The sliding door latch is the typical sliding door culprit. Switches not activating is exactly the typical issue. You just had a lower draw than usual.

 

Honda Odyssey 2009 EXL

This is the second time Ive had to deal with this headache. Below some possible remedies for a parasitic leak. It was specific to my Odyssey but the general steps can apply to any vehicle I think if you have a little mechanical skill or inclination to attempt.

TLDR. I had a parasitic drain on my battery while the vehicle was off that measured a current draw of ~120 mA (instead of under 50mA). I was able to reduce the drain to 37 mA by checking and lubricating both sliding door latches as well as the power rear lift gate latch. I also checked and engaged all three motor powered latches.

Recently changed the alternator. On my 3rd battery in 4 years.

Symptoms. Battery dies after sitting overnight

Diagonstics. Pop the hood and shut all doors and light. No keys in the ignition. Engage the hood latch with the hood open to "trick" any hood sensor/switch. Let the electronic systems "shut down" or sleep mode for 10 mins. Disconnect the negative battery cable. Using a digital volt meter set to 10/20 Amp and set to measure current in series (check voltmeter instructions), I was getting readings of 120mA after car was at rest for 10 mins. From what I understand, measurement in this state are recommended to be under 50mA. This is how I diagnosed the parasitic drain. Now I needed to isolate the source of the drain

I then opened the PRIMARY fuse box under the hood to pull fuses and relays. In the past I had to replace a $5 dollar A/C compressor clutch relay (R4) to address a parasitic drain. I thought it might be the same relay. After pulling fuses in the primary fuse box one by one, it turns out that pulling fuse 15, labelled backup/ACC, 40A, gives a reading of 0 mA on the voltmeter. Put it back in and the current draw goes to 120mA once again. Through some googling and reading other posts I learn that fuse 15 in the primary fuse panel feeds fuse 5,6,7,8, and 9 in the driver side fuse box located under the dashboard. So while taking readings, I pull each of these fuses in sequence one by one. When I remove fuse 7, the voltmeter reading drops to 0mA. Put fuse 7 back in and voltmeter reads 120mA once again. At this point I have further isolated the source of the parasitic drain to the circuits fed by fuse 7. To test this, I leave fuse 7 out overnight and check the battery the next day. I am able to start the car no problems, further suggesting that one of the circuits in line with fuse 7 is the source of the drain. I put fuse 7 back in to its place. Poking around the internet and talking to others, I am able to determine the circuits involved. Doing some other poking around, I am also able to discern that door latching mechanisms and the electronics associated with them are common sources of parasitic drains. I am loathe to disassemble my doors or send them in for costly repairs so I first attempt some "low costs" alternatives.

Using some lubricant, I spray the front and rear latches on the driver and passengers side power sliding doors. With a long flat head screw driver, I engage and disengage the rear latches a few times with the door open (***in manual mode, not power mode) and lubricate the latch a little each time. You may need to open and close the doors a few times to engage and disengage the latches. I also take the opportunity to clean the 3 door sensors on the door frame towards the rear bottom of the frame. I also checked the operation of the car door light switches (not broken or stuck, functional). After lubrication, I switch the sliding doors to power mode and open and close the doors and checked that the motor and power latches engage. I do this a few times.

I do another voltmeter parasitic drain check and to my sweet surprise, the parasitic drain is now down to 73mA. After doing a little happy dance, I am hunbled down to reality knowing that "standard" operation in car off mode is less than 50mA current draw.

Checking the previously acquired circuit information, another light goes off in my head. The fuse 7 circuits also included front and rear MICU's and the power liftgate. I read up on the MICUs and how to locate them for further reference. I figure I might need to replace one of them. But before I went down that route, I lubricated the power lift gate a few times, I opened and closed it manually a few times, lubricating each time. After lubrication, I used the power lift mechanism to open and close a few times checking to see that the latch motor engaged when it closed. I did another parasitic measurement check and low and behold it read 37mA. I am hoping this fixes my parasitic drain this time. I am glad that I didnt habv to mess with the MICU but that was my next step if the latch lubrication and power lift gate motor check didnt work.

