Few things I would look into:

1) Do you hear the ignition relay click when it doesn't want to start? If not, could be the relay.

2) Bad ground will prevent starting. Remove your negative battery cable from the battery to where it's bolted (frame, engine block, not sure on the Odyssey), clean the ends (cable and mating surfaces) with scotchbrite and put dielectric grease.


3) If you hear the relay clicking when it doesn't start, could be the battery or starter. You said the battery checked out ok. Did you have it load tested? How old is it?

The three points above are pretty easy to check and most likely are the cause of your starting issues.

 

Loading testing the battery is a good idea. Just about any parts store can do it for free. Have you tried starting it in neutral to rule in or out the shift interrupter? If you get the same symptoms you will likely be down to: a relay(s), voltage drops from (-)battery to ground and from (+) battery to starter, the iggy switch and the starter. You just have to start isolating components.

 

So when you state that the battery is "All good", by that you mean that the battery was tested and indicates good? Also, is there corrosion at or around the battery terminals? Resistance on any electrical component is the arch nemesis!

 

Hello,

We have had intermittent starting problems over the last couple of months on our 2007 Honda Odyssey. When we turn the ignition key, all the dash lights come on, but he starter doesn't start. There is no sound of anything happening. Things we have tried:
- checked the battery, and it is all good.
- tried all our keys and it happens with all of them.

Eventually the car turns on after multiple tries. Sometimes shaking the gear shift lever helps, sometimes it doesn't. It has been occurring intermittently over the past several months. Prior to that it never occurred at all. Luckily though, every time the car eventually turns on. We took it into the mechanic and of course the car fired up on every try so we weren't able to recreate the problem, so they had no suggestions for us.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

I just replied in another thread... Most manufacturers have something called a neutral safety switch. It prevents cars with automatic transmissions from being started in gear. The vehicle usually needs to be in Park or Neutral. I believe that in the Odyssey it's called a Park Pin Switch although I'm not 100% sure this serves the same function... I'd bet that your Park Pin Switch is bad, or going bad.

 

HAving the exact same problem. Dealer has changed starter, battery, battery cable and problem still exists. What next. Suspect starter and battery were still good. Out $1200 so far

 

We had a similar problem with our 2007 4 cylinder after about 160 000km. Sometimes it sounded like a bad battery but was really intermittent.
It finally refused to start the other night and the roadside assistance bloke got it going by thumping the starter motor with a rod while I held the key on start.
Apparently it is not an uncommon problem and you just need to replace the starter: about $700 AUS at the dealer.....

 

Having the exact same problem. Dealer has changed starter, battery, battery cable and problem still exists. What next. Suspect starter and battery were still good. Out $1200 so far

 

Did you ever find a fix for this? I just took apart my battery to check starter solenoid wiring to find out that the wiring is different than the 2006 in which loose connections to the starter solenoid was a common problem for that year.

 

2005 Touring
Same problem - relatively new battery, clean cable clamps, alternator tested good, dash lights up but no starter noise at all. Happened a couple of months ago, but then started the next time I tried.

I took it in but they could not find anything, then it happened again (in the short-term airport parking!) last week. I tried to jump it, but nothing. Got a ride home, and called tow truck next day. I went to meet it, and it started right away. Luckily I was able to call the tow and cancel, they were good and did not charge me.

I did notice that it seemed to "crank" a bit sluggishly most times lately, even though it is warm weather.

We have only had the car for about 4 years, but it now has 190 k on it. I am reluctant to put the ~ $700 into a new starter if that is not the problem...

Any ideas much appreciated!

 

2005 Touring
Same problem - relatively new battery, clean cable clamps, alternator tested good, dash lights up but no starter noise at all. Happened a couple of months ago, but then started the next time I tried.

I took it in but they could not find anything, then it happened again (in the short-term airport parking!) last week. I tried to jump it, but nothing. Got a ride home, and called tow truck next day. I went to meet it, and it started right away. Luckily I was able to call the tow and cancel, they were good and did not charge me.

I did notice that it seemed to "crank" a bit sluggishly most times lately, even though it is warm weather.

We have only had the car for about 4 years, but it now has 190 k on it. I am reluctant to put the ~ $700 into a new starter if that is not the problem...

Any ideas much appreciated!

if you got "click" sound but no crank, or crank sluggish as you described, it is Starter, if it is original that thing had lasted 20 years, it got weak when aged, so intermittent.

it is an easy diy work

 

Thanks!! Probably right, but no click at all - just nothing, though dash lights up brightly. My wife took it to the store today, and it did it several times, but at least (unlike at the airport the other night) it would start for her after a number of tries. I got a piece of pipe now, to knock the starter next time it happens - apparently that is a good diagnostic.

I have done a lot of my own work over the decades, but I looked at a video, and pulling out the battery etc to get to the starter looked a bit time consuming - though relatively easy I guess, as you say. At this stage in my life, I might be ready to throw money at it, if I am sure that's the problem.

 

Okay, if there is no "Click", it is totally different story. That click means ignition signal get into Starter and trigger it to engage and spin, if Starter get weak, or Battery has not-enough juice, it won't got the needed muscle to start a motor, Starter is the biggest power consumer in a car.

if there is no Click at all from Starter, you might need check your whole ignition circuits, but with wider scope, battery, battery connections, Ignition switch, Nutral Switch, etc..