[celicool]

I drove my daughter to school then off to work this morning in the Ody.
Picked her up after work and now I am home.

Within the last 2 months, I replaced the driver side Mid-roller with a life time one and disabling the alarm using the same method as "thscott"

With all the time and money I have invested in it, it's better be around for while to pay me back 🤣

 

[celicool]

BTW - The cost of that tent plus 10 nights at the campground (with my senior discount) totalled under $500 !
My Scottish heritage says that was a good investment .

That is definitely one of the best inventions for the Ody.

What is the name of that tent especially with the improvised connection portion covering the Ody tailgate?

 

[celicool]

It was the current Honda offering about six years ago - and was a perfect fit to my Gen 3 (with roof rails that my van was already equipped with) . There are magnets in the snorkel that make a tight fit around the hatch (open or closed). The snorkel is really handy . I have a full air mattress in the back of the van for my camping bed , I change in the tent and crawl into bed from inside the tent . Because of the slight rake of the van , I find it best to sleep with my feet toward the front of the van . The tent has screened roof vents as well as three large screened windows ,and the fly permits either a side 'door' and awning , or rear entry and awning . Full sewn-in floor (10 ft.X 10 ft. = 100 sq.ft. of floor area) and lots of head room . Even a square stowage net below the roof vents (which are under the fly , the space between tent and fly permits circulation) yet above head space - I am 6'2". If you can find a dealer who still has one in stock , it is a well thought out design , and a great investment if you are a camper with a Gen 3 van . A little tough to raise the tent alone , but a snap for two . I have a 10 X 20 tarp that I double to keep the floor from getting punctured by sharp stones , etc.
Tip : bring a concrete block (or two) to butt one end of the flex arcs against if attempting to raise the tent alone.

Nice, Thanks for the details! I will be on the look out for one. If it serves a 6'2'' person well, I am pretty sure that I would have no problem with it. Great tips with using the concrete block.

I love camping but my wife is not so much into it. But, she did it with me twice in Yellow Stone.

 

[celicool]

Not quite my 3rd gen, but I helped my cousin remove the door panel and lubricate his sticking sliding door release actuator today on his Touring. It's the third time I've been inside the sliding door panel.

By far the thing that was giving me the most trouble was the pesky clip on the door handle. It came out effortlessly the first time I did one of these, the second time it gave me a little trouble but came out with the right methods. This time it took 10-15 minutes easily. But after that it was smooth sailing. Taking out the clip probably took longer than the entire rest of the job...

The results make it worth it though. Smooth unlatching during operation.

I was a little surprised to see that his center roller is in excellent condition, no play in it at all.

Did you use the t-shirt method? It worked quite well for me the last time--it popped out less than 10 seconds. I covered the whole thing with another shirt to catch the clip.

 

[celicool]

are these the door rollers? could you provide more details please?

Yes, I replaced those two plastic/rubber rollers with ball bearings then top it off with a couple of C clips. Hence ==> lifetime mid-rollers

 

[celicool]

ah, gotcha
do you have a picture by any chance of what you mean?
the rollers on one side have already gone out so I'm very curious as to replacements

Final Product.

In action

 

[celicool]

Are they loud? Does a DIY exist with part numbers or sizes?

they sound the same as the plastic ones.
Sorry, I don't recall part #s or sizes because I got them online over 3 years ago before the Pandemic. It cost me less than $10 including shipping from China.

 

[celicool]

Yes, the C clip sits right on top and would be held in place firmly by the deform edge. There was not much room left so I had to use a needle nose to work that C clip in.

So, when removing the plastic rollers from your worn out Mid-roller, don't use a grinder to grind or cut the outer edge off to slide the rollers out. Instead, cut away away the plastic rollers by using a diagonal cutter pliers (pix below). Then using the same diagonal cutter pliers, position the cutter pliers like I was about to cut away the edge (but don't cut it). Instead, use it as a tool to force the outer edge out. Work it all around and the outer edge ring will eventually fall off leaving enough outer edge behind (deform) to slide in the ball bearings and to hold the C clip in place.

Before sliding in the ball bearings, I put a dab of lithium grease in. A spray can of lithium grease would work too. The C clip is one of the smallest ones so it's best if you get a box of different sizes. The Mid-roller position at the door is facing upward so even without the C clip in place, the law of gravity will likely keep the ball bearing in place. But, a C clip is definitely the right part for the job.

BTW: what I call a "C" clip is what people technically call it an "E" clip.

 

[celicool]

I was teaching my teenager how to drive/ pull into parking spots and he accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake when straightening out in the space. Drove over the curb and part way up a little hill in front of the parking spot. Oops!

I zip tied my engine splash guard back in place so it wasn't dragging on the ground. Also put the right side front bumper back in place as best i could (pics during operation)
Hoping it holds for a few weeks while I recover my funds from buying all new brake rotors, pads, and brake lines.

Sorry to hear that. Hope you guys are recovered from the misfortunate 😁

I am glad that I was able to get my driving education during my high school years--no cars were destroyed/damaged during the process.

 

[celicool]

Worked on my left tail light (attached to the liftgate) for the notorious water leak. I fixed the passenger side a few years back so this one came out and back in easily.

