clear codes and monitor stuff like MAP, temps, O2 mode. My Jeep ran crappy because of the upper O2 sensor being intermittent. I could see it go in and out of loop with my scanner. Unplugged the O2 sensor and it ran fine using the default settings.

 

[Mexjames]

Ody has trouble climbing a hill part II

Car: 2003 Odyssey.
Mileage: 67,000 miles.

In a prior post I complained about my 2003 Ody having trouble climbing a hill. At high speeds in 5th gear, the minivan "shudders" a bit, nothing serious. Also, transmission shifts aren't smooth, especially when cold.

The yellow engine light never went off.

Today I sent it to an independent shop, where I had new spark plugs installed, they cleaned the injectors, and cleaned the air filter. They also drained and cleaned the gas tank - in Mexico where I live, gas does have dirt in it and it clogs the filter.

After the whole enchilada, finally we have a code. I don't have the number, but the paper slip that they gave me, printed straight out the scanner, reports high tension in the TP sensor. A day before they ran a scan and the report was the opposite, low tension, that is, before the tune up.

Fortunately we have no other codes; they also scanned the transmission and it didn't have any codes.

I replaced the TP sensor two years ago.

The question is, if I can clean it or if I should get a new TP, or is there any other cause for this?

Thanks!