I have a 2019 EX-L with 50k kms (30k miles), and it has 9spd transmission.

I had these problems forever (jerky transmission between 4 and 5; and, hesitation between 1 and 2). I didn't bother going to the dealer because they were both random and there was no way to re-create the problem in front of them.

I am not a mechanic, but I am an engineer, i.e. somewhat technically inclined. I always believed that both issues were due to transmission programming. Reprogramming is very easy and cheap. Then why doesnt Honda do this easy fix? Probably because transmission cannot physically handle the correct parameters, in other words the transmission itself is shitty.

I decided to give this site a try. I started reading this thread, not realizing it was 10 pages long. After 1+ hour carefully reading each and every input, I have to say, I respectfully disagree with most of the fix suggestions. So far I read suggestions on throttle programming, transmission programming, throttle cleaning, throttle replacement, transmission fluid change, clean/replace spark plugs. For each of these suggestions, at least one person reports positive results.

By far the most support was for the throttle clearing. It doesn't make sense to me because my car had this hesitation problem when it was practically brand new. I mean you cant get a dirty throttle in a few months of city driving.

I guess it is the way I drive and Toronto being relatively flat, I encountered the hesitation problem only a few times. It was a lightening moment when I read lilfish's description of the problem. If throttle was the problem, hesitations between other gears would also happen every time you take your foot off the gas. But it doesn't.

To get the throttle to open 100% during cleaning, you need to do the exact thing that is needed to reset the transmission (pressed gas pedal all the way while it is in accessory mode). Maybe it is not the throttle clearing, but resetting transmission is the real fix.

Any comments?

 

To get the throttle to open 100% during cleaning, you need to do the exact thing that is needed to reset the transmission (pressed gas pedal all the way while it is in accessory mode). Maybe it is not the throttle clearing, but resetting transmission is the real fix.

You are probably spot on.
By far, the cheapest and easiest fix is resetting the transmission.
Next logical step would be checking the throttle body for sticky operation due to carbon build-up. This is a no-cost repair for a DIY person, minus an hour or two of labor.

 

100% had the exact same symptoms as lilfish. Cleaned the throttle body really well and nothing else and fixed the hesitation completely. It was awful dirty.
had to take it off to get behind it. The intake side looked pretty fine, the backside was this:
Before:

after:

 

Here is the before and after of the front side (intake)
After:

before below: (doesn’t look awful…. But the back was)

 

I'd suggest putting a drop of light oil on the pivot points.

 

following up from an earlier comment from about 3 weeks ago. i had told the dealership i wanted the throttle body cleaned, and they recommended to do an EFI service (a more intensive clean inc. the throttle body) and glad to say this helped magnificently. I have also switched to toptier gas and fill-up the tank at a 1/4 left instead of near the orange light. never would have found this issue if it wasn't for this place, so thank you everyone for the help. let me find the service code and price and i can attach to this post.

 

Glad to hear that this worked 😀.

 

I have had this problem for a couple of years now and I finally asked the dealer to look at it. Just got this text...

"Hi Mark, I have an update on your van. Tech diagnosed the vehicle and did come upon a temporary fault code P2101 Electronic Throttle Control System (ETCS) Malfunction. That's leading us to failure of the throttle body itself. The flap on the inside of the throttle chamber is not opening up when stepping on accelerator showing an internal failure to component. Price to replace it and perform a TCM (Transmission control Module) update will be $873.02 + tax and $150 for the diagnostic."

Uhhhh why doesn't that turn on the check engine light? And what sort of failure would keep the valve from opening???

This car has been absolutely frustrating from the start. When brand new had a hard shift that required a software update. Then had the tailgate control module fail because of a poorly welded seam that let in water on the back left side of the van. And now this. So much for Honda quality.

 

update will be $873.02 + tax and $150 for the diagnostic.

? My stealership told me I had to pay the diagnostic first, and it will be applied to the repair. (That was like 5 years ago)

 

Greetings all, long time member that no longer owns an Odyssey but I have recently purchased an 18 Pilot with the same engine and tranny. I haven't been on this site in quite a while but seeing this new to me car had the same hesitation issue brought me here via a Google search, I figured I should post.

