Dropped our 2020 Odyssey off at the dealership this morning for what I'm guessing is the last standard maintenance under warranty (2000 miles left on it). I added another issue for them to check. I think it's a blend door actuator, but my service writer seemed totally bumfuzzled. So I just wanted y'all's take to see if what they come back to me with seems accurate.

• Intermittent in nature. 3-4 times over the last month
• Air stops blowing in front, but continues to blow in back
• I can visually verify the blower blades moving
• There is almost always a slight tick when blower is on, and it changes based on blower speed.
• When the air stops moving in front, I can pull the filter and manually spin the blower motor a few times and then it works fine.
• Occasionally we can hear something flying through the front vents, like a little piece of plastic
• Cycling from floor to defrost, or blend, does not make a difference

It's almost like the blend door for the front vents gets stuck or is slightly engaging the blower motor fins and can't open, but when I manually spin it that allows that door to open. Does that sound reasonable to y'all?

Service writer just looked all kinds of confused. Didn't know if it would be covered under warranty or not, diagnostic fee, etc. I just wish some of these writers had a little more technical knowledge of the vehicles they're servicing. I absolutely hate the dealer service model.

I had this in my F-150 and it was a blend door actuator. I also replaced it myself and it was a painful process. Do not recommend. I called the dealer (because my mechanic wouldn't touch it) and their quote was $1100.

Maroon Elephant said:

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I had this in my F-150 and it was a blend door actuator. I also replaced it myself and it was a painful process. Do not recommend. I called the dealer (because my mechanic wouldn't touch it) and their quote was $1100.

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I've done it on a 2010 F-150.

Had to remove the entire dash. Seems like it took about 8 hours.

Make sure it is well documented so if they don't get it fixed now, it will still be a warranty item later even if you go over the mileage.

Oh, definitely i will.

So they called me back and they are covering it under warranty but they are telling me it's just the blower motor. That doesn't make sense to me when one of my symptoms is that when the air stops blowing in the front it's still blowing in the back. If the blower motor was stopped how was it still blowing in the back? Anyone know if this van has two blower motors? The service advisor did not know. I can also hear and feel the motor moving when we have no air in the front. That tells me it's not just the motor.


Edit. I found out it does have a front and rear blower motor. Makes MUCH more sense now. The rear one is kinda hidden. I didn't even see it.