 

[celicool]

is that body sealer or caulk?

Window silicone. It will dry clear.

 

[celicool]

As much as I see people doing the hole drilling "fix", it is refreshing to see someone doing it by the book.

After 15 years, I thought the gasket could have gone bad. Because the gasket doesn't seem to be replaceable, I put silicone on both sides of the gasket plus silicone around the edge of the light access hole (3rd pix). That should take care of any gap left by the now less perfect gasket. I also worked silicone in around the outer edge of the light housing where the seams come together. There was a pretty good chance that they were no longer watertight after all these years.

 

[celicool]

Replaced the original OEM starter with another used Honda Denso Starter (lower mileage). At 272K miles this old starter had served its owners well, and it's time to retire it. You just can't go wrong with "Made in Japan" (or Made in USA) products.

 

[celicool]

Went from this:

View attachment 168886

To this:

View attachment 168885

Did you replace the entire door?

 

[celicool]

@T_Duck: Post more pix. We want to follow your progress. Smooth sailing!

 

[celicool]

I installed an Anti Cat Theft rig on my 2007 Odyssey Touring for less than $100 plus 6 hours labor (my labor - about 4 hours spent on brainstorming)

Locking Up The 3rd CAT to Prevent Catalytic Converter...

With 273K miles on the clock, there is not much precious metals left in the OEM cats. But thieves don't know that. If they strike, I would be looking at at least $500 for an aftermarket job or over $1000 for an OEM CAT. The bank 1 and bank 2 cats are in pretty secured place and need no...

www.odyclub.com

 

[celicool]

I put all of my vehicles on charger at least once a week. I would put it on a slow charge if I had to keep it that long w/o driving.

 

[celicool]

I know that feeling.
I too enjoy driving the Ody more than my Accord and Rav4. The only thing I don't enjoy about the Ody is its gas drinking habit . The Rav4 is still king of maintenance free--it has been 10 years, and the only thing I have ever done to it is changing oil (and wiping dust of its engine lol ).

So, you finally got an accord as your main driver?

 

[celicool]

I know it seems a bit surprising that I didn't have one already, but I went to Harbor Freight the other day and picked up a cheap multimeter in preparation for hardwiring a dashcam in my Accord.

Out of curiosity since the battery in my Ody is now over 3 years old and it spends a lot of time sitting, I decided to see what my resting voltages are at.

After getting back from several trips to various stores yesterday (Black Friday came early..), the resting voltage was right at 12.5. Makes sense for a 3 year old battery coming off a full charge from driving.

I let it sit overnight and I checked it before leaving this morning, and it was at about 12.3.

I can't say there are any significant conclusions that can be drawn from this info, it's just something I was curious about.

I'll probably check it next weekend after a week of sitting before I move it out of the garage to bring the Accord in for the dashcam install. It will probably be quite a bit lower at that point, and I know that this battery's time is probably coming sooner than later, considering the last battery I had in here was the same brand and lasted almost exactly 3.5 years. So I've probably got just a few months left.

You might be asking why I'm not just replacing it preventatively, and well, I don't really have a solid answer other than I don't rely on this car so I don't mind if I have to jump it at some point and head to AutoZone for a new one. It isn't going to ruin my plans or get me fired. Also, it seems like a waste getting a new battery when the old one works fine and if I were to get a new one, it would lose some life sitting a lot.

12.5 is normal volt reading for my Ody too.
I generally put a battery charger on my Ody once a week so I am familiar with these at rest volt numbers. My battery is about 1 yr old, and it usually shows 12.5 for sitting around in the garage for a few days. Sometimes it would show 12.6 or even 12.7 if it is freshly off the charger and has full 4 bars showing the strength like my smart phone.

 

[celicool]

Poetic. The battery decided to quit about an hour and a half ago, about 3-4 minutes away from home.

I came over to rescue the van.

It was totally dead. Absolutely nothing when I put the key in, no lights in the on position, nothing when I go to start it. Completely dead.

What's strange is I drove it and came back with no trouble at all only a couple hours prior.

Anyway, I used the multimeter to check the standing voltage, and it was at 12.4 volts. Seems good enough to start, but okay, maybe the CCA is not where it needs to be.

I jumped it using the Accord and I got lights and everything came back to life. It started right up with no trouble at all, like the battery was at full charge.

I went over to AutoZone to get the battery tested and was told the battery was still good, just needed to be charged as it was at 70% charge currently.

It started up just fine to leave AutoZone and I took the scenic route back home to hopefully get the battery juiced up more. When I got home, I checked the voltage with the car running, and it was right where it should be at 14.1. With the car off, I was getting 12.6 volts, also right where a fully charged battery should be.

So for now, the battery is okay, but this incident will warrant some closer monitoring for now. What complicates matters is I'm leaving the country soon and I'm not going to be back until the end of December. I plan to leave the battery disconnected while I'm gone, so we'll see where it's at when I get back.

Your ody is a good candidate for an AGM battery--AGM batteries are at least twice as much, but they tend to hold charge batter than conventional batteries when sitting around as spare vehicles. I would not put too much trust into that current battery. You may be getting away with it in hot states, but in my state, it might be sitting there laughing at me when it's in the teen outside. That is when CCA means something.