jhp9mm

after my cluster was replaced by my auto dealership, 5 months later, its acting up again. the mph needle moves only after hitting the dash above it. even then, its really slow and far from accurate.

this happened yesterday. I called the dealership this morning, got an appointment for this coming Saturday.

on the way home, at the red light, my car still in gear, foot on the brake, waiting for the light to change, the engine suddenly ran rough. when I looked, the VSC and check engine lights went on. I threw it into park, then the roughness smoothed out. turned it off - then started up again. the VSC and check engine lights returned. still running roughly, I accelerated, then the engine started to smooth out.

got home. parked. turned ignition off, then started again. this time, two extra lights came on, in addition to the vsc and check engine. one was the rear end of a car fishtailing. the other was an ABS light. ive never seen the abs, nor the fishtailing car car before this. however, it does go off, after 5 seconds or so, leaving the vsc and engine lights on.

"check vsc" in words is in the "notification" area.

LScowboyLS

Welcome to Club Lexus!

please tell us the year of your LS400 so we can better diagnose the issue

and please scan the car for all fault codes and post them back here!

you can take the car to any big auto parts store chain (advance, o'reilly, autozone, NAPA) and have the car scanned for free or else you can order up this excellent code scanner for $18 and scan it yourself

for those folks reading this with a 94 or older LS400, you don't use a scanner, but rather the instructions here

jhp9mm

thank you for your patience.

I will get the codes posted tomorrow - when the stores open again

Kansas

The only time my similar 2000 LS400 has had the exact same symptoms your 99 is having was when the throttle position sensor started to fail at around 120,000 miles. The problem can be intermittent as the "TPS" begins to fail. Your Lexus dealer and many mechanics should have instructions for how to test the TPS and also the "pedal position sensor" ("PPS") which is also subject to failure. I think I have posted the instructions on this forum. Having the TPS and PPS replaced on my car was "relatively" inexpensive back in 2008 - somewhere between $500 and $700 if I remember correctly.

Of course the problem could be something else but this is my best guess based on my experience.

jhp9mm

do you think that driving my car (before my dealership appointment on Saturday - 15Feb) will cause more problems?

thank you.

Kansas

Regardless of what the problem is, my opinion is that it will not harm the car to drive it until it is repaired. An infinitely bigger issue is your safety. It could be dangerous if the problem arises again while you are in traffic.

LScowboyLS

especially with VSC issue - if you are going to drive the car, I would only drive in dry conditions, and slowly, you do not want to get into a skid under these conditions

jhp9mm

to the both of you: your advice is blows me away ive never given the safety issue a second thought. I was only worried about my car MAHALO!

LScowboyLS

the car will be fine, but this could result in loss of your emergency traction control, ABS, etc. and I know that Hawaii has frequent rain, as I used to live on Oahu, so time your trip carefully to be in the dry and be more conservative in your driving than usual (greater braking distance allowed, etc.) - kind of kind pretend you had to drive in icy conditions

by the way, the sticking speedometer may or may not not be the same issue as the rough running and VSC warnings.

jhp9mm

im actually resigned to save my car and myself any further grief by keeping her off the road until Saturday.

I know its not cool - but I turn into a speed-craving lunatic on the road. I try to push her hard on the roundabouts (on/off the freeway). [I totally enjoy the way my car handles and holds the road (turning and turning radius - she's dropped).] could that have caused the vsc issues?

LScowboyLS

well mods are a frequent source of issues, but sometimes completely stock LS400's have problems as well, such as Kansas's issue he described earlier as being similar to yours, his is bone stock as far as I know.

jhp9mm

wondering - because this is the 2nd time that ive had issues with the speedometer, then vsc. after the switch to another cluster - problem solved. until now - 5 months later.

jhp9mm

just got back from the dealership - check engine had nothing to do with the mph/vsc malfunction. my oil needs to be changed.

my cluster needs to be repaired or replaced. my dealer is letting me pick up another cluster at no cost, and is willing to let me ship it out to MYAIRBAGS.com for a complete overhaul ($75 full cluster repair - All Gauges + New Lights + Displays).

when I get it back, they are going to reinstall it for me.

thank you everyone for your help. much appreciated. blessings and be safe!

Kansas

I wonder what kind of "full cluster repair" will be done for $75. That is far less expensive than any of the services I know about.

elite7

I fixed the cluster on my 1993 LS 400. I just had to unsolder and solder 3 capacitors. Its not a difficult fix if you know how to solder. The capacitors cost me maybe $10 but I ordered extras so I would have them if i need them.