Honda Odyssey Eco Light – Why Is It Going On and Off?

One of the strange things in overall good Honda cars is that their dashes sometimes resemble a Christmas tree the day before Christmas. Several lights are always flashing to tell you some important or not-so-important things. And the Eco light is obviously one of them. In the Odyssey, this is one of the common problems with people who get distracted when they see any unusual light on the dash.

ECO light highlights

• Common reasons:ECO mode is active
• How to fix:no fix needed
• Possible consequences:no consequences
• Priority level:Low
• Can you drive?Yes
• DIY repair:No repair
• Repair price range:$0

Meaning of the Eco light in the Odyssey

I don't know why but Honda is obsessed with fuel economy things. In the CR-V they had a special LED light around the speedometer that went green when the economy was OK and then went white when something wasn't so good. It could also go red when things were pretty bad. Drivers usually hated this, especially if they had to drive through traffic jams.

Now, in the Odyssey, they came up with another idea - the Eco light that automatically turns on and off depending on how hard you press the gas pedal. This idea seems even more thoughtless because it just adds another light to the dash which may confuse the car owner.

Here's how it works:

• once your average gas mileage goes better than 20 MPG or something like that, the Eco light comes on the dash;
• when the mileage drops below this number, the Eco light comes off and you don't see it on the dashboard;
• when your MPG revolves around 20 MPG, you are likely to see that light going on and off which can really distract you from the road;
• there is no beep or any other information given on the dash, it's just about the small light going on and off;
• it isn't connected with cylinder deactivation or with the application of the ECON mode, this is a separate function;
• it may annoy you but this is how Honda sees the efficient way to motivate you to save fuel and make the emissions less harmful to the environment.

Actually, the system has a pretty weird logic behind it. I would rather understand the system that turns on the amber Eco light when I fail to drive with proper fuel economy. But if I'm doing fine and the gas mileage is OK, why should I see that green light telling me that I'm not pressing the gas pedal properly?

That's why so many Honda Odyssey owners ask questions online about this Eco light. It disturbs them, distracts them from the road, and overall seems to be the annoying thing in a really good car. I know cases when people traded in their Odysseys because of this light. But can you do something with it?

Can you manually turn off the Eco light in the Odyssey?

It would be nice if you could turn off these functions. For example, in the CR-V you could do that in the settings of the vehicle. Just choose to not display the fuel-economy light on the dash and it will always be white - just like all other lights and scales on the dash.

In the Odyssey, there is no way you can do that in the settings. At least, I browsed all the available options and couldn't find anything that would help with this. If you found something helpful in your Odyssey, please share it in the comments below.

Here are the options to use for dealing with this light:

• just not caring about it - this is what the majority of Odyssey owners do and it seems to be OK after some time;
• using the black tape over the light - it may sound funny but this method will actually help you deal with the problem;
• taking off the dash and disconnecting the Eco light electrical connection - quite a hard job to do on your own;
• using the good Honda scanner to change the settings of the Eco light which will require professional labor.

The last option is great. Using a Honda scanner, you can change the MPG level when the Eco light is going to turn on. You can set 50 MPG and you will never see this light going on again unless your car rolls from the hill for 20 minutes. But this requires not just the ELM scanner. You will need a professional scanner and also special Honda software for this.

So, the majority of drivers just choose to not care about the light and after some time it becomes the normal thing they usually see on the dash. After they buy another car, they need to get used to not seeing this light and subconsciously they always think that they are underperforming in terms of fuel economy.

Eco light is flashing in the Odyssey

One thing when you see the green light that is just present on the dash. You get used to it and it becomes part of the normal way the dash looks. But when the light is flashing, things become much more complicated. First of all, the flashing light almost always means that there is a serious problem with your vehicle. So, you will time after time pay attention to this instead of paying attention to the road conditions.

But no, there is no problem with your fuel economy or whatever. When this light is flashing, the following things are happening:

• your driving style gives you approximately 20 MPG of fuel economy;
• whenever you press the pedal harder, the fuel economy drops and the light goes off;
• when the traffic conditions allow you to drive steadily, the economy improves and the light goes on;
• if you keep an eye on the light, you will notice that it's not flashing with a certain pattern but rather randomly;
• after some time, the light will calm down because your MPG will go either worse or better than 20 MPG.

This flashing Eco light doesn't mean that there is a problem with anything in your car. This is just the system that is acting weirdly. Also, it doesn't mean that there is a glitch or something. You don't need to do anything or to go to the dealership with your Honda. They will not help you - the mechanic may only explain to you why some things are happening.

Of course, this is going to take some time till you get used to this light. Until then, you should just remember that the flashing Eco light means nothing bad. Just the MPG of the car is around 20 MPG and it goes up and down when you drive.

How to drive your Honda Odyssey with the best economy?

You may drive the Odyssey in the city with about 19 MPG. This is what Honda says. A lot of you will have worse gas mileage and will never see the Eco light in the city because of the driving style or because of some traffic features.

The highway mileage should be around 28 MPG. Anytime you are driving on the highway, the Eco light will most likely be on unless you are speeding as mad.

To improve the fuel economy in the city, you may try the following:

• try accelerating calmly - slow acceleration should seriously improve your gas mileage;
• release the gas pedal anytime you see that you are going to stop the car soon at the traffic light or road intersection;
• use only high-quality fuel - this will not only make the mileage better but also improve the engine's life expectancy;
• use the immediate gas mileage monitor on the dash to optimize your driving habits;
• choose the routes with fewer traffic jams, use maps applications for this;
• use ECON mode to adjust all important gas-consuming features of your car;
• make sure your vehicle is well maintained and serviced.

These are just the basic things you can do to improve gas mileage in your Honda Odyssey. Given it has a pretty big and powerful engine under the hood, the car won't surprise you with wonderful gas mileage. But you can get a little better economy than stated by Honda in the driver's manual. So, just apply those simple tips.

Final thoughts

The Eco light in the Honda Odyssey is one of the annoying factors for owners. I don't get it why Honda included so many different unnecessary lights in the dash of this vehicle. But anyway, we have to take it for granted. So, in this article, I outlined several ways you can deal with this. I hope they were helpful and you could solve this little problem.

Overall, I love the Odyssey and it seems like a very decent choice among the minivans available on the market. I also love the way it goes on the road and the engine is extremely reliable. So, it obviously has a lot of important advantages and the little problem with the light on the dash shouldn't disturb you much.