I would note that my voltmeter readings when I was taking measurements were not 400mA as reported by others suggesting that the power sliding door motors and electronics may not have been the culprit. I suspect in my case, the door latches were somehow not activating switches and lubrication somehow changed that FWIW.

Hope this helps someone.

Welcome to this forum The side door rear latch is perhaps the most common cause of parasitic battery drain. Reported and discussed here often. Caused by faulty micro switches in the rear latch. It’s not the door motor that cause the drain, it is the rear latch. Usually 0.4 amps

I appreciate your post, but I do not think we are leaning anything new.
You likely will need to eventually install new rear latches. Or replace the micro switches which are available from Digi Key. A new latch costs about $200.

 

The side door rear latch is perhaps the most common cause of parasitic battery drain. Reported and discussed here often. Caused by faulty micro switches in the latch module. It’s not the door motor that cause the drain, it is the rear latch. Usually 0.4 amps

I appreciate your post, but I do not think we are leaning anything new.

The draw certainly wasn't 0.4 amps. But it was enough to drain the battery overnight.

And I certainly didn't replace the microswitches. In my case, It was enough to lubricate the latches.

The other thing I hadn't seen is the power tail gate latch. Once I finagled (lubricate) with that, there was another 40mA drop in current.

 

It's not uncommon for the microswitches to be perfectly fine, but the gear mechanism that engages the switches gets stuck. Lubrication can fix that. Lubrication won't fix broken microswitches. So your microswitches are probably fine.

 

Is it possible that these micro latches could be in a stuck position temporarily and then return to their proper position? I have an issue where if I spam the door locks 7-8 times, they stop responding and if I wait 10-15 sec the locks respond again only to fail if I spam them about 7-8 times. It’s like a slow kill switch is being activated (like a battery drain) and the it recovers to normal state. This happens while key is turned to ACT mode to turn on all electrical systems and also while car is running. All doors are closed when this test was performed.

Shorting the diagnostic pins in the drivers side fuse box resulted in DTC error code B1005 meaning lost signal to MICU. This car I own is a 2006 EXL with 167K miles. It’s starting to show its age but runs so perfectly smooth still. It has a great sentimental value to our family so it’s hard to part with. Only old age is affecting its reliability so I have to do some repairs to help keep it going.

 

The latch is separate from the locks.

And you know, at least in my experience, age doesn't seem to do much of a number on these. My 06 hasn't shown pretty much any signs of age. I could get it detailed and you'd think it just came off the assembly line.

The MICU is part of the fuse box in the front, pretty central control unit. Have you had any issues with water intrusion? One of the most common causes of MICU issues is water leaks from the roof weld seams, which find their way straight to the MICU.

 

