VSA warning and Engine Malfunction light

Hi,
I have a Euro Man '06, and recently both the engine malfunction light and the vsa warning light came on. I took the car into the honda service, and they said that ants have eaten into the computer. They recomended fumigation to prevent it happening again. They are replacing the pcm (control module). They said that honda will only replace it once under warrenty.
Has anyone heard of this before?
Also does anyone know where this computer is located? I wanted to see if I could see any of these computer eating ants.
Also another strage thing is they say that "honda is aware of this problem in Wollongong" , whatever that means.
cheers

The VSA modulator control unit is under the bonnet marked in red here. Do you ever see ants under your bonnet?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v456/yfin/VSA.jpg

Oh, ok, is that what that thing is. Thanks for the reply. I thought that thing you circled was something to do with ABS.
I have never noticed ants under the bonnet, but i have seen them in the cabin on a few occasions. I will look at it more closely in the morning.
Also, is the car safe to drive?The guy at the service place said it was safe to drive, but a second opinion would be good.
Thanks!

I had a look at the workshop manual and it shows both the ABS and VSA control module as part of that unit circled.

So the shop told you it was definately the control module? Because the VSA also has other components like wheel sensors etc that could also trigger the same fault.

Your brakes should be working fine so I think your car is safe to drive.

Better buy some ridsect or bygone and start sparying.....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tron07

Better buy some ridsect or bygone and start sparying.....

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Or spray Baygon surface spray all over the unit and surrounding areas,the stuff that lasts for up to 1 mth.Weird??:confused:

BTW, never heard of ants biting/eating into rubber/metal eletrical components before...... super ozzie ants??

my car came with like an infestation of japanese ants, all thy did was tune the vtec better

they must have been aussie ants! :)

this happen to me like 2months ago.
on a highway doing xxxkm/h at gear4 VTEC!!! then after like 20sec both light came on. left my car alone over night, VSA off. and the engine still there. then change engine oil. all good again

Spray Baygon surface spray in a ring around your car. That will prevent ants from crossing the border when you are parked. Do that both for home and for work (be careful if you have pets).

Careful not to spray any fly spray onto the paint as it might be affected. I read this in Wheels magazine many years ago. You have been warned!

were they jdm ants?

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Originally Posted by mastcell

Careful not to spray any fly spray onto the paint as it might be affected. I read this in Wheels magazine many years ago. You have been warned!

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Totally agree! Do not spray anything on the paint, plastics or tyres.

ahh good thing i searched this thread...i have the same issue..started not 3 days ago and happening every second day when driving at high speeds...Highly unlikely of the ants idea....

Im thinking oil of some sort?...
i recently changed to Mobile 1 0-40w and i duno if that is the reason why or not...
but only happens when engine is hot and driving at high speeds so far...
My engine seems to shunt abit as if no petrol or something but im not low.
I lose alot of power and the engine struggles abit to maitain speed.
Once i turn off the engine and start it again its fine...

im lost...gonna take it to a mechanic this weekend..

any advice...

Shame there aren't some horses finding there way into the engine ;-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sameol3

ahh good thing i searched this thread...i have the same issue..started not 3 days ago and happening every second day when driving at high speeds...Highly unlikely of the ants idea....

Im thinking oil of some sort?...
i recently changed to Mobile 1 0-40w and i duno if that is the reason why or not...
but only happens when engine is hot and driving at high speeds so far...
My engine seems to shunt abit as if no petrol or something but im not low.
I lose alot of power and the engine struggles abit to maitain speed.
Once i turn off the engine and start it again its fine...

im lost...gonna take it to a mechanic this weekend..

any advice...

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your engine oil shouldnt have a problem with that as it's within spec.
Also Mobil 1 is a reputable oil.

You sure it's not your fuel pump playing up ?

