Replace Your Odyssey Fob Battery Without Choosing the Wrong Cell

To replace a Honda Odyssey key fob battery, identify the remote, open it using its specified method, and install the same battery type with the correct polarity. Honda documents CR2032 batteries for the 2014 and 2020 smart-entry remotes and the 2025 keyless remote—but not every Odyssey fob takes a CR2032. The documented 2014 master-key and 2006 LX transmitters use CR1616; the 2006 EX, EX-L and Touring transmitters use CR2025.

Choose your documented fob design to see its battery and opening method.

Match the Battery to Your Actual Remote

The tool lists confirmed examples from North American Honda manuals, not a specification for every model year or aftermarket remote. A model year alone may not identify the battery: Honda documents two different remote designs for the 2014 Odyssey.

Sources: Honda’s 2014 Odyssey owner’s manual, pages 500–501, 2020 owner’s guide, page 192, 2025 owner’s manual, printed page 562, and 2006 owner’s manual, pages 136–140.

For another year, find the Remote Transmitter Care section of your manual and compare its drawing with your actual remote. Once the case is open, read the old battery’s full code and photograph its orientation. If the installed cell conflicts with the manual, resolve the mismatch rather than assuming the previous battery was correct.

Our Honda battery guide by fob design covers the broader identification task. Do not choose the opening method solely from the battery code: the documented 2025 CR2032 remote opens differently from the older CR2032 smart-entry designs.

Replace the Battery Using the Correct Opening Method

Work over a clean tray so loose buttons or a small screw cannot disappear. Have the exact replacement cell, a soft cloth, and the tool appropriate to your case ready before opening it.

Keep new and used coin cells away from children. Swallowing one can cause severe internal burns or death; seek medical attention immediately if ingestion is suspected. Follow local battery-disposal rules. Honda includes this warning in the cited 2020 owner’s guide.

2014 and 2020 Smart-Entry Remotes Use a Cloth-Wrapped Coin

1. Slide the release and pull out the built-in metal key.
2. Wrap a coin in a cloth. Carefully pry at the cover edge indicated in your manual, lifting the upper half slowly so the buttons stay in place.
3. Photograph the battery position, remove the old CR2032, and fit a new CR2032 with the correct polarity.
4. Align the buttons and case halves, close the case, and reinstall the metal key.

Honda’s cited 2014 and 2020 procedures specify the coin method. The 2020 instructions also warn against losing the buttons while opening the remote.

The 2025 Keyless Remote Uses the Designated Slot

1. Remove the built-in key and place the remote buttons facing down.
2. Wrap the key grip in a cloth and use it to carefully pry the designated slot, removing the upper cover.
3. Use a cloth-wrapped flat-tip screwdriver at the battery edge to remove the cell. Stay away from the circuit board and contacts.
4. Install a CR2032 with the correct polarity, align and close the case, then reinstall the key.

This is the procedure on printed page 562 of the cited 2025 manual. Do not substitute the older coin-at-the-cover-edge procedure just because both remotes take a CR2032.

Screw-Secured CR1616 Transmitters Have an Inner Cover

Remove the small Phillips screw first. For the 2014 master key, Honda says to press a button to pry open the transmitter. For the 2006 LX transmitter, separate the middle seam with your fingernail.

Then release the two tabs securing the inner keypad cover. Record the cell’s orientation and replace the CR1616 with matching polarity. Refit the inner cover and outer case, then reinstall the screw.

These procedures appear in the cited 2014 master-key instructions and the 2006 LX instructions on page 136. The screw and inner-cover tabs distinguish these transmitters from the smart-entry cases above.

The Documented 2006 CR2025 Transmitter Opens With a Coin

For the 2006 EX, EX-L and Touring transmitter, carefully separate the case halves at the edge with a coin. Record the battery orientation, replace the CR2025 with matching polarity, and snap the halves together, following the cited 2006 manual.

Stop if any case resists closing. Check that the battery, keypad and cover are seated; do not force the halves together.

Test the Remote Before Considering Programming

With the van parked and switched off, keep the key with you and close the doors. Test lock and unlock, then proximity entry if equipped. Honda’s documented 2014 smart-entry system allows remote locking and unlocking only in VEHICLE OFF, according to the cited 2014 manual.

Test sliding-door and tailgate buttons with everyone clear of their travel paths. If lock and unlock work but the sliding doors do not, check the power sliding-door MAIN switch and the operating conditions in your manual. On the documented 2006 design, the MAIN switch must be on and the doors unlocked for remote sliding-door operation. That condition comes from the 2006 manual; use your own year’s instructions for other designs.

A Remote That Still Fails Needs an Installation Check First

Reopen the case and recheck the battery code, polarity and seating. Inspect for displaced buttons, damaged contacts or visible corrosion. Do not bend contacts as a trial fix.

Move the fob away from phones and metal objects, then try again. Honda’s cited 2014 manual lists wireless equipment, strong radio signals and metal covering the fob as possible causes of unstable smart-entry operation.

Compare with a spare fob if available. One working remote helps narrow the problem to the other fob; two failing remotes warrant checking the vehicle as well.

Battery Replacement Is Not a New-Key Programming Procedure

The cited battery-replacement procedures do not include a programming or reset sequence. Do not jump to generic ignition-cycling instructions when a remote fails after a battery change.

Replacing an entire key is a separate job involving vehicle authorization. Honda’s cited 2014 manual directs owners needing an additional key to a dealer; that is not an instruction to reprogram an existing remote after changing its battery.

Use the Year-Specific Backup Procedure if the Battery Dies

Emergency entry and starting are separate from remote-button operation. On the documented 2014 smart-entry design, the built-in metal key provides door access when the remote battery is weak, as described in the 2014 manual.

For a 2025 Odyssey displaying the weak-remote start prompt, press ENGINE START/STOP. While it flashes, touch the center of the button with the fob’s Honda-logo side, with the fob’s buttons facing you. Then depress the brake and press ENGINE START/STOP while its light remains on.

Honda specifies an approximately 10-second window after recognition in its 2025 backup-start procedure. This is backup starting, not reprogramming. For another year, follow that vehicle’s If the Remote Battery Is Weak instructions rather than assuming the 2025 sequence applies.