At 33,000 miles, the VSA, ABS, and exclamation symbol on the dashboard lighted up permanently. The dealer said the VSA modulator needed to be replaced at a cost of $2,400. Apparently a lot of Honda owners are having similar issues. If my VSA modulators poop out every 30,000 miles and the car lives as long as my old Honda, I’ll end up spending $10-15,000 on just this one component – and I don’t even like ABS brakes. I’d try the electrical tape trick but I think the car inspector might pick up on a dash display that looked like Groucho Marx’s face. What is a decent person to do when the manufacturer doesn’t stand behind their product?
I found a genuine Honda VSA modulator for $683 on line, so if honda gets $1700 labor to change that part, I guess I’m in the wrong business. I would try another mechanic and see if there is something else that can be done, like pressure bleeding,resetting the light, etc to prevent changing the whole part. I can’t believe that at 33K miles this part went out. It isn’t still covered under warranty?
In my state (Utah) since having a working ABS system on vehicles isn’t specifically spelled out in the state vehicle inspection guide, some stations leave it up to the inspector to determine whether or not they want to pass the vehicle with an ABS light. I’ve seen some pass the vehicle, I’ve seen some pass with a warning, and I’ve seen some fail the vehicle. It gets down to a judgement call. Other inspection stations have a “station policy”, to always fail a vehicle with an ABS light on. And rationally thinking, you have the same braking ability as over 50% of the cars on the road if you have an ABS light on. When I had my inspectors license, I was probably a hard a$$ and failed more than I passed with the ABS light on. It depended on the rest of the car, as well as the customers attitude.
I think the warranty on that part expired at 30,000 miles.
I will go to another garage and see if some of the motivation tactics you mentioned work. Thanks.
Where on line did you find the VSA modulator?
Copy and paste this link for the modulator. It might not be your exact one for your car, but I’m sure the pricing is pretty close.
http://www.hondapartsnow.com/chassis/b__2420~2007~honda~pilot~5dr_exl_2wd~5at~ka~vsa~modulator.html
Thanks. Unfortunately, the one for my car is listed on that website for $1300+.
The responses have been the first real help I’ve had.