Ants invasion, I made that thread before. Don't know why but I suspect my Maguire detailer spray that attract those b$%#%. Got a Prius parked beside my car, but no ants got into it at all. I didn't stored any food or sweets inside yet they got into the cabin and ran havoc. At that time I just used my portable vacuum and sucked them all.

Now with the wet weather lately they run havoc again, but this time the ants went to the passenger side door and engine bay. What I did was sprayed some raid on the side skirt from front to back (so far not showing any discoloration) once they died I wipe it off with wet chamois. I also sprayed the engine bay area as I saw them running around there as well.... but with the engine bay I didn't wipe them off.

So far I only see 2 to 3 on top of the bonnet which I eagerly pressed with my angry :thumbdwn: but yeah I'm still keeping watch with my raid handy on my right hand :mad:

Meguiar's quick detailer is actually toxic to insects.

Do you have anything like a VAFC or AFC Neo installed in your car?

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Originally Posted by aaronng

Meguiar's quick detailer is actually toxic to insects.

Do you have anything like a VAFC or AFC Neo installed in your car?

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Well mine currently is purely stock, apart from installing xenon HID once the wet condition is gone.

My Interior detailer looks like this:
http://meguiarsdirect.com/imagesEdp/p84729b.jpg

I like the sweetly smell and I thought the ants love them too...

Will try to spray it on the pavement this afternoon (if not washed up by the rain later on) and see if the ants gather around it.

Once I park too close to a bush and the leave and branch from one of the plant touch my car, then all the ants from that plant migrated over to my car... maybe you did the same thing too

Nope this is not the case, the ants comes from below the pavement/dirt.

were u eating ice cream or something sw33t in the engine bay?

most like some sap or something is stick or attracting them.

I wonder if the smell attracts insect that well.

I had an ant problem once: The A/C of my Euro stopped working. I took the car my local Honda dealer and spoke with the chief mechanic. He knew the answer straight away. Ants had got into the main airconditoner circuit breaker under the bonnet and had shorted it. He replaced the circuit breaker and the A/C worked. He then tapped the old circuit breaker on a bench and dead ants fell out.

From Wikipedia:

"Fuel lines are often made from reinforced rubber tubing and may also be susceptible to attack, especially within engine compartments where low levels of ozone are produced from electrical equipment." (The rubber fuel lines are subject to attack from ozone not from ants!)

From Yahoo:

Question
"i left my laptop for just an hour, and when i came back it is swarmed by ants!!! what's up with ants and electronic devices? "

Answer
"Ants are attracted to ozone which is created by electronic devices. Turn it off and get them to leave."

BTW. Ozone is three combined Oxygen atoms (O3). The molecule is very unstable and breaks down to O2 + O. The single Oxygen atom is an extreme oxidant (can cause rusting/corrosion) and if free in a human body it is known as a free radical that can do all sorts of nasty things to other chemicals in the body. Ozone is toxic to humans and is know to cause problems ranging from asthma to cholesterol plaque in arteries leading to cardiovascular disease. Ozone can be detected by smell in even low concentrations around electric motors and during a lightning storm.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crapdaz

your engine oil shouldnt have a problem with that as it's within spec.
Also Mobil 1 is a reputable oil.

You sure it's not your fuel pump playing up ?

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yeah possibly fuel pump...

sameol3 - when the problem starts happening, when you push the foot down on the accelerator, does the problem get worse? like the engine struggles more...

but when backing off the pedal, it seems to get better?

when was fuel filter last changed?

had you fillled up with fuel just before it started happening?

I had the same problem this time last year.
VSA and Engine warning signs went up. Initially, the car drive the same. but it got worse. Acceleration super slow, can't get the rav to go up quick. feel like you are doing standing start in 6th gear despite it is in first gear. quite dangerous when you need quick acceleration to join busy traffic. On highway, when you back up the throttle, the car shakes a bit.

