I took my van to Honda complaining of a whinning noise coming from the front. Honda assured me that there was nothing wrong with my van. One week later I went back to complain again. The whinning noise had gotten louder. They told me I could try flushing the power steering fluid $150-200 but was told that may or may not fix the problem (which I haven't done yet). Now the VSA and ABS light are on and off and on again. I again stopped at Honda and was told I would have to pay $90 to have it looked at again. Oh yea, and I also have vibration in my steering wheel only while driving on the Highway. But there is "nothing wrong" with my van.
The noise in the steering mechanism started small. Took it to the Honda shop and asked about it.. I was told then that this was normal. This is my wife's car and I almost never drive it. My wife tells me the steering is initially hard in the morning and a little worse in recent cold days to the point of alarming her. She is afraid something will happen that may be unsafe. I took the car for a ride and found the steering noise light at the start and as I drove a few miles the noise got progressively louder. Steering was hard when cold and jerky when turning left of right after warm. Discover another noise coming from one of the rear wheels. (Read the next post. The car is parked waiting for this second problem to be fixed first ) The car is out of warranty with 52,890 miles. I do not have the money to replace the steering pump(I have a little girl with leukemia and bills) so I will flush the system first, then I am up for suggestions.. Since there are many owners with similar problems I wanted to add mine to the list in hope something positive will come of it. Verdi
Just like other complaints posted below, we experienced a whinning sounds at low speeds (ie parking the van after coming off of the highway) intermittently for a few months becoming more frequent in the last month. Saw all these complaints below and called Honda Canada --- they would not admit to anything (even when pressed) except told me to get it diagnosed at a Honda dealer. Kitchener Honda dealer diagnosed it as a failed power steering pump for $900 and when asked about TSB on the net for this known problem was simply told those are American service bulletins and do not apply to us. Apparently a power steering failure in CA is totally different than one in Ontario!!
Called Honda Canada and updated them of the situation (the agent just listened) and called me back the next day to let me know Honda Canada will pay for the parts and I would have to pay the labour. I then asked the agent what the rationale was for me to pay the labour for a known Honda manufacturing defect. He put me on hold and then simply offered to pay for the whole repair.
Be persistent they're protocol is not to offer a recall unless customers call and complain. I'm happy Honda Canada paid for the repair even though I was well past my 3 year 60K warranty, dissapointed Honda has not recalled the affected vehicles and disgusted to hear some people below and out there actually ended up paying for this.
I brought the van at the dealership last 11/2009 for a power steering fluid exchange because of experiencing the symptom as described in the TSB, 07-005 June 17, 2008 for Honda Odyssey 2005-2008 about power steering pump whines, buzzes, or hums.
I thought it was dirty and it might be the cause of the noise. I don't know that there was a TSB for this.
The noise symptoms disappeared but I noticed a steering anomaly. When I turn the steering wheel to the left (any speed) I felt the steering is heavier compared to when I steer to the right. And because of this it doesn't track straight. It slightly drifts to the right and I always have to correct it to keep it straight.
This month, I had all tires replaced with new, same oem tires and had the alignment performed. The steering symptoms remained. The alignment report states that "the vehicle pulling angle are within specs and would not cause the pull to the right."
I had the new tires rebalanced and rotated but it didn't fixed the problem.
I just discovered this website and the TSB couple of days ago so I'm going to the dealership with my concerns. Will follow up.
This is a very difficult issue to diagnose as it happens intermittently when it is cold outside but the engine is hot after driving for some time. If you take the car to dealer it may not present for them to understand unless you see an experienced person(which is impossible-usually you see the man at the counter and he won't call the tech unless you fight).
Please tell them it is power steering pump issue and if needed take this printout using the following web address posted in our site.
TSB 07-005 Power Steering Pump Whines, Buzzes, or Hums
I went in just out of factory warranty and Honda Canada fought me on this. Apparently after some discussion my extended warranty covered it. Absolutely disgusting that a known issue would not be covered 6 months outside of warranty.
Honda Canada is particularly arrogant. If you have to call, clearly YOU have a problem.
It started quite early, mostly when I used to reverse the car. But the steering never felt smooth. And I always thought that this may be due to newer vehicle and this needs some time to get myself adjusted to this new vehicle. But almost a year ago, I started feeling more and when I finally took this car to the dealership, estimate came close to $800.00. Too much money for repair and not covered under warranty, I suggested to wait for some time. And today through this website I am shocked to know that I am not the only one, who knows that there may be thousands more, who are not aware of this exposure on internet and get some benefit. Since, currently there are many more serious issues been highlighted by the transport offices, company shoudl consider this as legitimate concern and recall to repair all these vahicle free. Or the authorities should look into this matter, which might become a safety issue in the absence of not repairing this. We shall raise this concern to Honda and / or Authorities. Can someone help?
We determine there was a problem with our steering pump and did inform the local Honda dealer in Middleburg Heights, Ohio we heard other individuals were having this problem. It didn't matter as they fixed the problem and took our $750. We were under 60,000 miles but that didn't matter. We will be going elsewhere for our Honda needs in the future - that would be both for service AND purchasing future vehicles. For those in the future with this problem, INSIST this is a problem the manufacturer knows about and call the dealer out on how much is a "fair" amount to pay.
