FredM

Hi,

Pulled the car out for a drive this morning and the VSC and Check Engine light both came on. I don't have and OBD tool so I pulled the negative off the battery in case it was just a momentary fault. The lights came back on right away so I am sure it is a real fault. My local Autozone will pull the codes for me for free tomorrow so I will have them then.

My first guess is that I have a have a dirty speed sensor but will obviously confirm it with the OBD tool.

I am surprised that I am getting both lights at the same time. Is it normal to get a Check Engine light just because the VSC light came on? The car had no lights until this morning and we drove it quite a bit yesterday. It is a 2003 RX300 with 177,000 miles.

Thanks in advance,

Fred

carguy07

Yep, when you get one, you usually get them all. Could be anything like an O2 sensor. The VSC light does not necessarily mean the light has anything to do with that system.

ski2days

check hose on back of ari filter. Easy to get knowed off during filter inspection

FredM

Great! Thanks so much for the input. I will check that hose on the back of the filter and check for a bad O2 sensor. Thanks for easing my mind. I couldn't figure out why I had a check engine light and a VSC light at the same time. Makes sense to me now. You guys on this forum are the best!

Fred

bob2200

I think the "check engine" indication is three of the dash warning lights coming on. Do you have one of them burned out? Check this out when starting the car.

I think that burned out air/O2 sensors are the most common reason for the check engine indication. This has happend to me twice, and I haven't had any other events yet.

TechLFA003

On RX300, it's almost always CEL, VSC and Trac Off(depend on yrs) come on the same time. Here is why. VSC/Track control work hand in hand with engine. There are time VSC need engine to reduce power output. When engine is not 100%(CEL on). VSC don't want engine to reduce even more power. Under this condition. VSC will set a code in it system(DTC C1201 or 51 Engine control System Malfunction). That cause both light come on the same time.

FredM

Thanks so much for the explanation for the check engine and VSC light coming on at the same time. That makes perfect sense after having it explained.

It turns out my problem was and oxygen sensor near the radiator. I had written in an earlier posting about a fuel smell outside the car when running and was suspect of an exhaust leak. As soon as I changed the sensor that problem went away too.

Thanks again for all your input, it is truly appreciated!

All the best,

Fred

SethP

Glad to see you got it resolved...

I had the same problem a week ago, and it turned out that at the last oil change the oil change guy pulled a vacuum hose out.

I had the check engine, vsc and traction lights on, and noticed the car wasn't performing the best.

After the hose was put back in it was as good as new

ByTor

Still running my RX, 14 months after the CEL and VSC lights came on. O2 sensor needs to be replaced, but since the car runs fine, I have elected not to spend the money on the sensor. Maybe someday if the driveability decreases, I'll have it fixed.

salimshah

Here is a possible screnario ,,,
You could be running rich and wasted fuel could be going out of the exhaust and reducing the life of your cat.

and the above may or may not be true!

Lot of counties now require annual emission testing and a vehicle with a CEL on is failed.

Salim

Lexmex

Bingo.

Those A/F sensors can and will deteriorate and eventually fail and you will notice greater fuel consumption. The O2 sensor after the cat won't affect anything, it just measures the wavelength out of the cat in order to measure emissions, but as Salim rightly points out if that CEL comes up, you will fail emissions. I haven't done emissions since Mexico City, but I remember that aftercat O2 sensor was a frequent issues with a lot of vehicles there (causing CELs) since it was running high sulfur gasoline and vehicles would fail on account of CEL even if they passed emissions on the actual gas exhaust numbers (which is conceivably possible). The O2 sensor is much cheaper than the A/F sensors.

I may be wrong, but somehow I remember Michigan doesn't have emissions testing like Florida.

ByTor

No emissions testing here in the mitten state. Gas Mileage has actually improved from 20.6 to 21.4 in my daily highway commute.

sh04807

Hey,
I have a 2001 Rx 300 and my check engine, VSC, & Trac off lights came on at the sametime while driving. What does this mean?

bob2200

Welcome to ClubLexus.

This is the RX's "Check Engine Light (CEL)" indication (i.e., those 3 bulbs lighting). My guess is that it was done this way so that a single bulb failure wouldn't mask the CEL indication. You need to purchase or borrow a OBDII (2nd generation On-Board Diagnostics) code reader and let us know what the codes are. They are quite inexpensive to purchase, or you may be able to borrow one for free at an AutoZone or other auto parts store.

sh04807

Thanks for that info. I will go to my local AutoZone today and get the codes. When I do I'll let you know.