Broken Honda Odyssey License Plate Nut

I recently picked up an 06 Odyssey to use for kid hauling and IKEA runs.  I was able to get it for around $2k less than normal, but it has some issues: sliding door alignment, gate struts, needs belts, smacked front bumper cover, VSA/ABS lights, etc.  As an added bonus, I found out that someone in the past had let the license plate nuts rust into place.  One of them may have been barely usable, but one was toast and even had an EZ-Out still stuck in it.  The PO had been using the lower plastic piece to keep the plate on.


The rear wiper motor had seized up due to dirt and corrosion (gravel roads), so I needed to take the rear gate trim panel off and decided to kill two birds with this stone.  The rear panel comes off starting with the top panel above the glass.  The side panels are next and will come off pretty easily by lightly prying at the base of the round plastic clips.  The tricky bit is the main portion of the panel - it comes off after loosening the side clips and then popping the clips at the top and pulling/moving the trim panel down.

For parts, if your rear wiper motor just clicks and gets warm to the touch, you'll need a reman wiper motor assy from AutoZone or some place similar.  I looked at Rock, but there was no $$ advantage that I saw to going with one where I couldn't just hand in the core.  It's pretty simple, so I won't get into that here except to say that it rests at 3 o'clock.

For the rusty license plate nuts, you'll need a pair of vice grips and one of those multi-size drill bits (if you want to make it pretty).  I chose the ugly route since this van is no prom queen.  By rocking back and forth with the vice grips, you'll be able to break them loose and you'll be left with a hole like this one.  If you wiggle the nuts too far back and forth, you may have to hammer/dolly the panel back flat, but you'd really have to work to mess it up too much.

 For the studs that I used a 6mmx35 or 40mm and two fender washers.  If your hardware store is like mine, you'll have standard sized fender washers.  This is a good thing though, because they thread onto the bolts and will act to hold the bolt while you're putting sealer on them.  I used some black that I had left over after an engine rebuild and held the outside washer down with a 6mm flange nut.  I think that it's best to stack two nuts on there because it brings the plate out to the point where it was with the OE nut.  The head of the bolt can be reached pretty easily from the inside of the panel and you can really put some pressure on pulling those washers together.

School's Out - 2017

School let out last week and we made it to Worlds of Fun twice.  The first go 'round was a good season opener once we made it through the line for a new pass.  One of the gang has an older brother who pilfers his stuff with alarming regularity, so we all had to wait in line to get this done and get moving.  The kids had a good day even though all of the rides weren't open and there were yellow school buses lined up outside the gates.  It cooled off in the afternoon and once the buses left, the kids were able to loop back around and immediately ride again or just stay on the ride.  It was magic for an hour before the rain started.

The 2nd time was a 10hr day at the park and we added a new person to the gang for the day that upset the dynamic a bit.  The kids will get accustomed to it and we'll hit the wave pool next time since it's open now.