[mitka]

Hi,

Recently car developed the following symptoms: intermittently VSA, battery and Airbag lights come up on dashboard. Battery is good, relatively new. Checked and tightened terminals. Alternator is fine. What could be it ? I did some search and seems like some seatbelt buckle microswitch could be faulty to trigger airbag light on, but not VSA and battery. So something else might be at play here. Ideas ?

2008, EX-L.

 

[mitka]

Hi,

Recently car developed the following symptoms: intermittently VSA, battery and Airbag lights come up on dashboard. Battery is good, relatively new. Checked and tightened terminals. Alternator is fine. What could be it

And now airbag light is on steady.

 

[hpark21]

It could be your belt clip switch failure.
You could be having water intrusion issue.
Try pulling DTC and see if any codes are stored.

 

[mitka]

It could be your belt clip switch failure.
You could be having water intrusion issue.
Try pulling DTC and see if any codes are stored.

Hooked up scanner , showing p0430 bank2 cat efficiency low. But that code I has for years. This is what I see while sitting on driveway. The lights blink from time to time, disappear and reappear. The voltage at terminals is 14, so alt. seems OK

 

[WiiMaster]

A standard OBD scanner will not pull the airbag code or really any code besides CEL codes.

 

[hpark21]

Using aluminum foil method to retrieve DTC may work. (I do not know about airbag codes though)

 

[mitka]

I think I will replace battery cables and see if it solves the issue. If not, will haul it to the dealer to have it diagnosed. Will go from there.

 

[mitka]

Replaced the cables. Gave it a test drive. Battery light came up intermittently. Parked in the drive way, measured voltage while engine running. Reading swims between 14.5 - 15.6 volts. Isn't it a bit too high?

 

[mitka]

OK. On a cold start waited to battery warning to come up. Measured 17 Volts on terminals! Drove it for a little bit with Bluetooth connected OBD dongle, phone in hand. Caught correlation between battery light and voltage "control module" being over 15.3 Volts (SS attached). Turned the headlights on - voltage drops to 14.4 volts and stays there. No battery warning light while headlights on.

So alternator puts out more power than necessary? Based on what I could google it is either voltage regulator or one of the diods may be bad.

Some history: a few months back the battery terminals had poor (loose contacts) and I shimmied them with a copper wire wound around terminals. This was the reason why I went ahead and just replaced the battery cables first.

 

[mitka]

Progress report. Somebody honked and told me that my top-center brake light is not working. Well, I replaced the bulb and lo and behold the dashboard Christmas lights were gone. Have been gone for a couple of days now. WOW. Well, I have shiny new battery cables as the result, cheaper that new alt , plus contortions of installing it.

 

[thscott]

Hmmm... hard to imagine that a burned out bulb would be the cause of all your issues. But I'm glad the situation is resolved.

 

[WiiMaster]

It could just be a coincidence, so I'd keep an eye out for a bit to make sure it doesn't come back. But glad to hear it.