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New Honda owner: 2013 Odyssey

10K views 98 replies 16 participants last post by  93Bandit 
I had considered that as well. But again for only $5 and since it's easy to get access, I think it's worth a shot. Either way, I appreciate the information!
I would try a branded gasket instead of the fake Honda ones on ebay or the generic ones at Rock. I have used lots of Mahle gaskets over the years so this would be my choice; Rock has them in stock (either alone or in a package with both gaskets) from time to time. Same situation at O'Reilly. Rock also had the Dorman gasket pack, but this is also OOS most of the time. I havent used Dorman gaskets so i dont know whether this is as good as Mahle.
 
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Others above suggested motor mounts. Have you ruled these out? Mounts are known to fail on these vans especially when VCM is active.
 
I appreciate the advice. I bought it out of state, had my dad check it over for me and flew into town to pick it up. I took it on a 200 mile "test drive" while at my parents, installed the vcmtunnerII. The next day I drove it 1,000 miles home in about 14.5hrs. Since having it home we've driven it approximately another 700 miles. I do not claim to be an expert, but I do have mechanical aptitude. I've had bad motor mounts on several vehicles in the past and always felt engine vibration no matter what the conditions where. Granted, those vehicles did not have this type of fancy mount. I'm not in denial that it's engine mounts, I just don't know how likely it is? The shudder happens under load accelerating, and it's totally smooth while cruising.
My $.02
Mount failure isn't always obvious during normal driving. My front and rear mounts (the ridiculously expensive ones) failed last year even though VCM has been inactive for 6+ years. At the time I didn't notice any obvious vibrations, but one day I noticed a burning smell and saw that the fluid (from the rear mount) was dripping onto the exhaust. I replaced it and checked the others; the front mount was also bad, as indicated by abnormal motor movement when shifting between P-R-D. After replacing these (lightening my wallet by about $1000), acceleration and idle became smoother and more consistent, even though I hadn't really noticed any issues previously.
 
Yikes $1,000 for 2 mounts??? Did that include labor or is that just part cost? I know they're not OEM, but rockauto shows several front and rear options for ~$60/each. After aftermarket mounts acceptable or should they be replaced with OEM? Are motor mounts a DIY job?
Lol that's the price of the parts from Honda! Adding labor at a dealer would nearly double the cost.

Aftermarket reportedly work fine but don't last as long. DIY the rear mount isn't too bad but the front mount requires removing the fans/shrouds and upper radiator hose (and draining coolant), and loosening the radiator. I prefer not to repeat that job in the near future. The right and left mounts are less expensive.

I paid around 500 each for the mounts but they are a little cheaper now.
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That is insanity! At those prices I cannot afford to just fire the parts cannon at this thing. If I need to spend $1,000 to fix this van I will, but I need to know for certain it's the mounts before I can justify spending $1,000 on 2 parts!

As for the repair itself, the front sounds like a PITA but doable. I've read a few threads that claim the aftermarket mounts don't last longer than a year, but all threads stating that are just referring to someone elses thread with no link. I have yet to find a thread that someone says they installed an aftermarket mount that failed. Also, I don't know if these vehicles with the failed aftermarket mounts have been muzzled or not? Do aftermarket mounts only fail on VCM enabled vans, or does this failure happen on muzzled vans as well?
I agree with verifying mount failure before replacing them. IMO it is worth checking them on all cars over about 5 or 6 years old. And yes, DIY is definitely doable with a basic set of wrenches, sockets, torque wrench, ramps, etc. I have no idea whether the aftermarket units only fail with VCM active but others here may chime in with their experience. I just didn't want to find out the hard way, that they fail prematurely and I have to spend another 4-5 hours changing them!

If you end up DIYing the rear mount, you will need a flex head ratchet with both shallow and deep sockets (17mm, IIRC). A flex head torque wrench is also helpful but, with a little creativity (and moving some other parts out of the way), I was able to fit a non-flex.
 
A half inch of engine movement sounds reasonable. Mine moved well over an inch when my front and rear mounts failed.
 
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Read this thread

And watch this vid.


PCV is easy but don't lose the insert!
If the insert comes out before you note its position, the flat part goes toward the engine (opposite the way he shows in the video).
 
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I just noticed your first post where you mentioned getting the VCM Tuner II. I presume it is installed by now, and VCM is no longer active (???)

Given that the car was driven 150k+ with VCM active, I suspect the front and/or rear motor mount is bad (mine were spent at 145k even with VCM inactive for the past 100k+). Bad mounts could exacerbate other issues.
 
I installed the TunnerII as soon as I received it. I've put 8,000 miles on the van muzzled.

As for motor mounts, that's been discussed in detail in this thread as well. Long story short, determined they were OK due to lack of movement when shifting from D to R and back. They also pass visual inspection. I'm not convinced enough it's motor mounts to fire the $1,000 parts cannon at it.
I didnt read all of the posts in the thread so did not see the mount discussion. But definitely no need to replace mounts until they are confirmed bad!
 
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