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We have a 2018 Odyssey and intermittently the passenger door will not unlock with either FOB. When we approach the car and place our hand on the door handle the amber light blinks indicating that the car recognizes that a valid FOB is present but the door does not unlock. When this happens you can enter the driver side door and attempt to unlock all the doors using the unlock switch on the door and the door still fails to unlock. At that point the only way to unlock the door is to reach across the seats and pull the door handle. This issue has a higher incident of occurrence when the outside temperature is hot and when it does occur all of the other doors function normally. I suspect that the issue is isolated to one of two components, the solenoid that unlocks the door or the relay that activates the solenoid.

The vehicle has been left with the dealer four times over the course of a year and because the dealer is unable to reproduce it they are unwilling to diagnose the individual components. I have been a car owner for over 55 years and I have never felt so frustrated and dissatisfied with a vehicle.

 

[mashley]

Is anyone here familiar with how a dealer proceeds with a problem, is there a set way I mean, do they have to replicate a problem before replacing or even trying to pro-actively fix something even after multiple visits for the exact same issue?

 

[mwe2121]

Is anyone here familiar with how a dealer proceeds with a problem, is there a set way I mean, do they have to replicate a problem before replacing or even trying to pro-actively fix something even after multiple visits for the exact same issue?

Dealers or any mechanic really wants/needs to replicate the problem to ensure a proper diagnosis and repair. As a mechanic, there have been a few instances in which I completed a repair without being able to diagnose it, but this has been on rare occasions and typically with cheaper components, with the customer fully aware it might not fix their problem.

 

[mwe2121]

We have a 2018 Odyssey and intermittently the passenger door will not unlock with either FOB. When we approach the car and place our hand on the door handle the amber light blinks indicating that the car recognizes that a valid FOB is present but the door does not unlock. When this happens you can enter the driver side door and attempt to unlock all the doors using the unlock switch on the door and the door still fails to unlock. At that point the only way to unlock the door is to reach across the seats and pull the door handle. This issue has a higher incident of occurrence when the outside temperature is hot and when it does occur all of the other doors function normally. I suspect that the issue is isolated to one of two components, the solenoid that unlocks the door or the relay that activates the solenoid.

The vehicle has been left with the dealer four times over the course of a year and because the dealer is unable to reproduce it they are unwilling to diagnose the individual components. I have been a car owner for over 55 years and I have never felt so frustrated and dissatisfied with a vehicle.

It sounds like the door lock actuator is going bad. Really the only way to verify this is to hook up a test light or voltmeter to the harness coming into the actuator when it isn't working. If its getting power and the actuator doesn't do anything then its bad if it's not getting power then there is an issue somewhere between the controller and the actuator.