derekt75

I tried replacing my air filter yesterday with a Fram one. After 5 minutes of driving, the check engine and VSC lights came on. The car sortof runs, but with little power. I've tried putting the original Air filter back in. With the original filter, I've tried pulling the EFI main, ETCS, and ECU-B fuses, but the VSC error persists. The error is there even with the engine "on", but not started. I don't see anything wrong with the MAF sensor.

Will it hurt the car to drive in this condition?
How can I fix my problem?
Is it likely that when moving the air box around I damaged the electrical cable to the MAF?

thanks,
Derek

Lexmex

Welcome to the Club.

Fram one might be more restrictive. What is your rpm when you are in Park and what is it when you are in Drive (but not moving)?

What you need to do is go to an AutoZone and have the code read for free and then report back.

It really depends on the code you have whether you can drive it or not. If you have something like a bad ignition coil (really bad sputtering, extremely poor acceleration) then you don't, but a simple P0171 error you can drive on.

I'd also check to make sure you put on all the air hoses and tightened everything down good. In addition check to make sure the MAF sensor has its little rubber ring attached.

derekt75

when starting cold, RPM = 1400 in Park. After a minute or two, it dropped to 1000RPM, a few minutes later, it's around 1200RPM. In Drive, it's 1000RPM. When installing the air filter, I removed one air hose from the box next to the air filter, I removed one electrical cable from the MAF, and I removed a hose from a clip on the box next to the air filter. I put those back. Is there anything else that I likely removed?

derekt75

Stepping on the accelerator pedal doesn't really do much in Drive. In park, flooring it will get the tach to a whopping 2000RPM. In drive, it occasionally feels like it's giving a little bit of power before going weak again.

How do I know if I reset the ECU? I waited 2 minutes before putting the fuses back in, but I got no indication that anything had been reset.

derekt75

So, I decided to drive the car to the Lexus service center, 10 miles away. I figured that I'd have a top speed of about 20mph, and a half hour of driving 20mph would be better than paying AAA $50 to show up whenever they were ready. After only a half mile or so, those instances where the car had power got more and more frequent, and a mile later, the car seemed to be working pretty well. When I got to the service center, I yanked the fuses again, and waited a couple minutes. When I put them back in, the car seemed to be working fine.

So, I guess the trick is to reset the ECU after you've driven a mile or two with the Lexus air filter back in the car; resetting the ECU when the car still has a hangover from the previous air filter doesn't help.

toneman

LOL--sounds like your car needed a few miles of some extended driving for the ECU to "relearn" itself after the air filter change...but congrats anyways on getting the problem fixed!