Hopped in my 2013 Fit Sport with 129,000k on it to head home on my 45 mile commute and the Check Engine Light and Vehicle Stability light were on. Not flashing. Very cold day today, but it's never happened before and I've had the car 5 years. Seems to be driving just fine. Lights have stayed on through several starts and stops. (One more thing.... the TPMS light is on, but it has been for years because there's apparently a bad sensor I've never replaced.) I service the car like clockwork, and it still has 60% oil life left. The only other thing is that I drove over some really, REALLY nasty gravel a few weeks ago and worried that I might have torn up some stuff underneath the car...heard some banging around... but then all of that stopped and the car's been running great. Any thoughts on what could cause CSL and VSL to come on and stay on like that? VSL switch won't turn light off. Dealer to check it Saturday, but I've got many miles to drive between now and then......

 

Have you gotten gas recently? Sometimes if your CEL and VSA lights come on at the same time it can indicate either a faulty gas cap, or possibly you didn’t tighten it. Just a possibility and my .02

 

When that happened to me, my #2 & #3 spark plugs were loose on a 2011 Sport AT.

Check the CEL codes for "misfire".

If it is the spark plugs, you can tighten up them up if you're good working with your left hand without beginning able to see your work. You reach in behind the motor and start by pinching the wiring harness connector to release it from the coil pack. Then remove the nut holding #1 coil pack down. Removal of #1 coil pack gives you room to go after #2 and so on.

OR - you can take off the windshield wiper arms, remove the black plastic around the lower front windshield, then remove the metal tray that forms the bottom of the airbox for the heating / ventilation / air conditioning system. When that is out of the way, you can work on all plugs / coil packs in any order and it allows you to properly torque the spark plug but that is no guarantee that it'll stay tight.

When you remove any coil pack, look for soot / melted rubber boot / the smell of gasoline. Those are indications that the spark plug is loose and allowing all of that stuff out of the cylinder to do damage.

Please don't do what I initially did, allow the dealer to tell me it was a coil pack failure at $170 / coil pack. With $50 diagnostic, $50 labor, and $170 coil pack plus my time (total ~$300) the CEL & VSA failure lights came on later the same day. Luckily I had asked for the old coil pack and and put 2 & 2 together and figured it out.

There is no hard and fast rule that says your coil packs should be changed at "X" miles / years, so don't fall for that one either.

Check the spark plugs first. This is a known issue but at least my local dealer dealer uses it for a money maker (when the CEL came on later that day, the dealer said it must be another coil pack going bad - $$$$).

BTW, I'm still using all of the original coil packs.

 

Hey guys.... Thanks so very much for the replies! I did take it by the dealer (whom I do trust), and they said the car's fine. Just an odd quirk apparently related to the cold weather? I'll have it checked out more thoroughly when I go for my regular service, but for the time being I'm told I'm good to go. Appreciate you guys taking the time to respond!!

 

That's when my spark plugs loosened up - extreme cold during the winter.

Please keep us up to date if the CEL / VAS comes on again. We can only get better at our diagnosises with honest and timely feedback from owners with a problem like yourself.

 

Interestingly, I've just started having this same. Mine clears the lights after driving it for a good number of miles or a couple of weeks. Done this twice now. I haven't looked into it yet. But, it all started on the coldest of days.

 

Yes, days that are cold enough to freeze the nuts off of a steel bridge seem to push already loose spark plugs over the edge.