[Certek]

I know, I know, this has been discussed many times in the past but I have to solve this issue. For the 4th time this year a door was not closed enough and the interior lights drained the battery overnight. What a hassle and by the way a very poor design from Honda.

I have read other threads regarding this and some talked about a Priortity Start device. Has anybody order and installed this device? It looks to me to be a pretty good answer to a terrible Honda design.

The manufacures web site is located here.

The best price I found for this is here.

Let me know and thanks!

 

[groupset]

Has anybody order and installed this device? It looks to me to be a pretty good answer to a terrible Honda design.

I thought the same thing - ordered two of them, one for the Odyssey and one for my daughter's Toyota. Installed the one on the Toyota first, that's when I discovered the terminal provided on their device (which has to connect to the positive post on the battery) was a "one size fits all" which didn't fit the Toyota (their terminal was too big; I couldn't tighten it securely on the battery post). I called the company; they said they were aware that their product's terminal wouldn't fit some foreign cars and suggested I use shims. I don't believe in shimming battery terminals so I sent both of the devices back for a refund. Couldn't tell you if it would fit the Odyssey or not, but based on my one conversation with this company I decided not to give them my money.

 

[dvpatel]

If you ran down your battery 4 times in the last year, I assume that irreversible damage has been done to the battery. Did you pursue any batteries with rundown protection?

I heard there was some battery which shut off when it got drained down to a certain level so that you can start the car.

 

[Steve Pert]

I know, I know, this has been discussed many times in the past but I have to solve this issue. For the 4th time this year a door was not closed enough and the interior lights drained the battery overnight. What a hassle and by the way a very poor design from Honda.

I'm puzzled. The Ody interior lights shut off automatically after a few minutes if a door is left open. Am I not understanding the circumstance in which Certek's lights remained on?

 

[Certek]

Re: Re: Bad Design = Dead Battery = Priority Start?

I'm puzzled. The Ody interior lights shut off automatically after a few minutes if a door is left open. Am I not understanding the circumstance in which Certek's lights remained on?

Not in my case. The door was left open and the lights never shut off. Maybe there is a timer but it does not work in mine. I have read all the other problems on this board regarding interior lights and assumed that my van was functioning the way it was designed. I do not have the manual handy to look it up.

 

[adam1991]

On the EX, the lights turn off automatically after 3 minutes, even if the door is still open. That feature is not included in the LX.

 

[Certek]

On the EX, the lights turn off automatically after 3 minutes, even if the door is still open. That feature is not included in the LX.

I knew this was the case for headlights but was not aware that this in fact controlled the interior lights as well.

 

[cminahan]

I believe our our 2002 EX that if the interior light switch is in the "ON" position, that the lights will stay on regardless. If they are in the center position, they go out after three minutes, and if it is on the "OFF" position, they are always off.

 

[Certek]

I believe our our 2002 EX that if the interior light switch is in the "ON" position, that the lights will stay on regardless. If they are in the center position, they go out after three minutes, and if it is on the "OFF" position, they are always off.

In the my LX, the way it was explained to me and I will verify with my manual tonight, if the interior light switch is in the "ON" position, that the lights will stay on regardless. If they are in the center position they stay on regardless, and if it is on the "OFF" position, they are always off.

I went and looked at Honda's website and there was no mention of a difference between the 2003 LX and EX in regards to interior lights. They did still mention the auto-off headlights diference between the two models.

 

[ComputerGeek]

Certek

Please let us know what you find out.

It seems stupid to me that Honda wouldn't have the interior lights auto shut off on an LX model, yet have that feature on the EX...

Some things make sence to me, but not this one....

 

[Certek]

Certek

Please let us know what you find out.

It seems stupid to me that Honda wouldn't have the interior lights auto shut off on an LX model, yet have that feature on the EX...

Some things make sence to me, but not this one....

There seems to be some mis-information out there. I talked to Honda today and my dealer and they both stated that in fact there is no auto off feature for interior lights on either the LX or EX. Although in talking with both of them I did not get the feeling they truly understood what they were saying. I also think we here at the ODYCLUB have know more about the van than they do. So to me the jury is still out. Any other opionions out there?

 

[letter100]

In the my LX, the way it was explained to me and I will verify with my manual tonight, if the interior light switch is in the "ON" position, that the lights will stay on regardless. If they are in the center position they stay on regardless, and if it is on the "OFF" position, they are always off.

Certek, if what you said is not a typo, then what is the purpose of the center position if it's stays on regardless just like the"On" position?

