Check Vsc

[MOZ87]

Hi everyone,

I was driving along yesterday and the "check vsc" warning light appeared on my dash as well as the engine and traction light. Has anyone experience this and can shed some light on how to fix and the cost of it. I have read some related posts on Lexus forums but none of them had a conclusion as to what caused the problem and the fix. Some say it was a problem with the fuel cap others say it had to do with cylinders misfiring (which I know isn't the case). Looking at the owner manual it seems it has to do with the throttle body. Any info would be much appreciated! :)

P.s I have already done the reset by disconnecting the battery for half an hour. The warning lights went away but within a few k's of driving they appeared again.

[plankton007]

Easiest way would be is to hook up a scanner and see which error code it is. Since check VSC is just a error light it could be a lot of things.

[beback]

Did it happen when you press the brake?

I had a similar issue few months ago, turned out it was a faulty brake light switch (something used to transmit the brake signal to central computer), brake was fully functional, just the signal was not getting to the computer

[MOZ87]

Yes that is exactly what happened. I braked at the end of the street and the lights came on. I have reset the computer a few times and within a few k's and braking it just comes back on. What did you end up doing to fix the lproblem?

[MOZ87]

Yes that is exactly what happened. I braked at the end of the street and the lights came on. I have reset the computer a few times and within a few k's and braking it just comes back on. What did you end up doing to fix the lproblem?

[beback]

I went to Lexus Brighton and they fixed it for $276.70 :(

Part cost $91.54 ( I believe you could get that for $50 somewhere else)

Labour cost $160 (well .....)

Hope this helps, it was not super expensive tho

sometime around Feb this year I reckon

[MOZ87]

Damn I was hoping I could avoid taking my car to Lexus. Being a female I have a fear of being ripped off! Did they charge to do a diagnostics also?

[beback]

diagnostics is included in the labour hour

$276.70 included everything in my case

[STORMIS]

not to hijack your thread, but Today i was driving down my street and as i was coming to a stop (Braking),

i heard a chime sound and saw "Check VSC", along with a flashing engine light,

but as i drove off the message disappeared and i havent seen it since... im not sure what triggered the message ? car was running fine,

my battery was just changed around 1 week ago, not sure if that has something to do with it,

i saw the message for less than 10 seconds,

[beback]

not to hijack your thread, but Today i was driving down my street and as i was coming to a stop (Braking),

i heard a chime sound and saw "Check VSC", along with a flashing engine light,

but as i drove off the message disappeared and i havent seen it since... im not sure what triggered the message ? car was running fine,

my battery was just changed around 1 week ago, not sure if that has something to do with it,

i saw the message for less than 10 seconds,

If it is not happening again, I recommend don't worry about it. If it happens again, go to a technician and hook up a computer, error code will tell you what is going wrong

with so many electric/computer thingy in our car, you can't really guess where it goes wrong sometime...

[coconut2001]

Had same thing happen and done as beback, 212$ for me

[Tony1234]

Damn I was hoping I could avoid taking my car to Lexus. Being a female I have a fear of being ripped off! Did they charge to do a diagnostics also?

You can take your car to an auto electrician.Because you're female ask the mechanic,service person lots of questions to reduce your chances of being"ripped off".

[MOZ87]

Thanks everyone for your input on the issue. I'm still not sure if I should take the car to an auto electrician rather than a mechanic or bite the bullet and take it to Lexus.

[MOZ87]

Hi all,

So I decided to take my car up the road from work to an auto electrician. He ran a scan and determined the cause was from an o2 sensor. He asked me what type of fuel I had been running (I run normal unleaded) then he told me I should only be running premium as the o2 sensors are quite sensitive and any crap fuel will usually set the warning lights off. $132 later I've filled up my car with premium fuel (shell vpower) and I'll see how I go. Hopefully that's all it was. My husband laughed when I told him - he's always getting up me for using unleaded! If it turns out that the fuel doesn't fix the problem it will cost me $318 for a new front o2 sensor. Fingers ccrossed I won't have to replace it.

