Had a similar problem before with my 98 Jetta years back. The ignition switch was worn. Car would start sometimes, other times it wouldn’t. Same symptoms as you. Had to take the friggin steering wheel out of that car to replace that cheap switch. German engineering at its finest.

Best of luck, sorry I can’t give relevant experience for an Odyssey.

 

If it’s the immobilizer I would think you’d have an engine fault code and/or the immobilizer light would appear on the instrument panel. Have you checked for fault codes? I think it’s more likely a faulty ignition switch.

 

A bad key chip or immobilizer would not stop the engine from cranking. You said there is no sound when you turn the key to START, right? i.e. the engine does not crank?

That shortens the list of suspects to the battery, ignition switch, starter cut relay, transmission range switch, or the starter.

Start by removing and cleaning the battery terminals.

Based on seat-of-the-pants probability, my money is on the starter.

If the van not starting is not a big deal for you, consider just letting it go until the problem part fails completely. There's a lot of money spent needlessly by guessing, but sometimes that's what we have to do to get stuff working normally again in the shortest time.

Dave

 

Based on seat-of-the-pants probability, my money is on the starter.

On second thought, no...even a bad starter will usually click when the key is turned. Yours makes no sound. So it's probably something else.

Dave

 

For troubleshooting, also try starting in N instead of P. Could be a range switch in the trans linkage.

 

This is the first thing to try. You can also try pushing up on the shifter while turning the key. My van currently is doing this at times and my wife knows to push up on the shifter when it happens which always allows it to start. At some point soon I either need to clean or replace my range switch. If not that then the next thing to check is the starter and make sure it is getting 12v on the small wire. A bad starter does not always click on these vans.

 

Thank you all for your advice; I finally took it to the dealer, and they confirmed it is the ignition switch not sending power to the starter. The dealer also wanted me to put in a new starter too; they said excessive crankings were wearing out the starter too. But the starter costs almost a thousand dollars, so I opted to just fix the ignition switch.

Thanks again.

 

The dealer also wanted me to put in a new starter too; they said excessive crankings were wearing out the starter too.

That's nonsense. There's no extra wear on the starter because of a faulty ignition switch that failed to energize the starter.

You did right to decline replacing the starter, whether it cost $10 or $1000.

Dave

 

Yikes, that's crazy money. So is it now fixed? The answer they gave is kinda lame as the starter won't get the "start" power if the range switch is not working.

Could it be the ignition switch? Sure but not as common as the range switch on this generation so I'm a bit skeptical of this dealer.

 

I have not researched this, but I would think you could get a rebuilt starter for less than $200. Probably $100 to have it installed. You could also take your existing starter to a place that rebuilds starters and alternators and probably get it rebuilt for less than $100. Having said all that, I'm not convinced you have anything wrong with your starter.

 

I would not encourage the poster here to install a rebuilt starter. It is quite doubtful the original will fail. It is quite likely that a rebuilt one will.