 

[adam1991]

There seems to be some mis-information out there. I talked to Honda today and my dealer and they both stated that in fact there is no auto off feature for interior lights on either the LX or EX. Although in talking with both of them I did not get the feeling they truly understood what they were saying. I also think we here at the ODYCLUB have know more about the van than they do. So to me the jury is still out. Any other opionions out there?

It's not opinion, it's fact. I own an 02 EX, and the interior lights turn off after 3 minutes of the door being open--as long as the light switch is in the center position. Up, the lights stay on regardless; down, they stay off regardless. Center position, they go off after 3 minutes if the doors are still open. On the LX, they don't automatically go off; they stay on as long as the doors are open. That's one of the differences between LX and EX. There are many other differences; that's how the marketing people design the details to get you to spend the extra money.

The mechanism that turns off the interior lights is COMPLETELY different than that which turns off the headlights. Don't see the word "lights" and start lumping all lights together and making assumptions like that.

 

[Certek]

It's not opinion, it's fact. I own an 02 EX, and the interior lights turn off after 3 minutes of the door being open--as long as the light switch is in the center position. Up, the lights stay on regardless; down, they stay off regardless. Center position, they go off after 3 minutes if the doors are still open. On the LX, they don't automatically go off; they stay on as long as the doors are open. That's one of the differences between LX and EX. There are many other differences; that's how the marketing people design the details to get you to spend the extra money.

You are 100% correct. Got a hold of the manual and there is in fact a timer in the EX that is not in the LX. You have to read the manual to get this info. I do not recall seeing this in any product literature. I only recall the difference in the auto-headlight feature described in the product literature. Thus, if you have an LX like myself, then you are SOL. Back to my original question, anybody have the Priority Start unit installed?

 

[Certek]

Certek, if what you said is not a typo, then what is the purpose of the center position if it's stays on regardless just like the"On" position?

Sorry to confuse you here. What I was ment by my post is that in the ON position the lights turn on and say on regardless of the door swich position. In the center position, the door swich determines if the lights are on. When the swtch is in the center position, if the door is open the lights are on and will stay on until the doors are closed or you push the switch to the off position. This is true for the LX model only since there is no off timer on the LX model. I hoped this helped. I read it myself and it is clear as mud.

 

[Certek]

Certek

Please let us know what you find out.

It seems stupid to me that Honda wouldn't have the interior lights auto shut off on an LX model, yet have that feature on the EX...

Some things make sence to me, but not this one....

I also agree that this feature seems to be pretty petty to exclude but that is just what they did. I can understand alloy wheels, better stereo and even auto-off headlights, but to exclude this feature seems a little rediculous.

 

[manualman]

Yup, slider door didn't close all the way yesterday afternoon and the cabin light stayed on for 5 hours.

Mine is an 03 LX. The battery is made by Delphi, which I believe makes most of GM's batteries too. I bet any aftermarket kit would fit.

 

[FW_in_OKC]

Here's another Honda boner. With the dash switch in the center position, and the doors closed, the lights should turn off. However, if someone has turned on one of the interior lights AT the light itself (reading light), then it will not auto shutoff ever. If left on and undetected for a long period of time, like overnight, then you're gonna need a jump start in the mornin'.

Sad but true.

 

[donlibes]

... if someone has turned on one of the interior lights AT the light itself (reading light), then it will not auto shutoff ever. If left on and undetected for a long period of time, like overnight, then you're gonna need a jump start in the mornin'.

Not in my experience. I've had no trouble starting the engine after finding that *ONE* of the reading lights has been left on all night. This has happened many times (sigh). In contrast, when I leave that damn console switch in the up position all night, then I can never start the car in the morning.

I notice that the NAVI has battery protection built-in. If the NAVI is on when the engine is off, after about 10 minutes a message pops up explaining that it's powering down to save the battery. All they had to do was move the detection circuit outside the NAVI and put the lights on it. Kind of silly that they have a battery protection circuit in the car but it's not properly designed to adequately protect the battery.

 

[Jerry O]

I did the dirty deed a couple of days ago. I was cleaning the inside of my windows and entered the van from the left-hand slider. I finished that side and slid over to the right and cleaned those windows. I got out through the right-hand door and went in for the night. Yep, the left door was not all the way latched and I left all the candles burning (as John Force would say). Of course, when I came out in the morning, all the interior lights were barely glowing and by the time I decided what I was going to do, they were going on and off.

I have an automatic charger, so I put it on a slow charge and brought the battery up slowly and hope it will not be too damaged for the experience. One problem now is the the battery condition "eye" does not seem to work anymore. I had the one in my Dodge battery quit working, fairly early, and the battery lasted years afterward. We'll see.

I have decided to just switch the interior light off completely, since we hardly every go anywhere at night. We can always re-arm them, should we need them.

Jerry O.