Hello everyone!

Long time listener, first time caller. This one is a doozy, so I wanted to post it just in case anyone ever sees anything similar.

My 2004 LS430 recently lit up a BUNCH of lights in the middle of a trip (seen in the photo below, apologies for the dust), with all of the following symptoms:

[img]//lexusownersusa.b-cdn.net/uploads/monthly_2024_08/PXL_20240806_152252364_MP.thumb.jpg.96165a35b9e9d81ecd9b761c686740d5.jpg[/img]

• ABS light on and ABS not functioning
• AFS OFF light blinking *rapidly*
• Check VSC message on info screen (where "Brake Wear" shows in the image)
• Shifter position light off regardless of position
• Oil temperature gauge falling to (and remaining at) fully cold
• Emergency brake light on, even if disengaged
• Outside temperature sensors not reporting (both on the dash and near the time above the nav system
• Fuel gauge falling below normal level by about 1/5 tank
• A/C turning off (fans still blow, but no cold air)
• Occasionally: Battery light (near emergency brake light) turning on

This happened repeatedly after checking fuses (all fine), battery (12.4 volts when off, 13.3 on), and removing all accessories attached to the system electrically (i.e. cigarette lighter chargers).

I finally remembered a post on ClubLexus about turning the VSC light off via jumping some pins on the OBDII port and remembered I had an OBDII Bluetooth adapter (similar to ) attached. I removed it while driving and IMMEDIATELY solved all the issues. Some of the lights remained on until restarting the car, but they never came back on again.

This was such a seemingly large-scale issue with such a simple fix (presumably the OBDII scanner is bad, it was phenomenally cheap) that I wanted to record it here in case others encounter it. Beware of cheap OBDII scanners and how much that port can affect the sensors/computers in this car!

 

Yep. I had that happen to me before on a GS350. I noticed and figured it out immediately. Hence, I don’t buy cheap Chinese OBDII plugs anymore.

now I buy less cheap Chinese OBDII plug from a “brand” name in the $60+ price range.

 

Yeah, wild how many issues it caused! Is there a specific one you'd recommend?

 

I personally use vLinker MC+ for $50 (goes on sale often)
https://a.co/d/4sSRfOE

i think one level up OBDLink MX+ for $100 when on sale
https://www.obdlink.com/products/obdlink-mxp/

I use the vLinker because it was the cheap alternative to OBDLink. I don’t remember the exact details but cheap OBDii will give you the issues you had and they communicate slower. Also, cheap ones may not be able to read/write on some specific modules. Don’t quote me on that.

Also, there is supposedly less delay in data transfer so your charts will be almost real time.
It was 2 years ago and I ended up with the vLinker. This is after years of multiple $5-$20 cheap Chinese ones

 

This car will do this with numerous brands of scanners.

 

Driving a US spec. LS430 in Canada, I tried the km/hr digital speedo with OBD plug. Same story. The digital speedo turned my dash to a Christmas tree. Upon unplugging it, it's a car again.