Honda odyssey - shaking with check engine and VSA on

[db4690]

That is one SERIOUS weakness of this website . . . people do a symptom search, or what have you, and the ANCIENT thread is resurrected. And there’s the inevitable confusion, because some people are responding the original OP from several years ago, while others are responding to the new guy

I agree with Volvo . . . after a certain time, an inactive discussion should just stay dead. I think the only exception should be if the OP from several years ago were the one to revive it, because he had an update

[VDCdriver]

@db4690

people do a symptom search, or what have you, and the ANCIENT thread is resurrected. And there’s the inevitable confusion, because some people are responding the original OP from several years ago, while others are responding to the new guy

+1

However, what I can’t quite figure out is why newbies to this site think that they have to glom onto old threads with a frequently tenuous relation to their specific problem. If the link for “post a new thread/question” isn’t prominent enough, then I think that the webmasters have to make it more prominent.

If newbies think that everything revolves around old threads, then how do they think that new threads are created?

[George_San_Jose1]

I don’t see this as being much of a problem myself. It’s pretty easy to ignore the older portions of the thread and focus only on the new content. Perhaps a more clear indication of the portions of the thread that are more than a year old would be helpful, different color, etc. The older content however should definitely remain, as it provides helpful ideas for folks looking for car-repair help here.

Towards solving @korares problem, the VSA dash warning light isn’t the problem, that’s just to tell you the engine is not running correctly, and you already know that. If the variable valve timing function (vtech) is not working properly, these symptoms could be expected. If your shop diagnosis says the vtech pressure switch is the problem, that’s probably the best next step. It may well solve the problem completely.

fyi, Variable valve timing means when the intake and exhaust valves open and close is changed depending upon engine rpm and engine load. Older vehicles the valves always open and close at the same time. Modulating the opening and closing time, that’s done in newer cars to improve engine performance and mpg. The downside is, if that function fails, it will make the engine run poorly, or not at all.

[NYBo]

My suggestion for someone with a similar problem to one in an old thread is to start a new one and add a link to the old thread in their first post.

[db4690]

@GeorgeSanJose

I don’t see this as being much of a problem myself. It’s pretty easy to ignore the older portions of the thread and focus only on the new content.

Maybe so, but there’s plenty of others who DO respond to the op from several years ago

It happens quite often, in fact

[VOLVO-V70]

@GeorgeSanJose

I don’t see this as being much of a problem myself

Try this: 1st person April 2012 - Second different person 8 months later - Third person 3 year later - Forth person 3 years and 2 months later

What good is that much confusion.

[Coastalmom4]

I discovered this sight by googling “2005 Honda Odyssey VSA.” It came up first and since I was on a dark country road and husband out of town, I was so glad to read the advice of turning the car off and trying again. I read the post while waiting and when I started the van it drove fine without the shaking and sluggish pull. I know it’s an old thread but for me, I was SO glad I saw it to get me home tonight AND I certainly receieved all the rebukes about neglect and fluids! Good advice and I now have the fear of God about vehicle fluids Thank you to all the knowledgable contributors!

[VDCdriver]

@Coastalmom4

I discovered this sight

What did you see?

[Nickssparks_153651]

Hate raising threads from the dead, but I wanted to post on here (first post) because this thread did help me.

Our vehicle: 2009 Honda Odyssey Touring purchased Jan 18 with about 150k.

Current mileage 187k as of today

Issues occurred at 186k

Same symptoms as OP: VSA flashing and van shaking. Would usually occur after driving for 20-30min. Seemed to go away after we parked and let engine cool off. Upon restart no issues. Did this for a few weeks until my wife went into limp mode. Had a mechanic friend pull codes. Cylinder 3 misfire. I should’ve had him check the day of the first incident not two weeks later.

Changed cylinder 3 coil pack (used Denso) and problem solved!

Decided to change all 6 plugs and coil packs to prevent future issues. Found oil in my spark plug. Realized valve cover gaskets were leaking (knew I had a leak, oil in my driveway for the last 6 months, but every time I’m up on ramps doing my oil change could never pin point it, just didn’t spend time figuring out where).

Got busy with work so had my mechanic friend change the valve cover gaskets and intake plenum gasket. Of course intake boot is cracked too. Changed that too.

Mechanic friend said the valve cover gasket leaked oil onto my spark plugs/coil and fouled/shorted out the coil pack. Also the 3 rear spark plugs were horrible looking. I’ll post a pic. Can’t believe I didn’t change them when we bought the van.

Driven 1000 miles since and so far no more issues with VSA light on and CEL flashing. Wife is happy! Guess that’s all that maters

Hope this helps others. My mechanic friend said we can just buy one coil to use as a tester to see if changing cylinder 3 coil works, but I decided to buy all 6 to prevent the possibility of another limp mode my wife experienced on the interstate. Imagine that phone call. Luckily she had just dropped off the kids.

This forum helped my in figuring out where to look and what to do/ask my mechanic friend.

Also saved me $40k+ (for now) as my wife forced me to go van shopping for the two weeks after the van went limp. Went to every dealer that sells minivans and test drove them all. While a new van would be nice, our Touring model is still in great shape sans it’s slow deterioration due to spending 10 years on an island.

Hope this post helps someone googling VSA on and CEL flashing with their Honda Odyssey!

[Nickssparks_153651]

Also to note, I pop the hood multiple times a week to check oil and fluids. I’ve done lower control arms, battery, alternator, radiator, AC condenser fan, AC condenser (rock hit it causing leak), the gasket that is right next to the oil filter forget the name, and oil changes every 3k miles (my wife drives 1940miles a month on average) so about every 6 weeks.

So I know my way around this car pretty well. At first I thought the vibrating issues and CEL flashing with VSA light on were related to low oil. I even asked my mechanic friend, and he told me that a common issue causing those symptoms is low oil. But after reading this thread and making sure my oil is topped off weekly, I was able to solve the problem.

See post above for more details.

Aloha!

[George_San_Jose1]

Great follow-up posts there @Nickssparks_153651. May well be very helpful to others with similar problems. Thanks for taking time to post.