Strong whining noise developed today on 400 mile trip. Checked power steering fluid level and was okay, but smelled burned. Not sure if pump is rebuildable. Bernardi Parts has replacement pump assy for $232. I would expect to pay at least $600 to have this replaced by a dealer. I will flush first to see what happens. If no good, I will replace myself with Bernardi parts.
found whining occurring when temp outside was 30-50 degrees farenheit after the car was warm especially noticeable. there is a TSB on this problem, and symptoms matched exactly. internet had full details of tsb in pdf format. purchased new reservoir on-line and fluid. flushed system with new fluid. suprised that only 1/2 a quart at a time would pump out as system re-filled. flushed a few times. put in new reservoir and problem solved. still have 3 quarts of power steering fluid left over. very happy to have fixed myself. honda service manager in annapolis was a real jerk to my wife when we brought a minor problem to them. i think the problem would have been covered under warranty since the car was recently purchased used, but decided to just handle myself and minimize the agravation/down time.
They initially charged me over $700 to fix this problem. After I told them that I had read about many other people having this problem, they charged me only $304 to fix it. They obviously know there is a problem with the power steering pump in all 05-07 Odysseys.
Had the same whining noise found bulletin 07-005 from honda stated was a defect part to it to my local dealer they said $145 was $210 i said no thanks just give me the name to the top guy at honda for service and i will talk to them.As honda stated it was a defective part they can pay for it.....10 mins later they said they would take care of it while they did me an oil change and wheels rotated.this is the link to the service bulletin and remember my honda had 61566 miles on it when i took it in as the service bulletin states if not in warranty call for goodwill cover!! there are several bulletins on this make sure you read the updated version which does not state the pump need replacing just the tank and flush and new fluid which all seem ok upto now.
Update from Mar 22, 2010: Ok still no problem the fix I posted cured the problem.............please people I left the service bulleting and it states they fitted faulty parts why are any of you paying a dime they have already admitted fault Honda have no leg to stand on in a court of law.......and also remember that there is always someone higher that the man in front of you trying to rip you off to save himself time and paperwork ask for his full name and the name and number to his area service manager he will soon be replacing the part.......and also remind him/her that Honda have already admitted that they put faulty parts in your Honda and he wants to feel very lucky that you’re not asking for the pump to be replaced due to ware from the contaminated fluid due to the faulty parts and a day of lost wage for the privilege of you standing in front of him/her. Please I don’t like to say this peeps but let’s all get a back bone when we are dealing with Honda over this and do not accept no as an answer
Noise from power steering pump. I took it to dealer and they stated that they could not fix it because it was not broken. They said it was normal to make that noise and that the warranty would not fix it until it went out completely. Never again will I buy a Honda. We have had numerous other problems with it. Had fewer problems with my old Kia!
I had the same problem with this minivan, I kept complaining to my dealer and even went to other dealer about the whining noise after driving for few minutes in the highway. And they all say the same, that we don't hear any noise and if they do its just the engine noise. I was fed up on what they keep telling me so I have decided to check my problem online and luckily i came across this website.
I went to the dealer the next day and specifically complained about the steering noise under my hood, on the spot they've changed steering pump, and reservoir. I had to pay some portion of the parts due to warranty issue. I faxed my complaint letter to Honda Canada and they paid me back whatever I spent. To all the people who wrote the same problem, thank you so much.
Power steering pump started making noise a few months ago. The dealer said it was a clogged reservoir screen and that the reservoir should be replaced. I declined and did a little research only to discover that this is a common problem with the Odyssey and that the only solution according to Bob from Ithaca (2005 Honda Odyssey, Loud Intermittent Whine When Turning #11) is to replace the hoses, pump and reservoir. Bob found that through the process of elimination, the high pressure hose was the cause of the contamination.
I called the NHTSA vehicle safety hotline and reported the problem. They said they would investigate. I don't know, but maybe if more people filled a complaint with the NHTSA there would be a recall. Their number is 888-327-4236. I thought that it was kind of interesting that Honda printed the wrong number for the NHTSA in their manual.
Noticed a whine from the power steering this summer when the car was still under warranty, but didn't take action soon enough to be covered. Dealer gave me 10% off total cost of $529 making the repair cost $476. The dealer also said the new pumps are NOT the same, and should last longer. Moral: don't wait until 42,000 miles to replace a part with a 36,000 mile warranty.
I'm so sick and tired of people thinking that if a car has one minor defect that means it is junk. when your able to go out and by a car that never breaks let me know. then its moron thinking to say it should be covered forever. at some point you have to take responsibility for your own car. just because they made it does not mean they should pay for it. get grip
Had the same problem. There is a TSB related to steering pump "whining, buzzes, or hums". Probable cause is "internal problem in the power steering pump contaminated the power steering fluid". Corrective action is "Flush the P/S fluid, then replace the power steering reservoir and the power steering pump".
Honda Service Bulletin 07-005. Issued January 26, 2007. Applies to "ALL 2005-2006 Odyssey".
I bought a Honda hoping to avoid problems but I've had nothing but small issues - none of which worth going back to the dealer because they are intermittent and will not be resolved; groaning noise with power steering (heard this on other Honda Odyssey's as well), transmission makes a grinding noise consistently after backing up then moving forward on shift from 1st into 2nd, now rear brakes make noise as though rotors are out of round or glazed, the engine groans when going 50mph, and the ride is very harsh despite adjusting the tire pressures. What a joke...wish I would have bought the Toyota.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I took my van to Honda complaining of a whinning noise coming from the front. Honda assured me that there was nothing wrong with my van. One week later I went back to complain again. The whinning noise had gotten louder. They told me I could try flushing the power steering fluid $150-200 but was told that may or may not fix the problem (which I haven't done yet). Now the VSA and ABS light are on and off and on again. I again stopped at Honda and was told I would have to pay $90 to have it looked at again. Oh yea, and I also have vibration in my steering wheel only while driving on the Highway. But there is "nothing wrong" with my van.
- nealky, Independence, KY, US