Air conditioning failure on the 2005 Honda Odyssey
1 fire 1 of the 53 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When air conditioning failure gets reported
Owners of the 2005 Honda Odyssey report air conditioning failure at a median of 50,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 65,000 miles, from 42 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 20,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 85,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 64,540 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
29% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20,460 miles | 30,500 miles | 50,992 miles | 65,378 miles | 85,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a fire is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $400–$2,800 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 6 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2007, at a median of 20,000 miles, and latest on the 2003 at 70,000 miles.
By volume the 2006 carries the most reports, with 70; the 2005 has 53. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Condenser problems.. In hot june - the first day that temperatures were almost 100 degrees we experience our first set of many problem with this van. We had owned vehicle for 2 months and only put 2700 miles on it. We had experience a condenser explosion. We were sitting @ stop light and I heard a pop and steam rolled all around vehicle. Had vehicle towed to shop to find out that condenser had a bad spot in it and would be covered by warranty. Before it was declared that it was covered under warranty - we keep being threaten by service writer if it's not warranty related that I would owe checkout fees, what it would take to fix it and the complete rental bill. Appears that front bumper and condenser design was not thought out. I agree with the other complaints that a grille or a mesh area should cover the large opening. Fyi, we were told, by dealership, that most of the vehicles have not been covered under warranty - but ours appeared to have a weak spot in the condenser. *nm
Purchased a 2005 honda odyssey minivan with 11000 miles. The air conditioning became intermittent; then gradually became warmer and warmer until it stopped. Went to honda dealer in weymouth, ma. Initially they said if a rock or other object may have caused the a leak, it would not be covered under warranty. I initially agreed, however, this is not just my van with a freak problem. On "topix.net" you will see that many, many others are having a similar problem. Nhtsa needs to help the manufacturer recognize that they need to step up and cover the repair which will repeat time and again if no retro fit is made to protect the condenser. This is a very expensive repair and consumers are being saddled with costs, on top of owning a new vehicle, that has a warranty. The sad thing is the dealer acted like they don't know that hundreds of others have had a similar problem! Please help! *jb
The air conditioner A/C on my 2005 honda odyssey stopped working. I took vehicle to the dealer, who said a rock had hit the condenser and caused a hole. This was not covered by warranty and will cost between $800 and $1000 to fix. Honda stated that it was not under warranty because it was caused by an outside influence ie the rock. There was no protection for the condenser as it was located near two big holes for air intake under the licence plate, and the A/C condenserwas not protected by mesh or anything that would prevent rocks from hitting it under normal road conditions. If I could not drive it on the road without worrying about a rock hitting the A/C, then where can I drive it? *ak
Also reported on the 2005 Honda Odyssey
Other body or interior problem
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
Other brake problem
Other steering problem
Other electrical problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 53 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does air conditioning failure happen on the 2005 Honda Odyssey?
Across 42 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 50,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 65,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is air conditioning failure on the 2005 Honda Odyssey?
53 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed