Sliding car doors are a great feature on a Honda Odyssey, when they work that is! No one enjoys getting trapped in or outside of their car but that is exactly what can happen when the door on your Honda Odyssey gets stuck.
When your car door won’t close you can find yourself in quite the predicament. You can’t just go cruising down the highway with your door wide open and it certainly wouldn’t be a good idea to leave your car alone in a parking lot without closing the door.
So, what do you do when your Honda Odyssey door won’t close? Don’t panic, we have all the answers for you in this article.
There are a few reasons why the sliding door on your Honda Odyssey may no longer be closing such as an electrical fault or dirty sensors.
If you have a Honda Odyssey from 1991 to 2011 you could try replacing the rubber at the end of the rail. If your Odyssey is post-2011 then your problem may simply be a flip on a toggle switch near the steering wheel.
The Honda Odyssey is a popular vehicle for families and those drivers wanting a spacious car with plenty of seats and storage space. Sliding doors are a staple of the Odyssey and are one of the reasons parents love this model.
It’s not quite a minivan but you have all the space you need to get your children, pushchairs, groceries, and even your family dog in and out with ease.
The sliding doors may be a much-loved feature of the Honda Odyssey and may well be the reason behind the model’s popularity. However, it is the sliding doors that seem to cause Honda owners the most trouble.
When they work, sliding doors are a great feature. When a door opens in this way, passengers have more space when getting in and out of the vehicle and they are definitely more aesthetically pleasing to look at than your traditional door on a hinge.
When the sliding doors break, Honda drivers may not know what is going on or if they will be able to successfully close their car door again.
When they work, sliding car doors are a brilliant idea. If you notice your Honda Odyssey is not fully closing and you don’t know why here is a list of reasons why this may be happening:
Issues with the sliding doors on Honda Odyssey cars are, unfortunately, very common. Some drivers will have trouble closing the door manually, or the door control switches don’t seem to be working.
On other occasions, Honda owners notice that when they close the door, it doesn’t stay fully shut.
Sometimes the door will only close halfway and in other cases, the door won’t close at all, with the switch or manually using the handle. Keep reading to find out how you can solve these problems and get your Honda Odyssey door to stay closed.
If you are unable to close the sliding door on your 1991 – 2011 Honda Odyssey by using either the inside or outside door handle but the ‘rear door control’ button still works, try following these simple steps:
Step 1
Look at the bottom of the sliding door, you will see a rubber rail. The door slides along this rubber rail to open and close smoothly. Often, if you can’t close the door using the handles it is because the rubber at the end of the rail has become worn, brittle, and has fallen off without you noticing.
Step 2
If you can see the rubber has vanished or is damaged at the end of the rail, don’t panic. This problem with the Honda Odyssey sliding door can easily be fixed.
Step 3
Purchase a replacement rail rubber end piece from the Honda dealership or online. You will need this part to get your Honda sliding door to close properly again.
Step 4
Once you have the replacement rubber, you will now need to fit it into place. The first step will be to open your sliding door halfway. To do this you simply need to press the door control button on the driver’s control panel and then hit ‘Close’ when the door is shut halfway.
Step 5
Hook the replacement rubber bumper onto the end of the metal rail. The piece of rubber should fit securely into the gap.
Step 6
Open the door fully again and then try to close it using the handle. With the new rubber bumper installed, you should have no problem securely closing the door all of the ways.
More of a visual learner? Watch this tutorial to get a closer look at exactly how to fix a Honda Odyssey sliding door that won’t close:
If you have a more modern Honda Odyssey, the steps above may not help you to fix your broken sliding door. However, there is a method you can try that may get your sliding door back to full working order in no time.
Step 1
Sit in the driver’s seat and locate the toggle switch on the steering wheel.
Step 2
The toggle should be located by the steering wheel button. If you can’t find the correct toggle, consult your owner’s manual or contact your dealership.
Step 3
Once you find the toggle, you will notice it can be switched up and down. When the toggle is pushed down, it will prevent the sliding doors on a Honda Odyssey from working correctly.
