Hello fellow fit freaks! My 12' sport threw the VSA and check engine light simultaneously the other morning. I drove to work (20miles) and on the way home they both shut off. I checked the code and got a Cylinder 2 Misfire. While the VSA light was on I could not toggle the VSA on or off. Any ideas on where to start? Car has 35K miles and is well taken care of. Oil changed at MM intervals etc. it was fairly cold the morning this happened and it was within 1-2min of the car starting and the car was idling normally. Help. I love my fit

 

Anyone? Bump

 

You're within the warranty (1,000 till the bumper to bumper runs out; 60K on power train), I'd have the dealer pull codes and fix. Let us know what they say...

 

I noticed my 2012 Fit idling a little weird on Friday. Did my oil change today and went for a spin. Ended up getting the same thing but the code said cylinder 4 was misfiring. I ordered a coil-pack just in case from AutoZone,but will be headed to the dealer also in the morning. I'm at 57k for mileage.

 

were you able to clear the codes to remove misfire and vsa? if so, i would just keep an eye on it.


mine is a '12, <9k miles, no issue. and i drive mine hard. but i do let it warm up before i do any hard driving. temp was 7F yesterday.


on my other car the oil temp doesn't reach 180F until a certain part of the highway i drive routinely, so i dont do any hard driving until i reach that area in my Fit... the fit only has a water temp lamp so people might think it's okay to punch the gas when the water temp lamp goes out, but that may not be the case. go easy for at least 7-8miles if you're driving 35-45mph.

 

I swapped the coil pack to cylinder 1, but after a few minutes the lights are back and it stalls out. I'm getting a code reader tomorrow when my new coil shows up. I live close to the dealer but probably can't make it there without a tow.

 

I also just had my 2013 Fit CEL and VSA lights come on when I started my car from driving to my brother's house and about 4-5 hours leaving his house the 2 lights came on at the same time...

Read the manual and said the CEL can be on due to a loose gas cap or from the Engine misfiring... But I don't understand why the VSA light would come on also. I tried pushing the VSA button on my bottom left under the side mirror controls but nothing happened...

So I ended up driving back home to my place which is about 15 miles @ 30-40mph as I have to take the Parkway... I live in NJ and it was pretty cold but not that cold - 25 degrees. My car drove and sounded fine as usual too.

Did any of you guys pinpoint the problem?

Thanks in advance,

 

My '11 Sport AT w/ 37K just started the same thing: VSA light stays on and now CEL is on. Neither have been an issue until now. I've haven't gone anywhere to get the code read but did disconnect the battery to clear it once (remember you will need a code to reset the radio). Now that both lights are on again, I guess I have a problem.


The VSA problem may be linked to a recent addition of aftermarket wheels. I switched the TPMS units over to the wheels and used the Honda rebuild kits (washers, rubber grommets, stem collars, Schrader valves, and caps). I cleaned the threaded stems with a small brass brush (road salt corrosion). The new 16" wheels have an offset of 43mm versus 53mm of the OEM, so I don't think that these are significantly displaced so as to break the signal between the TMPS unit and the car's receiver.


I read somewhere that the battery powered TPMS units have a 35,000 mile or so lifespan. It has also been very cold this winter and that could weaken the batteries, I guess but the wife has a '09 CIVIC w/ 60,000 miles and she doesn't have a problem.


So, I have to come back to the new wheels might have changed something. I'm using the same tire (205/50-16) just on a 7" rim versus the OEMs. I guess I should get the code read and address the CEL first. Driving a car without VSA this summer shouldn't be a problem.

 

Did the lights occur immediately after the new wheels? VSA cannot be disabled if there's an issue with TPMS. If so, the TPMS modules might have been damaged. But, if that were the case, an actual TPMS light would also be on.

You need to get the code read, then you'd get a better idea of what is actually causing the issue. Last thing you need is a fault in the brakes. VSA is part of the braking module.

 

The double lights occurred a few days after changing over to the new wheels. First the VSA came on and then later in the day the CEL came on. I half-believe that they may be related but maybe not. Never had any feeling of a misfire issue.


Maybe I'll get the code read tomorrow morning. Will post the results.

 

CEL doesn't need a misfire to come on.

One example is VSA coming on wheel slip... But if the ECU thinks its too persistent to be actual wheel slip and more of a fault in the module, it'll pop the CEL.

If you got new tires, there's generally a need to drive "gently" for the first 500 miles or so, since it might still have residue of some sort of anti-stick chemical to keep them from getting stuck during the molding process... At least thats what i've read in the new tire brochure and what others say online.

