[nickcbird]

Hi all,

I've had a problem with my 2007 CRV come up over the past couple of weeks. One day we were driving uphill with quite high rpms to keep up with traffic when all of a sudden the car jerked engine light and VSA plus the '!' lights came on. Car was in limp mode to the side of the road. Turned the engine off and on and the only light left was the engine light. Managed to get back to town but on the way back the VSA lights came back but the car could drive fine at low rpms.

Got the car scanned and came back with the codes P2646 and 83-1, it also read low voltage across the car and to replace the battery. With loads and loads of internet searching and trawling through forums, I found the most common way to fix the issue is to replace the oil pressure sensor on the VTEC solenoid. Instead, I replaced the whole VTEC solenoid with a new sensor included, as well as an oil change and filter. Still got the same issue, will drive fine at low rpm but as soon as there's any kind of pressure on the engine causing the VTEC to kick in the lights come back and the car jerks around a bit, restart the engine and it'll only show the engine light again until the VTEC engages

I then heard the VVT solenoid can also cause these issues so I changed that out for a brand new one and still have the same issue. I have also replaced the battery to sort the low voltage issues out incase this was somehow related to the issue.

I'm at a bit of a standstill now not too sure where to go next. All the forums I have read have got over the issue with one of the methods I've already tried. The last thing I have to try is to clean the screen that filters the oil which is located behind the power steering pump and pulleys... which seem light a bit of a nightmare to do and would rather avoid!

Does anybody have any bright ideas at what to try next? As I'm getting fed up spending my evenings trying to fix the damn thing and getting nowhere!

Any and all help/advice is appreciated!

 

[kloker]

Welcome to the forum! Moved to Gen 3 Section for better response. How many miles does the car have on it? Keep us posted on how this is going. I've not had this issue, but have seen a number of similar posts.

 

[nickcbird]

I hope I manage to get the issue sorted. As I'm not too sure where to go next I've got it booked in at the shop on Friday to hopefully find out the route cause. It's got about 245,000km on it. Been running perfectly on long trips, we took it for a drive a couple of weeks ago which meant going up a steep hill when all these issues happened.

 

[Josephart]

Hi all,

I've had a problem with my 2007 CRV come up over the past couple of weeks. One day we were driving uphill with quite high rpms to keep up with traffic when all of a sudden the car jerked engine light and VSA plus the '!' lights came on. Car was in limp mode to the side of the road. Turned the engine off and on and the only light left was the engine light. Managed to get back to town but on the way back the VSA lights came back but the car could drive fine at low rpms.

Got the car scanned and came back with the codes P2646 and 83-1, it also read low voltage across the car and to replace the battery. With loads and loads of internet searching and trawling through forums, I found the most common way to fix the issue is to replace the oil pressure sensor on the VTEC solenoid. Instead, I replaced the whole VTEC solenoid with a new sensor included, as well as an oil change and filter. Still got the same issue, will drive fine at low rpm but as soon as there's any kind of pressure on the engine causing the VTEC to kick in the lights come back and the car jerks around a bit, restart the engine and it'll only show the engine light again until the VTEC engages

I then heard the VVT solenoid can also cause these issues so I changed that out for a brand new one and still have the same issue. I have also replaced the battery to sort the low voltage issues out incase this was somehow related to the issue.

I'm at a bit of a standstill now not too sure where to go next. All the forums I have read have got over the issue with one of the methods I've already tried. The last thing I have to try is to clean the screen that filters the oil which is located behind the power steering pump and pulleys... which seem light a bit of a nightmare to do and would rather avoid!

Does anybody have any bright ideas at what to try next? As I'm getting fed up spending my evenings trying to fix the damn thing and getting nowhere!

Any and all help/advice is appreciated!

Thanks for your post. We're having the exact same issue with our 2007 CRV...were you able to resove/fix your CRV? Any advice would be appreciated...so far we've done everything you did.
Best rgrds, Joseph Art, Reno, NV

 

[Avisitor]

What DTC comes up on your vehicle? P2646?
On the internet, it seems 95% clear their issues by replacing the gasket/filters along with oil change.
The issue is cause by low oil flow thru to the cams. This can be due to low oil level.
Slug in the oil. Clog? Faulty oil solenoid or pressure switch. Faulty oil pump.
The simplest thing to do is to change the oil and the gasket filters first.
Do the cheapest things first. It may seem daunting at first but watch a few videos on how to do it.
It will give you more confidence and let you know what to expect.
Oh, in some of the videos, the screens get so clogged up that it induces an oil leak
If you see an oil leak in the area then could be a sign??
Hopefully it isn't the oil pump nor the cams

If you have 83-1?? My research says to check the VSA (46 pins) connector
And to check ECU (44 pins) connector A . I have no idea if that is right.
But, that is what the service manuals says. Along with check if connector is loose. G202??

Good luck and hope it is simple and cheap to fix.

