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2005 Pilot - VSA/Check engine light in cold weather below 40F

8K views 18 replies 7 participants last post by  plplplpl 
#1 ·
The VSA light and check engine light come on when the temperature drops below 40F. I live in the Midwest where snow comes as early as end of October to as late as end of March so losing the stability is an issue.

It is a temperature related issue. If the car stays in the garage on a cold night it will not appear when turned on but will reappear after a several min of driving in cold weather.

This has been happening since 2018 and had it looked at by a honda dealer which took the entire front end off and could not fix the issue.

Today we hit 35F and was the first time the codes appeared since last spring.

I did read it may be the battery? But the battery was reading 12V when I started it up. Also had recently changed the oil.

Appreciate any suggestions! Maybe someone else has this
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cold weather issue?
 
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#3 ·
Welcome to the forum.

What was the voltage of the battery prior to you starting it up? A good battery will measure at ~12.6vdc when it has been sitting for a while. If you read ~12vdc then the battery has either been partially drained (Pilot not used for a while) or needs to be replaced due to cell(s) starting to fail.

Did the Honda dealer read any codes? If you got the check engine light and VSA something should have been stored.

It could be a bad electrical contact or component which fails when cold. The trouble codes may help pinpoint the source of the issue.
 
#6 ·
Thank you all for the input so far! Yes we measured the batter this morning at 12.0V exact. Then took the car to use a free scanner at O'rileys. These are the codes that it gave under the ABS fault detection program. Very surprised the Honda dealership could not find these codes stored before.

I purchased a battery with high cold cranking amps and hopefully this will not trip the Yaw sensor and wheel lock codes also showing. Will test tomorrow if its as cold out to find out if the battery did the trick!
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#8 ·
Here is the instructions for the DTC 61 from the Service Manual, which it sounds like you identified as a bad battery (which would make sense given it happens at colder temperatures specifically).
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Do note, that a weak battery can be a sign of a failing alternator, and/or cause stress to the alternator resulting in failure, so possibly budget for that replacement.
 
#10 ·
Update: After battery replacement the car now has the VSA light and maintenance required light on this morning but its 55F outside. Looks like this is what I was afraid of. Is my next step to look for the yaw sensor? Or is there anything else I should investigate before hunting down one of those $700 sensors?
 
#11 ·
Once you locate the sensor verify all its electrical connections are intact (no loose wires/crimps , no corrosion/oxidation, etc.).
 
#12 · (Edited)
Have you pulled the codes DTC again after test driving, and replacing the battery? Does it still show a battery related DTC? If so I would look at ground G302 (behind driver side left kick panel, so I assume it's accessible from the inside without having to peel back the wheel liner / remove the fender [which the diagram makes it look like it may be])
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Otherwise, here's the troubleshooting guide for the Yaw Sensor:
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#13 ·
Everything OK with your ABS system? As suggested above, pull codes again.
 
#14 ·
I had a problem with the VSA light on my 2005 Pilot. It drove me nuts. I also would have intermittent OBD errors that seem very unlikely and unrelated. I disconnected the wire to the brake fluid reservoir and the problem went away. I replaced the cap to the brake fluid reservoir with a new one, plugged in the connector and no problem. Why a bad switch on brake cap would cause other electrical errors I have no idea, but they all went away.
 
#15 ·
The brake fluid level switch is connected directly to ground G301, and the Gauge Control Module which talks to the VSA via the CAN BUS, not sure why that would cause the VSA indicator to kick on, as it's a passive/mechanical connection, that either completes the circuit (when low on fluid), or doesn't (when full).
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Instructions on how to test the Brake Fluid Level Switch:
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#17 ·
Yes. As I mentioned above. The problem completely went away with a new brake reservoir cap. Since it was easy to do, I swapped out the new one for the old one to prove it was the cap, and the problem came back. Since the new one has been in the problem has gone away. Its been either one or two years. I know it was in January that I fixed it.

As I remember I spent $100 at the dealer for a diagnosis, which came back with nothing useful. A total waste of time and money. After that I figured out it was the brake cap that was the problem.
 
#19 ·
A brake reservoir cap is not insanely priced, if that's it. However, a yaw sensor is, so go the salvage yard route if it's that.
 
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