VSC / VSC OFF Lights

[Lawrence S]

I just had a state inspection of my SC430 (2002). When I drove away, BOTH the VSC and VSC OFF lights came on. The sate inspectors claim nothing could have come from them and Johnson Lexus wants to charge me $117 to plug in and check. I Googled and it seems this is not a solo case. Any ideas how I can get the lights off without the cost. (PS I have disconnected the battery, and driven it about 50 miles without results)

[CBG]

Originally Posted by Lawrence S

I just had a state inspection of my SC430 (2002). When I drove away, BOTH the VSC and VSC OFF lights came on. The sate inspectors claim nothing could have come from them and Johnson Lexus wants to charge me $117 to plug in and check. I Googled and it seems this is not a solo case. Any ideas how I can get the lights off without the cost. (PS I have disconnected the battery, and driven it about 50 miles without results)

Just a obvious question but did you try and turn the VSC on? That is when the VSC OFF light goes off.

[Habious]

I'm gonna take a while guess and say that they took one or more wheels off to inspect the brakes...and pranged one of the wheel sensors when they were taking the wheel off/putting it back on.

A bad wheel-sensor will cause the VSC/VSC-OFF lights to come on.

[Lawrence S]

I have pushed the VSC button repeatedly, with no response

I also know that they did not remove a tire as I watched the inspection.

They only plugged in the computer for the readings

[CBG]

How can they do a "inspection" without taking the wheels off to check brakes? Try taking your Lexus to a Toyota dealer to "plug in" because they will probably charge alot less. Though I don't know if they have the codes for a Lexus. I say take it to Toyota because I recently bought new rims and tires and tire pressure monitor sensors(TPMS). My Lexus dealer wanted $350-$400 to program the new TPMS to my car. I took it to a local Toyota dealer and they did it for $95 BIG DIFFERENCE.

Good Luck

[whitels]

I'm having the same problem today on the SC430. Did you find any resolution? In my situation, a bad 0xygen sensor first caused the Check Engine Light to come on. I hooked up the car to a scan tool and diagnosed it was the 0xygen sensor for bank1 sensor1. Replaced the sensor with Denso 234-4209, a universal 4-wire system. Cleared the check engine light with the scan tool and test drove it. A few seconds when the car started moving, both the VSC and VSC OFF lights turned on. I stopped the engine and restarted and it was fine. Putting the car into drive and moving forward triggered it again. Tried it on both forward and reverse and the slightest motion would turn the VSC and VSC OFF lights on.

Checked the internet and found some people claimed brake fluid level topping off fixed it. I tried it but did not do good. I unplugged the battery for 15 minutes but it also did not do any good. Of course, I tried to turn the VSC switch on and off but to no avail.

Some folks claim that replacing the VSC ECU fixed it which cost couple of grand. Mmmm. I don't know. Anybody has the same problem that got it fixed?

[whitels]

Found the solution written by Speedemon from Lexus Owners Club
http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums...4&#entry367124

The problem is solved by putting a jumper on 2 pins in the OBD-II connector under the dash. I think a lot of owners have this problem especially after being scanned for code. Some scanners are not built the same-- that seems to be the explanation. Anyhow, here it is, with a little bit of modification as it suits the SC430.

1. Turn off ignition.
2. Look for the OBD-II connector under the dash, it has a black plastic cover which can be pulled out.
3. Using a 4-inch wire, insert ends on two pins (holes) of the OBD-II connector. Which ones? The connector has two rows of holes with pins inside. The connector's shape is basically rectangle but there's a little wedge shape to it. Like this:

______
/---------\
/-----------\

(see picture below)

I will call the narrower side of the connector the top row, and the wider side to be the lower row. Jump the following pins:
a) on the top row, counting from the left, where the first pin is 1, insert on pin number 3
b) on the bottom row, counting from the left, insert on pin
number 5.

4. Turn ON the ignition, do not start.
5. VSC and Check Engine lights turn ON. That's normal.
6. Wait for the VSC light to rapidly flash.
7. Turn OFF ignition.
8. Pull jumper wire out, cover the OBD-II connector.
9. Turn ignition ON, don't start, wait about 15 seconds to make sure everything has initialized.
10. Start car. Test drive. You've just saved yourself couple of thousand dollars.

Speedemon's car is an LS430. This may therefore be applicable to GS430 and all the UZ-FE family of engines.

[dbcolli]

I had taken my car to a Lexus dealer for a new key. They asked if I wanted a free 26 point inspection I said sure. Upon leaving the dealship the VSC light was on, I returned back to the dealership and they took the car to the service bay and in less than 5 min had the problem fixed. I asked what they did and did not get a firm answer.

[tromly]

Originally Posted by dbcolli

I had taken my car to a Lexus dealer for a new key. They asked if I wanted a free 26 point inspection I said sure. Upon leaving the dealship the VSC light was on, I returned back to the dealership and they took the car to the service bay and in less than 5 min had the problem fixed. I asked what they did and did not get a firm answer.

That's their trade secret, another reason their labor charges are so high. The stealerships will never give away info, they want you to return so they can FIX THE PROBLEM !!

[whitels]

This picture is better....

[Metsfan]

I just went in for 60k service about a week ago (may just be a coincidence) and now I have the check engine light as well as VSC and VSC Off lights. The service manager said that the VSC lights automatically follow the check engine light. On a Toyota forum I read that some people turned on their lights, removed the negative battery cable, then waited at least 30 minutes to reconnect it. Then, when they restarted, the lights were off. I haven't tried this yet but will give it a shot tomorrow.

[Metsfan]

I couldn't wait until tomorrow so I went out tonight to try it out. Worked like a charm on my GS3. I took it for a spin to run it through the motions and so far so good. Now I should add, I had no performance issues associated with the lights so I'm hoping it was a sensor anomaly and that the reset took care of it. If I actually do have a malfunction of some sort, I'm assuming that the lights will return. I hope this helps some of you.

[whitels]

Let us know if the procedure really took care of it. It will be good to know if the GS3 is covered by the same procedure.

Originally Posted by Metsfan

I couldn't wait until tomorrow so I went out tonight to try it out. Worked like a charm on my GS3. I took it for a spin to run it through the motions and so far so good. Now I should add, I had no performance issues associated with the lights so I'm hoping it was a sensor anomaly and that the reset took care of it. If I actually do have a malfunction of some sort, I'm assuming that the lights will return. I hope this helps some of you.

[Suprieta]

I just had the same problem. I let Lexus pick up my car for the 50,000 mile maintenance service and when they returned it the VSC/VSC off lights are on. I expected them to fix this at no charge since it happened in their car, but not even. They want to charge me $350+ dollars to replace the sensor, even thought I just spent over $1800 getting other work done to my car (not included the maintenance, which is complementary).

When I first spoke to the guy he was adamant about me covering the cost. But, when I spoke to him I emphasized the amount of money that I had just spent on other things for my car. I asked to have a Lexus manager call me back and told him of my disgust.

As I am writing this, the same technician just returned my call to tell me that Lexus is covering my cost for the sensor. So, I feel much better, but thought I'd still write this post to let others know that this problem doesn't seem to be uncommon. And perhaps the art of pissing a fit and being firm (but not disrespectful) does actually work to your advantage sometimes.

Anyway, glad I found this forum.

[TooCoolSC]

Nice post and welcome to CL, Suprieta.