CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2014 and 2015 Honda Odyssey shows an early trend of transmission problems with clunking/jerking when shifting gears.

Most of these Odyssey transmissions are still under warranty, but so far Toyota generally hasn't been able to diagnose or fix the clunking problem — that's the reason for our low rating. Some owners have reported it was a stuck solenoid, & in a few cases Honda has replaced the entire transmission.

As more of these Odysseys start exceeding the 60,000-mile powertrain warranty limit, buyer beware.

3.9

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
31,389 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2015 Honda Odyssey drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2015 Honda Odyssey Owner Comments (Page 2 of 2)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #16

Oct 142018

Odyssey

  • 134,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My Honda Odyssey was experiencing a bucking sensation that occurred periodically but stopped after being restarted. Brought vehicle to dealer, who didn't find actual problem but during an evaluation of the vehicle detected a weakened engine mount and leaking spool valve, both of which could have lead to a loss of the engine if condition persisted. Both needed replacement at high cost, and to demonstrate that this was not a singular event was seen in another customer's Odyssey that afternoon. Considering so-called reliability of Honda, there's no reason for engine mount to have issues and there was a hint that there is an ongoing problem with the spool valve. This is something that could have lead to serious issues. However the original problem involving the 'slipping of the transmission' still persists and represents another potential safety issue with this van. The 'slipping issue' occurs when accelerating or decelerating around 20 mph or when achieving highway speeds off ramp. It does stop after the vehicle is turned off and then turned on again. Some of these issues may be more common than Honda is letting on.

- Windsor, CT, USA

problem #15

Oct 022018

Odyssey

  • 32,000 miles
After reversing out of the driveway (slowly) and putting the car in drive I noticed a hard clunking sound. I thought it was just a rough shift. When I continued to drive down my block 5-15 mph to the stop sign it continued. It feels like another vehicle is crashing into you and slamming on the breaks. You lose 'control' of the gas pedal (your foot is on the gas, you hear a large clunk and the gas pedal doesn't make you go forward anymore, for a couple seconds) it is a nerve-racking feeling and isn't correct. My vehicle was purchased in 2014 (2015 model) it only has 32K miles on it. Regular routine maintenance has been performed. It has happened a handful of times in the past 3-4 months and seems to temporarily correct itself once the car is put in park, turned off and turned back on... I have not been able to recreate it for anyone while they are in the vehicle, except my children who are scared when it happens. When the car is in park and goes to drive there is also a harsh transition; a clunk happens when shifting. It is an automatic transmission. Yesterday 10/2/18; I drove roughly a mile with no issues until I came to a stop sign, where I didn't make a complete stop and it started happening again. I waited to post, it happened again this morning 10/4/2018; the van was cold (parked all night) backed up, came to a complete stop, put it in drive, clunked like it missed firts gear, then continued to clunk as I drove between 40 and 60 feet. Stopped, put it in park, turned it back on and drove away with no issue. Shall see what happens after work today.

- Chico, CA, USA

problem #14

May 202017

Odyssey

  • 34,000 miles
2015 Odyssey vehicle's jerking experience started during a stop and go traffic. With three kids and two adults, we were extremely frightened. The vehicle jerked violently when I pushed the gas pedal during the low speed, 5-20 mph. I went away later that day and we went about our business. After we go back to our home, went to the local Honda dealer after making an appointment. Of course, we were not able to replicate the violent jerk experience. They said until they see it, there's nothing they can do. It was initially around 30K miles when this started now over. It has not happened in a few months but Honda is not taking this seriously.

- Buena Park, CA, USA

problem #13

Jun 022018

Odyssey

  • 35,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Transmission problem. When coming to a stop at low speed, and then accelerating, van has a jerk or hard shift between gears 1-2. this hard shift is enough to throw us back into our seats and does not occur at high speeds. Fluid has been flushed and torque converter changed but still occurs. It can happen after first starting car or after a long drive. Specifically notice this in yield type situations, round about a and when slowing down to turn into our neighborhood, where the car is decelerating and then accelerated. It feels as if the car does not know which groups ear to be in and then jerks down into gear after a brief pause.

- Bloomington, IN, USA

problem #12

May 012016

Odyssey

  • miles
Shuttering issues started around 2016, the car was new, bought 2015, beginning showed minor vibration while driving. 2017 January, the car started to shuttering at constant speed, on and off. Problem solved when car restarted. But keep coming back again. May 2017, the dealership said its there software issue, flushing the transmission fluid. 2018, the shuttering issue got worse, the car starts shutter over speed 20/mph, while holding the speed, accelerating. Every day I drive the car. Please help!!!

