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2006 Honda Pilot Traction Control Triggered at "Random"

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  • #997323
    Mark PikasMark
    Participant

      I’m trying to figure out a traction control issue on a 2006 Honda Pilot, where the TCS light comes on for a second or so and the SUV has no power/won’t accelerate. There is almost no pattern to it. It could happen accelerating, cruising, or slowing down (but it’s only really a problem accelerating), while turning or going straight… At times it seemed to have a pattern: for a while it seemed to go off quite often when going through a specific intersection at speed and hitting a dip coming out of it or in one particular LH turn, but when I tried to confirm it I wasn’t able to, it just happened more than once in a specific spot. It can happen as often as a few times a trip or as little as 2 weeks apart.

      There is no service light lit up, and I’ve hooked up a scan tool to check for stored codes, there aren’t any. I also tried to see if I could see odd speeds at the wheel sensors but after trying 4 different scan tools I can’t get any of them to show me that or any CANbus data.

      Looking for advice before I fire the parts cannon at it (maybe replace the wheel sensors?), has anyone seen this, have suggestions on what to check or how to figure it out? It’s happened enough times in DC Metro rush hour traffic where it’s come close to causing an accident (a car that should be accelerating is suddenly slowing down with no brakes) that we’re considering selling an otherwise mechanically sound vehicle that we like.

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    • #997331
      EricTheCarGuy 1EricTheCarGuy
      Keymaster

        It sounds like a wheel speed sensor issue as you seem to suspect. Unfortunately, unless you have a lab scope to look at the waveforms coming out of the sensors it’s going to be very difficult to tell which one is at fault. You might do a visual inspection on all the sensors and wiring to see if you can find any issues.

        #997335
        Mark PikasMark
        Participant

          A lot of scan tools and software (used with the Bluetooth scan tool modules) have the ability to graph the output and even show you the waveform. 2 of the ones I tried on the honda will do it on my ford (2012 SHO) but I just can’t get the honda to show it to me. Just graph the output speed and look at which one isn’t close to the rest. But I’m fairly certain it would also set a code, I know my 2004 Dodge Ram set a code when one of the sensors went bad.

          I guess I don’t even know what else is likely to cause it to do this besides one of the sensors, but I don’t like the fact that I think it should set a code and I’m not getting one, I don’t like the fact that the Honda PCM system won’t play nice and give me data, and I don’t like just firing the parts cannon at something without some data to work from.

          I guess since they’re just hall effect sensors, I could just clip an o-scope to the leads and see if they all put something out…

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