[Tony1234]

Hi all,

So I decided to take my car up the road from work to an auto electrician. He ran a scan and determined the cause was from an o2 sensor. He asked me what type of fuel I had been running (I run normal unleaded) then he told me I should only be running premium as the o2 sensors are quite sensitive and any crap fuel will usually set the warning lights off. $132 later I've filled up my car with premium fuel (shell vpower) and I'll see how I go. Hopefully that's all it was. My husband laughed when I told him - he's always getting up me for using unleaded! If it turns out that the fuel doesn't fix the problem it will cost me $318 for a new front o2 sensor. Fingers ccrossed I won't have to replace it.

Just my opinion stay away from Shell fuels.There's better fuel out there.BP ultimate.

[MOZ87]

What is the difference between the two Shell vpower and Bp ultimate aren't they both 98 octane? Or is Bp aa better quality fuel.

[Tony1234]

What is the difference between the two Shell vpower and Bp ultimate aren't they both 98 octane? Or is Bp aa better quality fuel.

Heard too many negative things about Shell fuels from mechanics,other car forums etc.I've nothing to back up what i'm saying but i figure why take the chance.Never heard anything but good reports about BP ultimate.

[Tony1234]

I've also heard it's a good idea to alternate between 98 fuels eg.2-3 tanks of BP then 2-3 tanks of Mobil 98(7 eleven) then Caltex 98 as they each have different types of detergents/additives.

[MOZ87]

Well I've spoken to soon. Check vsc warning lights have come back on within 20kms of driving. I guess I'll have to get the o2 sensor replaced at a cost of $300 + labour. If that's even what is causing the issue?

[MOZ87]

Well I've spoken to soon. Check vsc warning lights have come back on within 20kms of driving. I guess I'll have to get the o2 sensor replaced at a cost of $300 + labour. If that's even what is causing the issue?

[rossv]

Hi all,

I've also got this problem, but it only happens rarely. Usually seems to happen when I brake my car too, so I wonder if it's the same "faulty brake light switch".

I have all the Lexus service documentation, can anyone who had this fixed provide more details on this "switch"? (Anything at all)

When it happens to me, the error goes away if I stop the engine and start it again.

Also I bought an error code scanner (CAN Bus) to plug into the diagnostic connector and the car logs no errors for me, I even connected it when the error was displayed and still nothing. I used a low cost device from EBay and it works well.

MOZ: You could consider buying one of those scanners off ebay if you wanted to do some self diagnostics and see the error code for yourself. It costs about $30.

[MOZ87]

The auto electrician found the fault code relating to bank 1 o2 sensor. I will be taking the car back today and getting him to check the brake light sensor which a few people have mentioned on the forum. Seems suss that the lights only come on when I'm braking.

[rossv]

As far as I know, the fault codes are stored by the car for an indefinite period until they are cleared.

This means that your car might've stored that code previously and it has nothing to do with the "Check VSC" error. Just a theory.

In any case please let us know how you go, I'm keen to get it fixed on my car and I never had any fault codes so I never had any idea what to look for..

[MOZ87]

I've just come back from the AE. They ran another scan, same fault code as yesterday being (p2195) oxygen (a/f) sensor signal stuck rich - bank 1 sensor 1. On the graph itit shows sensor one flat lining but sensor 2 seems to be working fine. They have also checked the battery sensor switch and couldn't find an issue with that. Looks like I will definitely have to replace the front sensor in order to stop the warning lights appearing on the dash. They have cleared the codes again but it won't be long till they appear again (usually within 15kms of driving).

[Tony1234]

I've just come back from the AE. They ran another scan, same fault code as yesterday being (p2195) oxygen (a/f) sensor signal stuck rich - bank 1 sensor 1. On the graph itit shows sensor one flat lining but sensor 2 seems to be working fine. They have also checked the battery sensor switch and couldn't find an issue with that. Looks like I will definitely have to replace the front sensor in order to stop the warning lights appearing on the dash. They have cleared the codes again but it won't be long till they appear again (usually within 15kms of driving).

I think you should wait and drive the car more on 98.It may take a while for the O2 sensor to sort itself out on the new fuel.Maybe take it for a good highway run.