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #11

Jul 302017

Odyssey

  • 33,000 miles
A few months after our purchase the Odyssey seemed to jerk after slowing down and then taking off (city stop and go traffic). We mentioned this at our service and the dealership said it was normal with the eco. Last week my family heading out on vacation. About 6 hours, highway driving, into our drive we came upon heavy traffic. We had several miles of stop and go. My wife was driving and then all of a sudden, the transmission seemed to slam into gear and then the van would jerk then move. This continued from a complete stop to a slow roll when she accelerated for approximately 5 to 7 events through out the congested area about 40 min. We finally cleared traffic and stopped for rest and fuel and continued on. The symptom did not return for the remainder of our trip however, we did not have the same type of heavy stop and go traffic as we did when we started. I began to researched this and found out that this is a problem that hasn't be solved. It is difficult to reproduce and seems to reset to normal when the van is turned off. I am heading to the dealer to get our van looked at and document in their system.

- Stafford, VA, USA

problem #10

May 302016

Odyssey

  • 5,500 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Had my vehicle drove on freeway for an hour and when pulling on to a shopping center, there was a stop and go. At that point the engine/transmission starting jerking and shaking. There was sound from engine/tranmission like some metal crushing or breaking. Stopped the vehicle for a while and the issue didn't happen again. Dealer not able to replicate this issue and so no fix.

- Camarillo, CA, USA

problem #9

Oct 212015

Odyssey

  • 5,000 miles
2015 exl Odyssey 5000 miles driving home from work about 20 mins into my drive with 70 degree good weather. Tranny startes to clunk into gear. At first I noticed a lite clunk giving gas to pass someone. Then I noticed the clunk got worse the harder I gases it. What I realized is. That when the car shifts into gear or downshifts the tranny would slip and clunk. Then when I came to a full stop and accelarated the 1st to 2nd gear shift was terrible (bad clunk) it continued everytime the car shifted into 2nd. It was so bad I decieded to put car into 1st gear and hold it and manually shift to 2nd. I was able to soften the clunk by taking my foot off gas counting to 3 and then shifting while decelerating. However I did notice that the more load on tranny during shifts translated into a harder clunk. Anyway I limped car home went on on internet and found many people to have this problem, what I found was people saying to turn off car and restart, thus resetting the computer. And yes I did that and problem gone. So basically I think that the tranny may have an adapitve learning module for the tranny that tells valves in tranny when to shift. And I think that when I was driving and went to pass someone I must have glitched the computer with to much load at just the wrong time during a shift. Which made the computer engage the shift later then the valvebodies to create that clunk. I.e. when your car is about to shift into 2nd gear and you leave your foot off gas and than gas it at exactly the time of the shift you get that clunk, only not as bad as what I was experiencing. From what I am reading I will not even bother call the dealership about this unless the problem continues and gets worse. But for now I will be mindful of my shifts and how I hit the gas during my shifts. Cant wait till my lease is up. No Honda for me next time. I am only 3 months into my lease so very sad

- Port Jefferson Station, NY, USA

problem #8

Sep 252015

Odyssey

  • 9,800 miles
I had been driving for about 1 hour on the highway with no issues. After getting off the highway L I came to a stop at a traffic light. Upon proceeding after the light when I would accelerate between 15 & 20 mph the car started to jerk or buck forward when going from 15 to past 20 mph. It did this again at 25 to 30 mph. Once past the 30 mph speed I was ok again. This happen each and every time I would stop and then proceed again.the car would jerk and buck forward while going from 1st gear to 2nd gear. There was no check engine light that came on. It felt each time as if I got hit from behind that is how the jerking forward felt. I stopped the car, did not turn it off & put into park.when I put it back into drive before removing my foot from the brake the car in the drive mode was starting to rev forward even though I had my foot on the brake. I did not turn the car off not knowing if it would restart. I then proceeded home and this same issue happened each and every time I would stop and try to accelerate again. This is definitely a power train issue of some sort. I contacted clinton Honda service dept.of clinton NJ on 9/25 @ 6:45 pm to report my problem. I spoke to the service manager mark and he stated he was unaware of any issue that there was about this with the 2015 Odyssey. I will be at the dealership on 9/26/15 to have the vehicle looked at..