Anyway, had the back in service a few times, initially they thought its the problem from fuel. they questioned me if I use Ethanol containing fuel. but I always feed my car at least 95 octane fuel.
Eventually they replaced a "ADP" sensor, and it solve the problem..
so you might want your Honda dealer to look at ADP sensor.

Lucky I bought 5 year extended warranty. coz it happened at the end of 4th year.

Hope this info helps

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sameol3

ahh good thing i searched this thread...i have the same issue..started not 3 days ago and happening every second day when driving at high speeds...Highly unlikely of the ants idea....

Im thinking oil of some sort?...
i recently changed to Mobile 1 0-40w and i duno if that is the reason why or not...
but only happens when engine is hot and driving at high speeds so far...
My engine seems to shunt abit as if no petrol or something but im not low.
I lose alot of power and the engine struggles abit to maitain speed.
Once i turn off the engine and start it again its fine...

im lost...gonna take it to a mechanic this weekend..

any advice...

---

just had this problem a week ago. CEL and VSA came up then took it to get it looked at and they told me ants have short-circuited the ecu. i then paid 1700 to get the ecu replaced.

5 days later, same lights came on again. this time around i dont see any ants anywhere at all. what i dont understand is why the fiesta, commodore and hi-ace that is parked longer in the same garage never had this problem. only the euro.

any advice? i dont think ill be dishing another 1700 for the same thing.

BTW: it is a 2006 Euro Lux model.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alexkreuz

just had this problem a week ago. CEL and VSA came up then took it to get it looked at and they told me ants have short-circuited the ecu. i then paid 1700 to get the ecu replaced.

5 days later, same lights came on again. this time around i dont see any ants anywhere at all. what i dont understand is why the fiesta, commodore and hi-ace that is parked longer in the same garage never had this problem. only the euro.

any advice? i dont think ill be dishing another 1700 for the same thing.

BTW: it is a 2006 Euro Lux model.

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what the heck !!! u spend 1700 for that crap i would do a refund n get a second hand stock ecu + Kpro FTW :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alexkreuz

just had this problem a week ago. CEL and VSA came up then took it to get it looked at and they told me ants have short-circuited the ecu. i then paid 1700 to get the ecu replaced.

5 days later, same lights came on again. this time around i dont see any ants anywhere at all. what i dont understand is why the fiesta, commodore and hi-ace that is parked longer in the same garage never had this problem. only the euro.

any advice? i dont think ill be dishing another 1700 for the same thing.

BTW: it is a 2006 Euro Lux model.

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Could you list any aftermarket parts that you have on your car? Might help in troubleshooting.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pumped

were they jdm ants?

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Ha ha ha ha ha!!!

The dealership is should replace it 10 times under warranty if they have to.. But it loses them money when doing in house warranty repairs :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aaronng

Could you list any aftermarket parts that you have on your car? Might help in troubleshooting.

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its all stock standard. ill be taking it to the dealer tomorrow to shed some answers.

brought it in and they have replaced it for me for free. will get the car and my house fumigated on thursday. here is hoping that this will never happen again.

Late revival,

my issue turned out to be the pedal actuator positioning sensor, the unit that controls the electronic throttle body... ended up buying a 2nd hand unit which fixed the issue... my mechanic said its not common at all..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sameol3

Late revival,

my issue turned out to be the pedal actuator positioning sensor, the unit that controls the electronic throttle body... ended up buying a 2nd hand unit which fixed the issue... my mechanic said its not common at all..

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Exactly the same PNR888 had above: http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showpos...2&postcount=26

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sameol3

Late revival,

my issue turned out to be the pedal actuator positioning sensor, the unit that controls the electronic throttle body... ended up buying a 2nd hand unit which fixed the issue... my mechanic said its not common at all..

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How much did it cost?

it didn't actually cost that much. I was quoted $300 brand new from my mechanic but he advised me to contact a wrecker in Sydney west (Yennora) and i picked one up for $120. Installed it myself as it was quite easy... and the problem went after that.. =D