Step 4
Push the toggle back to the UP position. Try opening and closing your doors again, the problem should now be resolved.
If the above method doesn’t work and you discover the issue is a broken cable, watch this tutorial for a detailed explanation on how you can fix this problem yourself at home:
If none of the methods we have shared so far in this article are fixing the problem, there may be another issue that is making it so your sliding doors won’t close. When you close your door, does it open up again by a quarter of an inch or so?
You don’t want to leave your Honda unattended when this happens because the door is still open and you will not be able to lock your vehicle. Unless you are parked up in your garage with the door locked, you should not be leaving your car open and vulnerable to thieves.
This may be happening because there is an issue with the door sensors. To try to solve this issue, follow these steps:
Step 1 – Turn your Honda OFF using the power down button on the master switch.
Step 2 – Next, manually open all of your car doors.
Step 3 – Now closely look at the door pillars and contacts. If they look dirty or have built-up grime and dust on them, you will need to clean them.
Step 4 – Using rubbing alcohol, clean the sensors and the door sliding railing carefully. If dirt has built up, this may be preventing the contact sensors from recognizing that the door is fully closed.
Step 5 – Double-check the rubber parts on the railing, check everything is where it should be and that nothing is missing.
Step 6 – Once everything is clean and in place, turn the master switch ON and leave all of the doors slightly open.
Step 7 – Finally, using the door control switch, switch to CLOSE. If this procedure has worked, the sliding doors should now close and stay closed.
Are you still having an issue with the Honda Odyssey sliding door not closing? If the door still won’t stay shut after trying all of the fixes we have suggested, there may be an electrical issue to blame and this may require the fuses to be reset.
You can try overriding the fuse for the sliding doors so you can open and close them manually, or disconnecting and reconnecting the battery may be enough to resolve the issue.
We recommend seeking professional advice before trying to do anything involving your Honda’s fuse box as you may unintentionally cause more problems.
Sometimes it is the manual latch that is causing the problem and preventing you from closing the sliding door and keeping it locked in place. You may be able to solve this issue just with a screwdriver!
By inserting a screwdriver into the latch, you can gently prise it open again and the door may be able to lock back into place again.
Have you tried all of the DIY methods and still can’t get the sliding door on your Honda Odyssey to close? It may be time to call in the professionals.
It is not safe to be driving a car around when the doors won’t stay closed, a mechanic will be able to quickly diagnose the issue and get your door closing properly again in no time.
The Honda Odyssey is well known for its sliding doors, but not all models have power sliding doors. The LX models often have manual sliding doors but if you have an EX model or above, you will be lucky enough to have the power sliding doors feature.
To reset the Honda 2012 sliding door you will need to first safely disconnect the battery. Once the battery is disconnected, you will then need to press and hold both of the sliding door buttons.
Release the buttons after a few seconds and then reconnect the battery. You can now restart your car engine and the reset procedure will be complete.
If your Honda Odyssey has power sliding doors, you can still open and close them manually. To manually open the sliding door, all you need to do is turn the main door control switch to OFF.
All you need to do next is pull on the door handle and slide the door open, just like you would on a Honda or minivan that doesn’t have power-assisted sliding doors.
The Honda Odyssey 2014 LX model has manual sliding doors. If you want to upgrade your vehicle and want the added feature of power sliding doors, you will need the EX model or above.
The Honda Odyssey is a popular, reliable vehicle with some great features such as power-assisted sliding doors. However, even though popular they often pose a common fault.
If your Honda Odyssey door won’t close, there are several methods you can use to troubleshoot and solve the problem. There may be an essential piece of rubber missing from the rail or there could be a fuse at fault.
You may just have a switch set in the wrong position – all of which are quick and simple fixes.
If our tips in this article still don’t fix your sliding doors, then your door issue maybe something more complicated such as an electrical fault that will require resetting of fuses or even your battery.
This may well be outside your scope of knowledge, then your local mechanic will be able to further assist you.