- Hackettstown, NJ, USA

problem #7

Aug 092015

Odyssey

  • 1,900 miles
On August 9, 2015, we were driving home from vacation from cedar point, Ohio to pittsburgh, pa. This is about a 200 mile trip. The vehicle ran smoothly the entire trip until I left the turnpike of driving 60-70 miles per hour and then began driving on a road with a 40 mph speed limit. All of a sudden I was at a red light waiting in traffic. As soon as the light turned green, I pressed the accelerator. We began accelerating to 25 miles per hour but knew something was wrong. My car would not leave first gear. The gauge on the dashboard went from 1-7 gear but nothing happened. I was in the passing lane traveling 15-20 miles per hour in a 40mph zone. I then proceeded to change lanes when all of a sudden the entire car jumped as if it had a mind of its own and began to accelerate. The car began driving faster but not any faster than 40 mph. Again, all we could hear was rooooooom and the dashboard indicator looked like windshield wipers going from left to right. The car would not leave 2nd gear. This continued to happen over and over again at each red light. Since this was a Sunday, the service center was closed. It wasn't until Wednesday that the dealership was able to take a look at my vehicle. Since no sensors indicated a problem, they stated there was not a problem and there was nothing they could do. I am not fabricating this incident one bit and am afraid of this happening again but having a different outcome. If I experienced this problem and the dealership dismissed me because a sensor did not indicate a problem, what does it take for a sensor to trigger? this is a leased vehicle of 1 month and I am very concerned of it happening again or worse. I am a single mother of 3 and should not have to worry about the safety of my children and myself in a 1 month old vehicle with less than 2,000 miles.

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

problem #6

Sep 062015

Odyssey

  • 10,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While accelerating after being stopped at a stop sign, the car made a clunking noise and the car jerked severely as we accelerated into gear. It happened at least 2 more times after being stopped at a couple of stop signs. It was very frightening when it happened and is a safety issue as the driver's attention is taken away when it happens. The scariest part is not knowing when it's going to happen. When there is a need to accelerate quickly across traffic, we are worried the same thing will happen again or that the car won't make it through the intersection. I don't feel safe driving this vehicle while the issue is outstanding. This is an unacceptable issue that having read other forums is happening to others with 2014 and 2015 Odyssey's and the dealerships are bot understanding the cause or fix for the issue due to it happening sporadically. This calls for action before it leads to someone being harmed. It's a major issue and pressure needs put on Honda to fix the issue!

- Sylvania, OH, USA

problem #5

Jul 212015

Odyssey

  • 1,610 miles
I was driving in rush hour stop and go traffic and once I stopped and accelerated between 10 - 20 mph the car would make a loud clunking noise and the car would shake as if the car was slipping gears, and then would drive fine. Once I stopped again and accelerated it would do the same thing. It did this 6 times in a row so I pulled over and had it towed to the dealer. Dealer could not replicate issue, no codes or errors could be seen, and the car had the latest software update. I requested the dealer hold onto the car for two days to try and replicate the issue. Awaiting results.

- Homestead, FL, USA

problem #4

Oct 152014

Odyssey

  • 8,000 miles
The contact owns a 2015 Honda Odyssey. While driving at 65 mph approaching a stop sign, a burning odor emitted into the vehicle and felt as if it were going to stall. The failure recurred four times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 8,000.

- Fresno, CA, USA

problem #3

Mar 132015

Odyssey

  • 594 miles
Very loud clunk noise and vehicle jerks when shifting from 1st to 2nd gear going approximately 20 miles. Could not duplicate the issue after engine restart. Not acceptable behavior with vehicle over $40K and under 1K miles of use.

- Chantilly , VA, USA

problem #2

Feb 192015

Odyssey

  • 2,800 miles
I just recently bought a 2015 Honda Odyssey (Jan.2015) and at around 1700 miles I felt a double clunking sound/jerk when I was going at about 15 mph to 20 mph. I kept riding my van straight to the dealer and every time I came to a complete stop, and started up again, it would make the same loud clunk when shifting from 1st to 2nd at around 20 mph. My biggest mistake was to turn the engine off when I arrived at the dealer, as when you do that, the issue goes away (I wish I knew this issue the first time, cause now Honda has not been able to duplicate the problem). It has happened 3 times and my van has about 2800 miles. The third time it happened was late in the day, service dept. Was closed, so no luck there. I just went ahead and recorded the anomaly as I was driving it. After a few shots of it, I pulled over, re-started the van/engine (as I know that clears up the issue) and after that it continued as nothing ever happened (I also recorded that too to show the dealer). I emailed the assistant manager at my local Honda service dept and attached the videos. Hopefully, they will come with a solution soon, as they have not been able to duplicate the anomaly. I found out that there are synchro sensors in all Honda transmissions, one for every shift. Well, it sounds like the synchro sensor that goes from 1st to 2nd is the one acting up. I mentioned that to the techs at Honda and hopefully they will look into it. No rhyme or reason, just does it and Honda keeps saying that there's nothing wrong, and nothing shows on their computer when they plug in the diagnostics system to the van.

- Palm Harbor, FL, USA

problem #1

Dec 122014

Odyssey

  • 2,300 miles
I was driving in traffic for an hour or so, in first or second gear. After a while, anytime we would accelerate to about 20 mph, we experienced a violent jerking as if we just ran over something. This happened consistently every time we accelerated to or decelerated to 20mph. Took it into Honda the next day and they couldn't find a problem. The jerking was very strong and consistent for about an hour or driving. We are still planning to call Honda, it seems like others have experienced the same issue but no root cause has been found.

- Bristow, VA, USA

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