I have a brand new 2008 Honda Odyssey EX-L RES and the day we drove it off the lot we noticed a vibration in the steering wheel, gas pedal and front seats. It is most pronounced at highway speed but definitely occurs around town as well. It seems to occur in ECO and non-ECO modes, in a range when it is “shifting” during the VCM (Variable Cylinder Mgmt) operation. I immediately notified my local dealer. 2 of their technicians took the car for a test drive with me and understand exactly what I’m talking about. It feels like you’re driving over a washboard surface. It doesn’t do it all the time, just when he is in this range and seems to reach some resonance level.
The technicians contacted Honda Tech Line and Honda has indicated that this is a “normal operating condition” of the car. This seems ridiculous. The techs told me during the test drive that they have never liked this system. We took another brand new 2008 EX-L for a spin and it is doing the same thing. I am now awaiting a test drive with the Honda Factory Rep. I suggested we try replacing the rear engine mounts but Honda is not ready to do anything yet.
Is Honda going to admit to the problem or should I seek a replacement or refund under the Lemon Law? It kills me because I absolutely LOVE everything else about the car!
I would start by suggesting the simpliest thing possible, wheels/tires. Have them at least rotate them or even swap the wheels off another van on the lot to see if they are bad. They did this on my Subaru WRX to discover a bad axle at 150 miles which was promptly fixed and never had another problem.
Could be just a side effect of the VCM. When it drops down to 3 cylinders it’s going to inherently run rougher.