[Mommieeeee]

I have been here before...and here I am again. We have had electrical problems before AND transmission problems before.

History: We are the original owners of our 2001 Odyssey. The first transmission went out at about 75,000 miles but luckily was covered by the recall on that year transmissions. Now, at 160,000 miles, this second transmission went out. We are assuming it is the transmission because you can press the gas and it either won't grab or will take a few seconds before it catches and starts to move. It decided to stop moving on the side of a highway. Luckily I got off safely. Previously it was shuddering when driving.

My husband has done the steps that Jofei to change the filters near the solenoid and valves (I think that is where they are) to see if that might have been the problem. There wasn't any gunk in those filters. But we tried. Thanks Jofei!

We parked the van in the driveway because the week that it broke down both of us were extremely busy, so we just parked it and left it. That Saturday, a few days later, we went to open it and the battery was completely dead. Nothing was left on (lights, etc.) We bought a new battery, installed it and he started changing the filters. Everything as far as the electrical was fine. Three days later, we go to unlock it again, and it is dead, dead, dead. Nothing. Again we checked to see if anything was left on and nothing. He metered the battery and there is nothing. We weren't having this problem previously. Hmmmmm.....

So, we have two (maybe three) questions.

1. Does anyone think that the transmission problem is related to the electrical problem?

2. Does anyone have any suggestions about the electrical problems?

3. (optional) If there are no suggestions to the questions above, then some suggestions of a close, conspicuous bridge I can push it (because obviously I can't drive it) off of?

For 7 years I absolutely LOVED my Odyssey. I talked it up with everyone. Now, it has been one problem after another. I want to love it again...

Mommieeeee

 

[redmondjp]

Yes, you are at a major crossroad as far as deciding whether you want to sink another $3-??K into your existing vehicle, or go for something newer (in my area, an original owner just listed their 2000 Odyssey with 100K miles AND a new transmission for $7K just for reference).

As far as the electrical problem goes, if your husband is technical enough to do those transmission "fixes", then he should be able to do some basic electrical troubleshooting, which is a matter of determining what exactly is causing the power drain (is the interior light switch in the ON position?). Do you have the factory shop manual with the wiring diagrams in it? That will be extremely useful to help narrow down the cause. I really doubt that the transmission issue has anything to do with the battery drain.

A really good mechanic experienced in electrical troubleshooting may be able to find the cause in an hour or two (figure on $100/hour), but a bad shop could take a long time to fix this ($$).

What kind of shape is the rest of the vehicle in? Worth putting another $4K into? You may be better off shopping around for another van, final decision is up to you.

 

[William Wiles]

You need to charge the battery and then place an ampmeter in series with the battery to measure static current. Do NOT turn key on or try to start with ampmeter in the circuit. Anything above a couple hundred milliamps is bad. If current is bad you can start trying to isolate it by pulling fuses one at a time. It the current doesn't drop put it back and pull another. I would start with the ubder hood fuse box.

The only way the transmission would be the problem is if something was misplugged or shorted while working on the transmission.

 

[gregersonke]

I can't see this causing an electrical failure. The only things that cause that are battery drain or perhaps a loosely connected battery.