Honda Odyssey 2009 EXL This is the second time Ive had to deal with this headache. Below some possible remedies for a parasitic leak. It was specific to my Odyssey but the general steps can apply to any vehicle I think if you have a little mechanical skill or inclination to attempt. TLDR. I had a parasitic drain on my battery while the vehicle was off that measured a current draw of ~120 mA (instead of under 50mA). I was able to reduce the drain to 37 mA by checking and lubricating both sliding door latches as well as the power rear lift gate latch. I also checked and engaged all three motor powered latches. Recently changed the alternator. On my 3rd battery in 4 years. Symptoms. Battery dies after sitting overnight Diagonstics. Pop the hood and shut all doors and light. No keys in the ignition. Engage the hood latch with the hood open to "trick" any hood sensor/switch. Let the electronic systems "shut down" or sleep mode for 10 mins. Disconnect the negative battery cable. Using a digital volt meter set to 10/20 Amp and set to measure current in series (check voltmeter instructions), I was getting readings of 120mA after car was at rest for 10 mins. From what I understand, measurement in this state are recommended to be under 50mA. This is how I diagnosed the parasitic drain. Now I needed to isolate the source of the drain I then opened the PRIMARY fuse box under the hood to pull fuses and relays. In the past I had to replace a $5 dollar A/C compressor clutch relay (R4) to address a parasitic drain. I thought it might be the same relay. After pulling fuses in the primary fuse box one by one, it turns out that pulling fuse 15, labelled backup/ACC, 40A, gives a reading of 0 mA on the voltmeter. Put it back in and the current draw goes to 120mA once again. Through some googling and reading other posts I learn that fuse 15 in the primary fuse panel feeds fuse 5,6,7,8, and 9 in the driver side fuse box located under the dashboard. So while taking readings, I pull each of these fuses in sequence one by one. When I remove fuse 7, the voltmeter reading drops to 0mA. Put fuse 7 back in and voltmeter reads 120mA once again. At this point I have further isolated the source of the parasitic drain to the circuits fed by fuse 7. To test this, I leave fuse 7 out overnight and check the battery the next day. I am able to start the car no problems, further suggesting that one of the circuits in line with fuse 7 is the source of the drain. I put fuse 7 back in to its place. Poking around the internet and talking to others, I am able to determine the circuits involved. Doing some other poking around, I am also able to discern that door latching mechanisms and the electronics associated with them are common sources of parasitic drains. I am loathe to disassemble my doors or send them in for costly repairs so I first attempt some "low costs" alternatives. Using some lubricant, I spray the front and rear latches on the driver and passengers side power sliding doors. With a long flat head screw driver, I engage and disengage the rear latches a few times with the door open (***in manual mode, not power mode) and lubricate the latch a little each time. You may need to open and close the doors a few times to engage and disengage the latches. I also take the opportunity to clean the 3 door sensors on the door frame towards the rear bottom of the frame. I also checked the operation of the car door light switches (not broken or stuck, functional). After lubrication, I switch the sliding doors to power mode and open and close the doors and checked that the motor and power latches engage. I do this a few times. I do another voltmeter parasitic drain check and to my sweet surprise, the parasitic drain is now down to 73mA. After doing a little happy dance, I am hunbled down to reality knowing that "standard" operation in car off mode is less than 50mA current draw. Checking the previously acquired circuit information, another light goes off in my head. The fuse 7 circuits also included front and rear MICU's and the power liftgate. I read up on the MICUs and how to locate them for further reference. I figure I might need to replace one of them. But before I went down that route, I lubricated the power lift gate a few times, I opened and closed it manually a few times, lubricating each time. After lubrication, I used the power lift mechanism to open and close a few times checking to see that the latch motor engaged when it closed. I did another parasitic measurement check and low and behold it read 37mA. I am hoping this fixes my parasitic drain this time. I am glad that I didnt have to mess with the MICU but that was my next step if the latch lubrication and power lift gate motor check didnt work. I would note that my voltmeter readings when I was taking measurements were not 400mA as reported by others suggesting that the power sliding door motors and electronics may not have been the culprit. I suspect in my case, the door latches were somehow not activating switches and lubrication somehow changed that FWIW. Hope this helps someone.

Thank you for this post! We have the same parasitic drain issue and same #15 under-hood fuse. Will try your lubrication examples.

 

Can MICU be repaired ?
keykipp@aol.com

 

Thank you for your post, I have the same problem, I lubricated the door latch but still have battery draining!
I checked that not only fuse #7 drains the battery, but also fuse #5 drains it too (I needed to remove both fuses to stop the drain.
any idea or help?

 

Installing a kill switch on the battery similar to what boats have is the fastest way to stop battery from draining due to parasitic draw. You can buy the switch on Amazon. At night we pop hood switch battery off do the reverse when using the vanthe next day. It’s a bit of a pain but is keeping 2007 honda Ody on the road.