Power steering pump or fluid leak on the 2006 Honda Odyssey
When power steering pump or fluid leak gets reported
Owners of the 2006 Honda Odyssey report power steering pump or fluid leak at a median of 50,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 35,000 miles and a quarter after 75,000 miles, from 35 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 100,000 miles. It is the 7th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 17,500 miles at the tenth percentile to 87,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 68,220 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.
34% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18,600 miles | 33,850 miles | 50,000 miles | 74,038 miles | 86,820 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
Putting it right typically runs $350–$1,600 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 5 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2010, at a median of 25,000 miles, and latest on the 2006 at 50,000 miles.
By volume the 2006 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
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.
I purchased my 2006 honda odyssey in the spring of 2006, and the power steering pump makes an annoying whining noise. I have taken it to honda dealers twice (once in ny & once in fla), and have been told that there is nothing wrong with the pump; that a "minor humming noise is normal". The technician said only that if enough customers complained, a service bulletin would be issued. So I've received no satisfaction or solution to the problem. The whining continues, and I'm supposed to accept it! *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 honda odyssey. The contact stated that the vehicle made a groaning sound when making a turn. The noise typically occurred after the vehicle reached speeds of 40 MPH and above. She took the vehicle to the dealer for repair and was told that there were reports of failure with the power steering pumps for that type of vehicle. The vehicle was repaired and the pump was replaced under warranty. After the repair was made, the vehicle completely lost power steering ability and made it impossible for the contact to steer. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and the power steering pump was replaced again. The current mileage is 5,000 and failure mileage was 4,000. The consumer provided the invoices for repair. 05/21/07 *tr
After a 45 min drive we began to hear a jingling whining sound. Took the van to the dealership the next morning and the noise was gone. I was told that with no noise they couldn't find the problem. After a week I took it in and said that there was a problem with my van and they needed to keep it until they located the cause of the noise. I was informed after a few hours that my power steering pump needed to be replaced to the tune of $600.00. After some discussion they agreed that they had been having complaints/problems with the power steering pumps and they would be willing to pay for the parts if I would pay for the labor. I have been told that this is huge danger because the power steering could completely fail at high speeds causing complete loss of control. *tr
Also reported on the 2006 Honda Odyssey
Other body or interior problem
Other engine problem
Air conditioning failure
Other steering problem
Other powertrain problem
Other brake problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 40 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 power steering pump or fluid leak happen on the 2006 Honda Odyssey?
Across 35 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 50,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 35,000 miles and a quarter after 75,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is power steering pump or fluid leak on the 2006 Honda Odyssey?
40 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 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