[beanakins]

Hi,

Yesterday, several times, my radio cuts out and several dash lights flashed and my needles dropped to the bottom on the gauges. I did not lose engine power - car felt the same.

I turned off the radio and the lights on dash would flash - NOT the check engine light and the needles would drop and then go right back up.

One shop that I spoke to speculated that it was a wire that was grounding accidentally or something like that??? Another shop says they had never seen this issue before and inquired whether I had the extended warranty...which I don't. (That comment made me nervous)

Ideas??

A few weeks ago my check engine came light on and the code referenced a ECM relay, which I have not replaced yet. The engine light is also random....more off than on.

THANKS!
Carolyn
2005 Odyssey 85,000 miles

 

[Nutscratcha]

I am having a similar issue with my 2005 Ody Touring and currently looking around the forums for an answer. No luck yet...

 

[Rockwood]

They don't call it electrickery for nothing. Suspect bad ground in dash area and as a result the juice is finding anyway it can to ground

 

[ACMEODY]

Hi,

Yesterday, several times, my radio cuts out and several dash lights flashed and my needles dropped to the bottom on the gauges. I did not lose engine power - car felt the same.

I turned off the radio and the lights on dash would flash - NOT the check engine light and the needles would drop and then go right back up.

One shop that I spoke to speculated that it was a wire that was grounding accidentally or something like that??? Another shop says they had never seen this issue before and inquired whether I had the extended warranty...which I don't. (That comment made me nervous)

Ideas??

A few weeks ago my check engine came light on and the code referenced a ECM relay, which I have not replaced yet. The engine light is also random....more off than on.

THANKS!
Carolyn
2005 Odyssey 85,000 miles

Hello all...Help - has anyone found a solution to this issue? I started with the exact same issue as Carolyn about a year ago...radio/nav codes would clear out and I also had the check engine light with a relay code a couple of times.

My problem now is that it has deteriorated into a situation where the van occasionally goes completely dead after being parked - as if the battery was disconnected (or the fusable link blew). It has NO power to anything at all - enough to clear all codes and radio presets. So far, I've been able to get it going again by opening the hood and banging my fist on the fuse box on the passenger side but when it happened tonight I was one bang away from calling AAA.

At this point, my inclination is to purchase a new fusable link, but I would think it would be working or not (not an intermittent problem.) I'm going back out tonight to inspect the battery cables but after searching over the past few months haven't found anything in the forums other than this post.

We're heading out of town this weekend to visit colleges for my daughter but I'm really concerned this is going to cause a problem for us...sooner or later, it will stay dead.

Any thoughts are MUCH appreciated - thank you!

Chris

 

[srad4life99]

having the same problem with my 06 ody. but the VSA warning light comes on and the radio goes out at the same time!!!! someone please help !!! it is very frustrating!!!!

 

[New Dad New Van]

Maybe a solution in these TSBs?

TSB 07-020 Safety Recall: Fuel Pump Relay May Cause Engine No-Start or Stalling

TSB 05-014 Safety Recall: Fuse Box May Cause a No-Start or Stalling Condition

TSB #08-078 Electrical Problems and B-CAN DTCs After Exposure to Water/Water Leaks

 

[oobbyb]

Yikes, just had the same exact thing happen to my 06. I cleaned battery and terminals but no help. Anyone solve this yet????

 

[stratman]

Same problem just started on the wifes 05!Any info?

 

[sixstring77]

Got a call from wife while at work complaining of this happening 3 times today while she was driving. The radio wanted the security code when everything came back on each time. Sounds like a ground issue to me and a bear to figure out.

 

[sixstring77]

I need to amend the symptoms now that I'm home and able to look at the van. The NAV wanted the code not the radio.

 

[oobbyb]

This weird cutout thing stopped happening to me after I thoroughly cleaned the battery posts and terminals.
I scraped off the accumulated Zinc from the terminals and used a cheap-o AutoZone batter post cleaner to scrape the post and terminal shiny clean. I then coated the terminals with petroleum jelly. Total elapsed time, 4 minutes. The problem hasn't happened for 2 months. <knocks wood>.

 

[mlynch2]

I have had the same problem with my 2000 Honda Odyssey LX - 165k miles - I will be driving and everything electrical goes dead - have not had to reload the radio code, however - and the engine continued to run. Yesterday, I pulled into a parking lot to drop my daughter off and when I went to start it - nothing! Everything was dead - called roadside service - the peculiar thing I noticed while I was waiting - was the clock was fading in and out - just before the roadside service guy attached his jumper cables to the battery, everything magically came back on and the van started right up. Checked the battery with my multimeter and I'm getting 12.9 volts. I have ordered a portable starter to keep with me from now on. The battery cables connected to battery are solid, but I have not checked the other ends - don't really know how.

 

[sers]

I recently had the battery die in my 2007 Odyssey. There was just enough juice in it to cause the dash lights to flash erratically, but not enough to start the van. I pulled the battery and tested it and found a number of dead cells. Some of the cells in your battery might be dying or dead and could be causing erratic electrical activity. It may not be the problem, but something to look at.

 

[pbrouse]

Having a similar problem with my 06. The navigation and radio were blinking off and on first and now the gauges are dropping out. Going to check the battery terminals and see if they are clean. Has anyone solved this problem?

 

[woodsm]

Having the same problem with my 08 EX-L. Very random total electrical failure. I checked the battery, and cleaned up a little corrosion, but it wasn't bad at all. I also changed all the A/C relays, just to be safe. My local independent Honda guy has no idea where to start, because it's so intermittent, and not giving a CEL. If anyone figures this out, please post back the fix.

 

[lingmer]

Any update on this. Driving 2006 EX with 123K miles and VSA light turns ON and radio cuts out for a couple seconds. Wife says it happen a couple of times now.

 

[Terse2005]

These seem like classic cases of Hondas with a failing alternator. Hondas do not like when alternators give up the ghost, and needles falling on dash and all sorts of other electrical Gremlins are common. I've seen this happen on our Acura and pilot as well. All manners of warning lights will come on as the computer experiences voltage drops and it can be intimidating.
Try hooking a voltmeter to your battery to see what it's reading. anything near 14 volts while running is probably good but if it's dying it still may not show symptoms at idle. Sometimes they will create a whine that matches engine RPMs before they die. This is due to bearing failure

Best of luck! Alternators failing can leave you stranded quickly without a strong battery

 

[John Clark]

... Sometimes they will create a whine that matches engine RPMs before they die. This is due to bearing failure..

Actually, the "whine" that alternators give when they're failing is more often due to failing diodes, not bearings, even though it really sounds like a bearing noise. I removed mine at 130K when it developed a whine. I took it apart and found perfect bearings but a failed diode. This isn't my video but it's a good example of what I'm talking about:

 

[Rob2017]

I had the same issues as the other post here with the radio cutting out and all the dash warning lights flashing on and the needles dropping down the whole way then everything would come right back on. I tried trouble shooting this issue thinking it was a problem with a short in the dash somewhere. I went to Autozone and had the battery and alternator tested and everything tested good. I checked the battery connections and they were nice and tight with only a tiny bit of corrosion. I decided to remove the battery clamps and clean them up and when I put them back on they did not tighten down the whole way. The clamp was to big for the battery post. This battery was replaced a year ago but he shop did not do anything to adjust the clamps. I bought battery post shims for $3.00 and placed them on the post and the problem has been resolved.

I checked the battery connections several times while trouble shooting they were nice and tight because of the tiny bit of corrosion holding them in place. If your battery clamp looks like it might be tightened all the way with the clamp this might be an easy fix.

 

[orchidd]

Got a call from wife while at work complaining of this happening 3 times today while she was driving. The radio wanted the security code when everything came back on each time. Sounds like a ground issue to me and a bear to figure out.

Hi all just wanted to know if any solution was found to this problem. My wife reported seeing the vsa light up and radio off issue a week now and it has been happening on and off. I thought it was a battery issue and changed the battery however she was on highway with the kids and vsa light came on and not only did the radio go off so did all gauges on dash ..took it in to Honda who says they see some sort of messages after diagnostics but wants the car overnight to drive it to experience the issue because ofcourse at the time they drove it nothing happened so waiting for an answer. they did find one front mount needs replacement so I dont know if that has anything to do with this maybe engine is pinching a wire of some sort?