I own a 2001 Acura CL-Type S with an Automatic Transmission. The other day I was driving in the snow and I started to rip it on a straight-away. I was going around 60 mph and I was flooring it. My car was in 3rd gear and It should have been in 2nd. Then finally when it dropped gears, my traction control kicked in and ever since, my cars ABS, VSA, and Caution light (the exclamtion point) are all on. I am unsure about the problem and I am concerned...If anyone has any idea what the problem is, let me know. Thank You!

 

Could be a transmission issue. Is your check engine light on? Try to reset the lights and see if they come back on.

 

Sounds like the tranny... I haven't ever experienced this myself, but according to what I read from other people, this sounds like the first signs of a failing tranny like Phipark said.

 

ok ok.. I have had this problem just over a month ago.. and it has now come back..Let me explain....
im trying to figure it out still.....a month ago it(vsa-exclamation-abs) came on when i turned the car on...sometimes it would be on and sometimes it wouldnt....I came on here to ask the ACURA GURUS WTF was happening and they all cried transmission....Well my tranny fluid was replaced under a year ago (about 30,000 kilometres) and i do not believe i have severe tranny issues YET.
So i took it to acura - not only did they tell me that they couldnt do anything (the light was not on when i brought it in)and that there was no code to be read, they also told me some crap about ice on my tires messin it up...(BS!!)...luckily it didnt come back on...untill a couple weeks ago...
now here is the thing that gets me....NOW when i turn on the car i just turn the electrical on to see if the VSA will light up...if it does, sometimes taking the key out and trying again works...but what works 95% of the time is I warm up the car, shut it off and on and magically the light is gone (so there is some relation between the TEMP and the sensor i guess)....it actually happened today when i left work - warmed her up restarted her and she was fine...WTF !!!...although your issue was tied in with you gunning the gas and seems more like a tranny issue, and mine happened on a cold start - i think we have the same problemo - im just waiting for my tranny to crap - i told those guys at acura 10 times made them test for slips and they say "ALL GOOD BUDDY" so if it craps out - the manager at erin mills acura will have a bad day...

 

I have the same problem with all the lights and I've tried everything and they're still on. I don't know what to do. The car still works in perfectly good condition but the lights are really bothering me. It happened to me after I changed the ballist and bulb.

 

I have a 2001 cl-s and had the same problem. when i took it to acura they found out that it was the knock sensor. animals had chewed through the wires of the knock sensor and the vsa warning light goes on. This seems to be a common problem with acura and they have not done anything about fixing it. They also replaced my tranny. the tranny only had 5000 miles on it and needed to be replaced

 

My transmission seems to be running the same. But my traction control is disabled. I brought it to my mechanic and they went through all the electronic codes. They first thought it was the alternator and they replaced that. Then they realized that it was not the problem so the put my old alternator back in. After all said and done, they managed to get the ABS light turned off and the VSA light is off for the first two minutes the car is on then it goes on. And the Caution light is always on. I also noticed that my VSA is completely disabled because my wheels spin and I do not have good traction in the rain like i used to. I'm hoping its just something stupid like a blown fuse in the traction control.

 

I had a problem where my VSA, ABS and ! were all on. Took it into the dealer and it was one of my wheel speed sensors. THe only way to find out is if you take it to the dealer. Each tire has a wheel speed sensor that gives the input to the computer for the VSA, traction control and ABS. If it is a wheel speed sensor, its only a $45 part. Hopefully thats all it is.

 

if you have abs light on, its 100% not a tranny problem. most likely it will be abs wheel sensor that triggers both vsa and abs as they are integrated and controlled by same unit

 

That's what I was thinking. It's ABS related.

 

Damn, I think I broke mine when I was replacing my lower ball joint a couple days ago.

When I brake on my car from like 5mph and up, there is no issue, but when my car is slowing down with my foot on the brake from 5mph and down, the car acts like I am panic breaking and the abs kicks in.

Is it possible I torqued down the nut for the wheel sensor too tight and it is to close to the axle.

Or for 45bucks, should I go out and buy a new wheel sensor

 

i replaced my lower balljoints and the sensors broke. bought 2 brand new sensors, installed. everything was fine for 5 minutes then the lights came on. i have no clue now, last resort, i am reseting the ECU by pulling the ground wire on the battery.

 

update: i blead my front brakes (still need to do rears), i reset the ECU, lights (ABS, exlamation, VSA) still came on.

