Spudo769

Tonight I decided to change oil and air filters on the LS 460 i picked up last week.I was ready to drive up the ramps and noticed the VSC , check engine, and yellow triangle on, and the message on the screen to have dealer check VSC. I proceeded to change the engine air filters, oil, filter, and new wiper blades. I started it up, still have lights. I hooked up my very basic code reader and it gave me codes of P032C and P0335. I reset and the lights went off.

I took the car for a ride, and about 5 minutes in they came on again. Car seems to be running very smoothly, not rough. I came back home and read codes again, this time another P032C code, which is knock sensor 3 low. I did the obvious, made sure the gas cap was tight. The only other odd thing right now is that I am running winter wheels from another car and the car can't read the TPMS sensors but is always searching, but only once tripped a warning light.

Any thoughts?

waterdude

How old is your battery? Seen it on forum often where car throws random codes because of a weak battery. I would suggest start by diagnosing the battery. As per the winter tires, you will have to program the new TPMS sensors to the car.

213374U

Yup, check battery first. Timing makes sense as well since temps are cooling off and many parts of the country are seeing their first sub-freezing temps of the year; batteries tend to act up when temps dip.

Spudo769

Thanks for the advice on the battery. The battery was replaced last year by the PO. It is the third battery on the car, the PO's history of leaving it sit for long periods. was hell on them. I will get it checked out though.

Lights didn't come on today, hoping it was a fluke.

Spudo769

Well this day took a dark turn. Took the car on the highway for a 35 miles work appointment. Tire monitor system warnings came on and then the VSC and engine light. Car still seemed to run fine. Did appointment and then was heading for another 180 mile trip to join my wife in baby sitting for the weekend. I had brought my code reader, so tried to reset but the VSC and engine light came back on almost immediately after starting the car. Error code is P0320c, which is bank 3 lower knock sensor. Thought it would be a nuisance with the constant warnings on the screen but no issue as motor sounds smooth. I got about 20 miles in when I noticed my gas mileage dropping even when it was highway driving. These cars are so quiet you can't hear the engine. Car felt funny when you let up on the gas like emergency brake was sticking. Finally noticed that the tach was running nearly 3000 at 60 MPH. I slid the gear shifter over to manual to see what gear I was in. I was in 5th. The car wouldn't let me manually shift to 6, 7th or 8th, even though the numbers would change on the screen, and the auto trans wouldn't go above 5th.

I turned for home, hoping in the back of my mind (actually wishing) that the battery was bad, causing the codes to come on each time the car was started. I gingerly made it back to town and went to our local battery expert. They did a load test, checked out fine, and they also tested the starter and alternator, both fine. I then stopped at an Autozone and had them read the code. They got the same one, and reset but it came back on immediately.

Now I am at home, going to try and get it into the Toyota dealer tomorrow. The tranny seems perfect shifting from first through fifth, but I am guessing that because the VSC warnings are on, it may disable the cruise control and perhaps lock out any gears above 5 as sort of an emergency governor.

I am toying with the idea of pulling the negative cable from the battery for a while to see what happens. Right now at a loss and wondering if I should have bought that thing,

I did change the oil and air filters last night, but the VSC and engine light came on the first time when I started it up to pull it up on the jacks, so I don't think I unhooked anything. The TPMS messages hadn't come on yet and stayed on like this since I put the tires with non communicative sensors last week. Could the lack of sensors somehow confuse the VSC system?

Reading about knock sensors, either the sensor can go bad, there is really a knock (which you can hear and makes the engine run bad, or problem with ECU. None of these sounds like a good outcome. Wife is freaking out now that I bought a lemon and will probably never drive it, even though she loves her current RX and knows that the brand is reliable.

Any input welcome.

johnnyg66

P0320 Lexus Ignition/Distributor Engine Speed Input Circuit Possible causes – Faulty Ignition/Distributor engine speed sensor– Faulty Crankshaft Position sensor– Ignition/Distributor engine speed sensor harness is open or shorted– Ignition/Distributor engine speed sensor circuit poor electrical connection– Low battery charge– Faulty

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Where did you get this car from? If a dealer. it should come with some type of warranty. I would take it back there before I started spending money. I'm pretty sure the PO sold it for this exact reason. Did you check the service history on the Lexus drivers site?
​​​​​​https://secure.drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers/home

Spudo769

I bought it from a PO, and reviewed all the records from the same dealer we bought our RX from. I don't think he sold it because of this, as he took the car there for everything and always made sure the recalls were addressed. He really didn't want to sell it, but the family had 2 other Lexus late models and this one just wasn't getting driven and I think the wife wanted it gone. Car ran beautifully so far, granted it was only 500 miles or so. Will see what the dealer says tomorrow before going back to PO. I had signed up on that site when we got the first RX (on our third).

Doublebase

This sucks, sorry to hear it. How many miles? When I hear "knock sensor", the first thing I think of is heads and valve guides. It's rare but some of the earlier models have worn valve guide issues that causes a knock that the sensor picks up and makes the engine cut fuel and timing. If that's the problem then the guy who sold it to you took advantage of you, because there's no way this just started happening out of the blue, he'd know.

Lets hope its not this.

Spudo769

I don' t think it's that. The valves were all replaced a long time ago after the recall. This morning all lights off and car runs fine. I brought it out to a Toyota dealer and went through the story. He asked me where the PO lived, was it a farm? I told him near a lake and the car was in a detached garage most of the time. He suspects mice. I had that thought last night as well. Hoping not too much damage to wiring, etc...perhaps ' barn finds are not all that. Car has 69,000 miles.

Toyota dealer couldn't find any codes, as I had reset them last night and weren't saved. Getting TPMS sensors swapped out to at least fix that issue. Going to take it on the highway for a while to see if lights come back on. If so, back to dealer.

Spudo769

Lights came back pretty quickly. Took it back to dealer. Same code. Dealer checked codes, advised not to drive the car. Says the odor is there indicating evidence of mice. They will pull manifold in hopes of clearing any nests and checking wires and knock sensor. On bright side this may be covered by comp coverage on insurance. Only showing one code so that is good thing. This makes sense due to the way the car was stored in detached garage near a lake.

Dealer did tell me horror stories of mice damage even resulting in totaling of cars.

Doublebase

Yup mice definitely love living in that manifold area, eating wires, building their nest, causing all sorts of problems (usually injectors and coils). So yeah it could be that, hope it is. Keep us updated.

Dave144239

Sounds like they're on the right track as far as fixing it, anyway. My neighbor's car had thousands of dollars worth of damage from squirrels eating the wiring. They got it fixed and cleared out the garage so she could park it inside

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Just FYI, some Lexus/Toyota vehicles lockout overdrive ratios on the transmission when you have misfire or certain other engine codes. Not sure if the LS does this but my RX certainly does.

Spudo769

This one certainly does. No cruise, and you can't get past 5th gear.