So, the only thing I disliked about this car is when pressing the gas pedal, sometimes it would pause and then take off like a banshee with a hard up shift. I tried the tranny reset first with no fix then found this thread. The other side of the butterfly looked just like the pics above. I used the steps below to clean the TB and now it takes off buttery smooth. Thinking back, I did also clean my 07 Ody's TB the same way as it was having issues but that was a few years ago. Before I cleaned the TB on the Pilot, you could touch the gas pedal in park with no rpm change for almost a second before it would jump. Now I touch the pedal and it jumps rpm's instantly. This was maybe a 30 min job that I could now do in 15 mins or so now. This is for a Pilot but should be similar on the Ody.

-Pull the cover off that is over the radiator, it clips on.
-Loosen the 5.5mm clamp for the air cleaner side of the boot and remove the air cleaner cover, it has 3 spring clips.
-Loosen the 5.5mm clamp on the TB, you can also unclip the sensor wire that goes to the boot.
-Wiggle the boot off the TB and spin it towards the top of the TB, there is a metal line that goes into the boot that will just spin in the hole.
-Use a shop towel with some cleaner sprayed on it to clean the top and bottom of the TB bore and butterfly with the butterfly open. Mine opened easily with a slight push on the top side. I could feel the motor spinning as I opened it. Some may say not to do it manually but it seemed fine to me. I used a rubber handled screwdriver handle to keep the butterfly opened while scrubbing.
-Once cleaned, reverse order to install everything.
-I then did a throttle relearn with my Foxwell, I checked for codes first and it said it was beyond it's threshold and recommended the relearn. Before the relearn the idle was above 1k, after it was below and idled super smoothly.
-Enjoy the new throttle response. I may do a tranny relearn again to get rid of any oditties it may have learned while the TB was dirty.

There was quite the crud buildup that looked kinda like a ring of goo. Almost looked like it should be there. I think it took longer to get the goo off than the rest of the job.

 

i was actually going to do this in the spring. a few months ago i took the car in and had a "EFI service" which did help, but it was never like brand new and still have some instances of this hesitation... after reading on here, i want to buy the tools to do it myself. can someone recommend the required tools, relearn tool, and process to get this cleaned up?

i don't know if i need to take the whole thing out and really give it a good once over, or just try clean it while it's still in place. thank you all for documenting everything on here, this thread is great resource.

anyone had to use a scan tool to relearn the TB after cleaning? if so what brand/model?

edit: i found this guide by bandit400 he kindly did for us here

 

Cleaning may help other things but not this hesitation problem. Otherwise it would hesitate between all gears, all the time. Hesitation between 1 and 2 is a transmission software problem. I have never had this intake cleaned in any car I have owned. None of them hesitated.

 

so finished the TB cleaning and happy to say that it seems to be more responsive so far without that hesitation. i will be contacting the dealership i took it into last oct for the EFI service, as they didn't clean the back of the TB and it was caked with soot and carbon. purchased a scanner and some tools to help with the cleaning. thank you all for the guidance.

 

I have it too, also loss of power when highway driving and a hesitation when trying to accelerate to get your power back. Can be a little unnerving thinking it’s going to die and leave me stranded. On the start out when I need to accelerate quickly, I put it in sport mode, I know it’s not the cure but it helps get going

 

I do the same thing Brad. When it hesitates from when I'm stopped i quickly push the D/S button to throw it into sport mode and the transmission engages. I then put it back into Drive because Sport mode is a little squirrely for me for regular driving. I bought my 2018 Ody LX with 12k miles on it and it's always had the problem. I don't think it would of had a TB problem that early with 12k on it. It's like driving an old push button manual tranny.

 

With our 2019 still under warranty, we went to the dealer for the hesitation issue and they tried charging us $640 for throttle body service and relearn (not a replacement, but a cleaning), we laughed at them and took it to our local mechanic. They did some investigation and determined the cause was the traction control system. With the system on and accelerating from a stop into a turn (not enough to cause any slippage), the throttle gets overridden to prevent tire slippage. With the traction control system off, there was no more hesitation. He said, "the system that helps prevent you from wrecking is going to cause you to wreck." Unfortunately, you can't disable the traction control and have to turn it off every time you start the van.