Nathan H5

Hi everybody!

I finally had a problem with my 2004 GX...I had replaced the battery about five years ago. It has been trouble-free, well maintained, garage kept, etc. I noticed recently that when I start the car, the battery sounded a bit weak. Otherwise it has been running perfect. Well, tonite we went to the grocery store. My friend stayed in the car, listening to the radio with the engine off, ignition in auxiliary position. When I got back and tried to start the car nothing!! The lights came on, but even the steering wheel moved sluggishly into position. I turned the ignition and the lights went off and the dash lights went off too as they normally do when starting. But nothing, no sound no anything. Also, when the auto start cycle stopped, all the dash lights came back on as normal. When I opened the hood, to my horror, there was corrosion on the positive cable connector on the battery (wire-brushed off the best I could when we got home) We jump-started the car (first jump start since I owned it) and it cranked right up and ran smooth, all the lights went back to super bright, so I know the alternator is working. However three new lights have suddenly appeared on the dash as soon as it started:

VCS TRAK

VCS OFF

The "check engine" light.

I have never seen these.

The car runs beautifully, smooth and powerful. While idling everything electrical works normally, the power windows, etc and all the lights, including the HID headlights which ignite normally and burn bright as always. I am hoping that the alternator is working normally.

Any ideas? Did jump starting the car (With my Honda CRV) make these lights come on? I am going to my mechanic on Monday morning to have him check the battery to see if it needs to be replaced, but those lights baffle me.

I have the car running right now in the garage to charge the battery which hopefully will last until Monday morning. I cleaned the corrosion the best I could without removing the cables since I do not know what would happen if the battery was completely disconnected. The last time I replaced the battery, we hooked one of those little battery jump-starters to the cables so as to keep power to the car with the old battery removed. (What would happen if I removed the battery cables without keeping some kind of charge to the electronics?)

Any ideas as to the VCS thing and the sudden check engine light??

Many thanks,

Fred

Nathan H5

Never mind. After doing a search here, I found another thread about this. Apparently this is common when the battery is disconnected or in my case low. Also has something to do with the gas cap, so I will replace that too. Might as well replace the positive battery cable also.

chiph9

Rather than taking a chance on getting stranded somewhere, I just replace the battery every three years. There's very little difference between the brands (there are only 2 manufacturers in the US -- they're all private-branded off of them), so buy wherever you're comfortable. Don't forget to compare prices at your dealer -- sometimes they're price-competitive on batteries, or "close enough".

Chip H.

Nathan H5

Well I replaced the battery yesterday. To my amazement, the radio kept all of its preset stations, no HID warnings, everything perfect. All I needed to do was reset the power windows and moon-roof as shown in the sticky's above. The VSC warnings and check engine lites all went away so for now all is good with the world. Because I had to replace the positive cable, I had to actually disconnect power to the car. The last time I had my mechanic replace the battery. He got one of those mini jump-starters and hooked it to the battery cables on the car to prevent power loss to the car while replacing the battery.