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VSA and ABS warning lights

Electrics 
5K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  BurningSky 
#1 ·
My car started having the VSA and ABS warning lights come on, I took it to a garage and they say it is a suspected steering angle sensor fault. One of the sensors would cost £1500 to repair because it would require a new steering rack (or something along those lines), the other is part 77900smge21 and would be £400. I've had a quick look for the part and found one site selling it for £146, can anyone recommend any other ways I might be able to get the part? Or if they have any experence with this having happened?


Apparently they phoned Honda and they said there was no way to be sure which sensor is the broken one which sucks!
 
#2 ·
if your tracking is way out it can trigger steering angle sensor
after replacing inner tie rods on my old 8g it triggered it
once tracked and reset it never activated the warning again
but I don't think it activated vsa/abs warning lights but it was a few years back
id think any code reader that reads abs and steering codes should list which 1 is triggering fault
my foxwell code reader listed rear abs sensor when that failed and again listed steering angle sensor after replacing inner tie rods on steering rack

where are you located someone near might have a code reader near you
 
#5 · (Edited)
Thatnks for the suggestions, I just got round to giving the pin jumping a go. The ABS light flashing gave me a code of 13, if that other posts key is correct that is a "wheel sensor (open/short to body ground/short to power) FL". Is that related to the steering angle sensor my garage suggested? How do I find out what part I would need to clear that?


Is the sensor something like this? https://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/...78deb98d28bbeea42daca97788ec00844b710a&000001
 
#6 ·
Nope it's not a steering angle sensor it's an absolute sensor fault and reasonably common. Looks to be front left...

The last one I got was front right for about £20 from eBay...
 
#8 ·
as I said in previous post my steering angle sensor fault did not show vsa/abs light its totally different
front sensor is little more work than rear to change
also it most likely will be stuck in but not hard to change even if you have to drill the old sensor out
only caution is don't go too far and let the drill bit kiss the activator ring on wheel bearing
 
#10 ·
I just checked the Honda workshop manual and yes, ABS/VSA code 13 would be a faulty front left wheel sensor (or the associated wiring).

Personally I'd delete the stored code that you've found, just to see if it comes back and isn't an old historic stored code for a previous fault that was repaired without the code then being deleted... I'm just being cautious because of the garage claiming it's a steering sensor.
 
#11 ·
So I cleared the reading and it came back as soon as the car moved more than a few meters. The garage fitted the £25 sensor but they said it wasn't the right fit for the wheel and it cracked on installation, the code still came back. They recommended a Blue Print sensor so I bought one of them, they fitted and said they are still getting the error but they can see data coming from the sensor now. I took it come, cleared it using a obd reader, came back again when I drove it. Used the pin short method just in case the obd reader didn't clear it properly, still came back.

The garage suggested maybe the pump/abs controller could be the issue so they took it out and sent it for diagnostic but it came back fine. The people who ran the tests on it said that they've found with some Japanese cars that you need OEM sensors, but that doesn't make sense with other people's experiences on here. I'm a bit stuck what to do now... Do I spend the extra money for a OEM sensor in the hope that finally sorts the problem or could it be something else?

Just send weird that the sensor gives a read out apparently but the lights still come on...
 
#12 · (Edited)
it will be the magnetic ring on the wheel bearing that's causing the issue
the tell tale sign is the ABS light coming back on after driving a few feet which tells you the ABS sensor is not picking up the correct pulses from the magnetic ring on the wheel bearing

if the garage had a diagnostic tool that shows live data it can easily be verified by watching the data signal from the wheel that has had it's ABS sensor changed

looks to me as if a lot of unnecessary fault finding / guesswork is going on and that can't be doing your pocket any good

the wheel bearing and the magnetic ring come as one so if the problem turns out to be what i think it is you need to replace the wheel bearing
 
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