SOLUTION: dont ask why, but i drove in reverse for about 25-35 yards, then drove forward, and after about 50 yards again, the lights went off.

 

I finally found what the problem is. It is a main fuse box that keeps blowing. Im not sure exactly from what as of now but i managed to turn all the lights off for a week or two. Then they returned so the nexxt step is finding the cause. Later.

 

Had the same issue. You need to have it hooked up to the machine at the dealership to see which sensor is bad. It will either be a speed or ABS sensor. Good luck man.

 

i have she same crapppy problem acura cl 01s. All the lights on. ! VSA ABS. So its either speed sensor or wheel sensor. where is that in the car? Does anyone have any pics?

 

bump this thread because this just happened to me..

Where is the speed sensor or wheel sensor located? pictures guys?

 

BUMP^^^. This thing is really annoying me, I found out it was the speed sensor.. any DIY threads?

 

Sorry, haven't been paying attention to this section. Here is a link where you can see the speed sensor.

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188137

 

Now if you look at the last picture in the series to the right, you will see an oval opening where the speed sensor should be. This is a magnet that will line up against the axle as notches and if the speed sensor is misaligned like mine was, it will cause the issues you are having.

Mine didn't need to be replaced, it just needed to be moved.

 

I can not find it. Can you give a better desricption?

 

Did you ever get this problem fixed because i have a 03 CL Type S thats doin the same thing. Its been at the dealer for over 2 weeks and i dont know whats goin on. Every time i call they say that they are waiting for a part to come in. Is this problem even fixable and if so what was the actual problem and remedy for this

 

This is exactly what happened to my 01 CL Type S. It started shifting really weird. I had to accelerate past 4500 on 1st to shift to second. I replaced my o2 sensor and so far everything is going good. I hear that the CL's oxygen sensors are very sensitive to the change in the chemicals in the gas; from winter gas to spring/summer gas. Replacing the sensor was pretty straight forward and cost about $30. Hope this helps

 

If anything im positive it's my speed sensor. I havent gotten around to looking at it but i'm sure it either broke or go misplaced when the mechanic installed my tranny.

 

Well I started this post, and it seems that everyone who is reading had a speed sensor problem. I brought my car to the acura dealership a bunch of times for the (ABS,VSA,!) lights since I last posted. The first time I brought it back, they told me that the ground wire to the battery had paint on it. That is what Acura told me. After a little while, all the lights came on again. I brought it back and NOW they told me it has to do with some computer that runs the ABS system. It is a very expensive part. Supposedly over a grand. But I will be getting it done for free since I had problems with my car stalling and they replaced the wrong part. Hopefully this will be the last of these damn lights!

 

Keep us posted! i want to know if the ABS computer was the problem... thanks!
I have a 2001 acura cl 3.2 type-s and ! and VSA lights are ALWAYS on... However, when it is cold outside, my abs light comes on. When the day gets warmer, the ABS light goes out... bummer! : (
I'm going to take it in to get the sensors looked at... just checked my ECU fuse and my CHECK ENGINE light came on...

also, if I accelerate quick... it shifts normally... if I accelerate like an old lady (normal) the trans shifts hard...
any tips/hints/reasons?

 

I had the exact problems with the acceleration and shifting. I just replaced the O2 sensor and everything turned out good. From the sounds of it, your car is having the same problem. I spent about $30 and replaced it myself, very easy.

 

thanks! ...now... I found out why my engine light came on...
I went to auto zone and asked if they could run a code for me on my car, came to my car, plugged in a decoder, got some codes, put them in the computer and it told them that i had blown my high load detector circuit. I guess when i checked the fuse, i left the car running and it shorted to something and ended up frying something on that circuit board... DAMN!
The computer also told me that I needed to get my transmission fluid changed...

 

Fuck this. I went to the dealer a year or two back and had the lights looked at. Diagnosis said the abs pump was bad and the front left wheel speed sensor should be replaced. Just recently I got the money to buy the parts and replaced everything. Lights are still on. Unplugged neg to battery and still on. I think I just need to get the codes reset but I have a strong feeling these fuckers will come back on. Anyone have any more ideas?

 

Any updates on a sure fix?

 

Just bought a 2006 RL, these forums are great, my lights came VSA, ABS and caution light just came on. I think i'll be looking closely at the wheel speed sensors on the rear wheels, since my traction control lights do not show that the rear axle has any traction.