It could be possible you actually are slipping the tires too consistently. If that is the case, the code would point at the VSA triggering "too often."

But still, getting the code is better than not, since this is only a thought, not necessarily the actual situation.

 

I had Advance Auto use their code machine to see why the CEL was on (BTW the VSA light would also come on and would indicate system activation although car was operating normally at speed) after a few hundred yards of driving but was not on when the key was turned to the "ON" position to run this code reading).


There were six (6) messages about misfires in Cyl #2 and Cyl #3. At no time, prior to or during the last 2 weeks, when the CEL was on, did I feel and misfire. As a motor-head (maintain 2 cars, 1 truck, 3 motorcycles, 3 rototillers, 2 lawnmowers, 2 chainsaws, 3 weed-whackers, and 1 leaf-blower), I know a misfire when I hear / feel one.


The question was asked about brands of gasoline and use of Seafoam or Lucas fuel treatments to make sure injectors are clean. I've never used any weird off brand gas. And at about every 1,000 miles, I had thrown in a bottle of the above brand names treatments (BTW, no change in MPG with it or without it).


At this point, the codes are erased and I'll start over to see if I "sense" any misfire and see if the VSA light gets reactivated and if there is a subsequent triggering of the CEL.

 

Happened again on Monday night, Mar 24. By Wed morning, Mar 26, the VSA light turned off but the CEL was still on. Last night, Mar 26, the CEL turned off.


The simultaneousness of these two warning lights coming on makes them seem related. More research is needed on VSA failure.


Again, the only TPMS / Wheel related change was made the week before this issue started when I switched the 205/50-16 tires over to 16x7 rims from the OEM 16" Sport rims. The TPMS units where switched over with the help of Honda rebuild kits for each TPMS unit. Maybe VSA isn't getting a clean signal from the front wheels' TPMS units to do its thing. All pure speculation at this point (MH370).

 

You might want to consider buying a ScanGauge or UltraGauge... they're pretty handy and saves you the trouble of running to an auto store just to get the trouble codes read.

I can give you one more theory that includes the "misfire"... that you are slipping along your drive, the slipping wheel throws a VSA light and at the same time causes a vibration that the engine thinks is knock... which pops a CEL. The vibration/false knock might happen to occur when cylinders 2 and 3 are supposed to be firing, so it thinks those two are having problems. Of course, this assumes there was no actual misfire.

Just a thought.

 

could there be a separate area that normal OBDII readers don't access to pull VSA codes? Something than you need Honda Data System software for? If no one knows I'll have a look when I get home tonight...

A regular mechanic would have the HDS software, but not an auto store...

 

This is EXACTLY why I use 93 Octane. From my reading of the best Honda site for educating yourself on Honda/Acuras (The Temple of VTEC - Honda and Acura Enthusiasts Online) this engine was made to run on 95 octene so I ask you all having this problem. What gas (octane) are you using? Im very curious if this is occuring on cars running hi-octanes. See the issue is than Honda want to list all their cars running 87 and acura's 91+. Heres the thing some may not know. Back in 08 before I purchased my 08 Accord EX-L/Navi Coupe Magazines were reporting the K24 was making 200hp. Well that was running 93 octane in Japan. Honda had to do some things with timing etc so that it could stop the mis-fire codes. HP was reduced because of this to 190hp. It doesn't look like Honda did ANY changes to the L15/R18/R20 b4 offering in the US.

So please opine if you can. If you're not sure, reset the codes and fill with 93. See what happens.

 

Desmond Lamar! just stop.



edit: and I think you're confusing misfires with knocking. Higher anti-knock index (AKI) (AKA octane rating) prevents engine knock. That's all.

 

I had the same exact issue as OP. Both the VSA and CEL were on at the same time. I have a bluetooth OBDII scanner and pair it with my galaxy s4 using the torque app.

It said I had a cylinder 2 misfire also. I swapped the coil pack from the #1 cylinder and reset the CEL to see if it came back on and what the code would read. If it was still cylinder 2 i knew it would be the spark plug.

It took about a month for the CEL to illuminate again, and during that month the car interior smelled like gasoline upon cold starts. Once again, I pulled the code and it said cylinder 2 misfire. I changed the #2 spark plug and the car has been running good as new ever since.
This happened at around 10k miles.

 

Giberishx:
How many miles were on your plugs when they / one needed changed?

 

It was at about 10k miles. I only changed the number 2 spark plug.
It's been 8k miles since I changed the spark plug and the lights haven't come back.