 

[gigglestwo]

Thanks for your post. We're having the exact same issue with our 2007 CRV...were you able to resove/fix your CRV? Any advice would be appreciated...so far we've done everything you did.
Best rgrds, Joseph Art, Reno, NV

we need to turn this in to the problem area on Honda so it willl get recalled

 

[Wildcat]

Recalls are for safety-related items. Automakers do not do recall on items that are age or wear related, which this is. Honda, like all the others, do not offer unlimited age and mileage warranties on their cars.

This problem is typical of all K-series engines when they are older, and the 2007 is a 14 year old vehicle now. I just replaced this same gasket (for the same P2646 code) in one of our 2009s. The screen was partially blocked with black crud. Since the rubber was dried out, I replaced the gasket rather than fully cleaning it. (Honda calls this the "spool valve gasket.") Note that there was also a TSB for failure of the oil pressure control switch, as it was a common failure item on some CR-Vs.

The three things to immediately check, in this order, are:

1. Oil level
2. Gasket screen for dirt or blockage
3. Oil pressure control switch

Blasting the parts cannon at the problem per "typical Internet advice" or shoddy YouTube videos is not the way to troubleshoot.

 

[Common_tater]

Hi all,

I've had a problem with my 2007 CRV come up over the past couple of weeks. One day we were driving uphill with quite high rpms to keep up with traffic when all of a sudden the car jerked engine light and VSA plus the '!' lights came on. Car was in limp mode to the side of the road. Turned the engine off and on and the only light left was the engine light. Managed to get back to town but on the way back the VSA lights came back but the car could drive fine at low rpms.

Got the car scanned and came back with the codes P2646 and 83-1, it also read low voltage across the car and to replace the battery. With loads and loads of internet searching and trawling through forums, I found the most common way to fix the issue is to replace the oil pressure sensor on the VTEC solenoid. Instead, I replaced the whole VTEC solenoid with a new sensor included, as well as an oil change and filter. Still got the same issue, will drive fine at low rpm but as soon as there's any kind of pressure on the engine causing the VTEC to kick in the lights come back and the car jerks around a bit, restart the engine and it'll only show the engine light again until the VTEC engages

I then heard the VVT solenoid can also cause these issues so I changed that out for a brand new one and still have the same issue. I have also replaced the battery to sort the low voltage issues out incase this was somehow related to the issue.

I'm at a bit of a standstill now not too sure where to go next. All the forums I have read have got over the issue with one of the methods I've already tried. The last thing I have to try is to clean the screen that filters the oil which is located behind the power steering pump and pulleys... which seem light a bit of a nightmare to do and would rather avoid!

Does anybody have any bright ideas at what to try next? As I'm getting fed up spending my evenings trying to fix the damn thing and getting nowhere!

Any and all help/advice is appreciated!

I had the VSA, !, and TPMS light all displayed when I started up my ‘07 CR-V after it sat for nearly 4 months. It only revved up to low rpm’s and it clunked loudly going into drive, and ran in limp mode with the brakes squealing. Searched through several Honda forums, and found a solution that didn’t involve ungodly amounts of troubleshooting and parts replacements (I too hooked up my OBD scanner to check codes). The solution was to check and fill all of my tires to the proper pressure. I found that all of my tires were below proper pressure. Having more than 1 tire (I don’t know how many low pressure tires it takes) somehow puts the car into limp mode and partially engages the anti-lock brakes. Aterwards I started up the car, everything sounded normal, all the lights cleared, and my car went back to normal operation. Thank God it was just that simple! Oh by the way, I did have to replace my battery, and fortunately it was still under full warranty (I purchased it through AAA, which in itself is a killer deal!). That’s my story and I hope you get your problem resolved.

 

[JB in AZ]

Is it possible that the root cause was the bad battery?

 

[Common_tater]

Is it possible that the root cause was the bad battery?
[/QUOTE
I personally believe, although I am not a trained Honda service technician, that it was because of the multiple low tire pressures that somehow activates a default in the computer to put it in limp mode, and partially engages the ABS. I have not tried to replicate the scenario, but it would be interesting if someone out there did, and report back the results. Like anything else, results may vary.

 

[Nasolan]

I have 2007 crv that just started doing this. My low tire sensor was active, going to fill the tires to see if this resolves issue

 

[Wildcat]

Is it possible that the root cause was the bad battery?

I would think so. I don't think the TPMS system is directly tied to the ABS system (which controls the VSA). Although I could probably do an experiment one day and let half the air out of my tires and see what happens--can't hurt since I have a compressor in the garage. The TPMS triggers based on the pressure falling below a certain threshold at each tire. Even though our CR-Vs sat for a while (we drove the Civic for months during lockdown), we only had one tire that was below the threshold (and it's had a very slow but persistent leak).

 

[Wildcat]

I have 2007 crv that just started doing this. My low tire sensor was active, going to fill the tires to see if this resolves issue

Keep us posted!