MadMax96

Hey guys - I'm a recent owner of a '07 ES w/ 38k miles. I've had the car for 4-5 weeks.

Drove the car over 100 miles today - the last ride before getting home was a little over an hour and was a mix of rural roads and stop & go.

Car sat for less than an hour and when I went to go get a pizza, the CEL and "Check VSC" message has shown up along with the red triangle and the VSC indicator light (car w/ squiggle tire marks). Thinking it was a hiccup while starting I turned off the car and back - but the lights are still there..

Drove to pick up the pizza only about 2 miles away and the car seems to drive normal - the only thing I can possibly notice is the engine acting a little rougher while idling - but this could be my imagination.

I should note that at no time have I put in any gas today (not loose fuel cap for CEL) - it's been at least a few days since filling up.

The ONLY thing I can think of is that I had a large cooler in the trunk all day and maybe unloading it bumped some wire/connection in the trunk? This was done between getting home and leaving for food when the problem occured.

I haven't had a chance to inspect the underside of the package tray in the trunk... but I'm just at a loss why it would suddenly happen.

I guess a trip to my dealer on Monday will be necessary...

MadMax96

So this morning all is normal with the car..

Still going to take it in for some other minor things, but at least it isn't as urgent.

YotaCarFan

There are no exposed wires in the trunk that if jarred/broken can lead to a check engine light. Since the VSC light came on too, there could be an issue with the transmission. Assuming error codes were stored when the problem occurred, the dealer will be able to determine the cause.

MadMax96

Yeah I checked the trunk after I put up the first post - you're right- nothing in there.

The lights came back on just before I parked my car on the way to work this morning. Already made an appointment for tomorrow morning so hopefully they'll be able to tell me whats up.

MadMax96

Just got the car back - turns out it was a faulty O2 sensor. I've heard of that causing the CEL - but who would have thought it the "Check VSC" would have appeared? I thought for certain it was something else.

The rain gutter trim was missing and they replaced that under warranty. I also mentioned about the brakes starting to pulsate and asked that they check it. Turns out they replaced the brakes on all 4 wheels - all covered under warranty.

Needless to say I'm a happy camper. Now I really have to get rid of these directional tread tires - the 2010 ES loaner was so much quieter than mine!

b8tzm

What is "The rain gutter trim" ????? Thanks

MadMax96

It's the body colored plastic strip that runs along the edge of the roof from windshield to rear window. The one on the right side was missing on my car since I purchased it last month. I can only assume it came loose and flew off at some point.

Kaius88

I had exact same warning, and took it to the dealer same day. It was the ignition coil that needed replacement. I'm out of warranty, so it costed me $214 to fix. So lame....as i was only 2,000 miles past 50k miles warranty.

Stafford

Same here, but cost me $265 to replace one ignition coil on my 2007 ES350. Only 34k miles, but warranty had expired in June 2010.

jagtoes

Just a suggestion here. Go out and buy an OBDII scanner so you can see what CEL's come up. You can get them from $75 to $200 and if the CEL comes up you can see the fault before you take it to a dealer. It will give you some insight into what the cost to fix will be. Take the issue where one of the coil packs fail. The scanner will tell you what one failed and if you are out of warranty you can just replace it for the cost of the coil pack. Oh make sure that you buy a scanner that allows you to erase the codes. If you set a CEL just take down the fault and erase it. If the same code comes up a day or so later then get it looked at. Sometimes you get false codes due to change in weather or some other unknown reason. Well worth it considering the cost of shop time. Just sayin you know.