Hey folks, so I recently purchased a 2003 RX300 with 163k miles on it. So far pretty happy with my purchase. Great history on the car and passed NYS inspection just fine

I popped a CEL of the wonderful p0442 small evap leak code, seems like it shows up every 2-300 miles. on past cars it's always been a clear it, let it pass inspection and move on with your life, it's not a safety concern...

In this case I need some clarification because it came with a VSC light and a c1201 code. Am I right to understand that due to a small evap leak, my car decided to shut off traction control? This seems like an odd combination, no? In normal cases I would let it go but the last thing I need is traction control going away, particularly during the winter.

if this is the case I"ll follow the steps detailed in other forums. any words of guidance are very much appreciated.

 

Welcome to Club Lexus. Please read the sticky threads. "Having problems start here" has some information that might help you. To summarize, the CEL code, reports a problem in the loop. It can be a disconnected hose, a bad fitting, or the actual sensor could be bad. At times it is as simple as retightening the gas gap but be aware that it might be something else. Slow leaks on older vehicles are often very hard to find.

I am surprised that your vehicle passed inspection. If you reset the code, the reader should say not ready and the inspection station then says 'drive around and come back in few days". If by chance you happen to have enough history [channel is ready] and you time it perfectly, you can get a pass.

Salim

 

It comes every couple hundred miles, it must have been enough for the test to reset. I'm a little familiar with the loop and will go to try to fix it, but only because it seems to shut off traction control. which seems worse for my safety than a small evap leak could be. Am I wrong?