Dash lights on after owning for 4 days...kind of pissed

[Super-G]

OK so I brought home my 02 4 Runner on Saturday. I'm absolutely loving it...except:

Yesterday we had some light snow. We got about an inch. Just enough to cover my driveway. I didn't even need 4WD on the ride home. When I got home I backed into my driveway and as I got to the slope my rear tires slid ever so slightly.

This morning I left for work and about 1/2 way there I had 3 dash lights come on.

2 lights are on the left just under the tach. They are as follows.

VSC VSC
OFF TRAC

And on the left side of the dash my "check engine" light lit up.

WTF?? I've had this truck for 4 frigging days. The dealership I bought the truck from gave me a 3 month 3000 mile bumper to bumper warranty and a 6 month 6000 mile powertrain warranty with the truck. I know that they are going to fix it or they're gonna face my wrath but now I have to be put out. I've got to get my 4 Runner to the dealership and leave it with them to fix. All this after 4 days of ownership?

I know deep down inside that Toyotas are long lasting and I know that the 4 Runner is 1000 times nicer than my old Wrangler but part of the reason I stepped up to the 4 Runner was to avoid being nickel and dimed to death by the Wrangler.

 

[Whitson Metalworks]

There are plenty of harmless little things that can cause lights to come on. Being that you own a 11 year old vehicle, a wise purchase would be a manual and an obd2 scanner, ok thats two purchases... You could check a code, check what t4r.org says about it, then decide if its worth dropping at the dealer.

 

[Ronin1082]

I've had my SR5 for 4 months now and LOVE it. Best vehicle I have owned. Knowing I was going to be buying a 14 yr old truck, I was expecting little things to happen before I was able to start modifying it and swapping old for new. One of the first things I bought and just got today was my Ultraguage! Perfect timing too cause it just threw a check engine light last night. Soon as I woke up I plugged it in, read the code and it was P0133 I think. Lazy O2. Cleared it myself. Take advantage of your warranty and remember, it's an older truck, expect little things like this. Get an extended warranty if possible. It could save you money. I work at a shop and trust me, it really can. Good luck!

 

[Super-G]

I understand the concept of an older vehicle needing regluar maintenance or at least needing care to remain on the road. After all I made my 94 Wrangler last for 18 years. I've also restored my 68 Firebird from the ground up.

I guess my issue is that I specifically selected a Toyota because of their reputation, I searched for a low mileage one as well. I finally found exactly the vehicle I had in mind when I started my search and I got a good deal on it as well....and 4 days after buying it I have warning lights on the dash.

Not to mention the pain in the ass it's going to be to get the truck back to the dealership to be looked at. This is just a bad time of the year to be spending time dropping off and picking up a vehicle. I've got shopping to do, Christmas lights to hang, ect...

I guess I'm just disappointed.

 

[jreask]

OK so I brought home my 02 4 Runner on Saturday. I'm absolutely loving it...except:

Yesterday we had some light snow. We got about an inch. Just enough to cover my driveway. I didn't even need 4WD on the ride home. When I got home I backed into my driveway and as I got to the slope my rear tires slid ever so slightly.

This morning I left for work and about 1/2 way there I had 3 dash lights come on.

2 lights are on the left just under the tach. They are as follows.

VSC VSC
OFF TRAC

And on the left side of the dash my "check engine" light lit up.

WTF?? I've had this truck for 4 frigging days. The dealership I bought the truck from gave me a 3 month 3000 mile bumper to bumper warranty and a 6 month 6000 mile powertrain warranty with the truck. I know that they are going to fix it or they're gonna face my wrath but now I have to be put out. I've got to get my 4 Runner to the dealership and leave it with them to fix. All this after 4 days of ownership?

I know deep down inside that Toyotas are long lasting and I know that the 4 Runner is 1000 times nicer than my old Wrangler but part of the reason I stepped up to the 4 Runner was to avoid being nickel and dimed to death by the Wrangler.

The VSC and TRAC lights come on with the check engine light. Disconnect the negative battery cable for a minute. Reconnect and the light will disappear. If it comes on again, then take it back to the dealer.

 

[Stick Figure]

Maybe you found the reason you got that good deal!

I haven't had to deal much with the traction control on the 4Runner and in fact picked the 2000 as the last year I would purchase to avoid that as well as the multimode 4WD and drive by wire throttle body. I have seen that combination in the past on my IS300 when I would go play at the drag strip. The two step rev limiter would cause the check engine light because it would sense a "random misfire" this would in turn cause the traction control to shut off. Win win in my book .. two step and no damn traction control. That's not to say that is your exact problem though. I would second purchasing a scan tool of some sort, I bought a cheap hand held off the Matco truck that I use for basic code reading and have the auto enginuity and innovate pieces for the PC if I need to get into real troubleshooting.

For your immediate situation, pull the ECU fuse under the hood and reset things, then go for a drive see if it comes back on again. If it does stop by an auto parts store for a code read. Once you have a code we can help point you in the right direction as to what could be the issue.

 

[papapoopski]

check your gas cap, if its not tight, it can set all three lights off. It has happened to me. Tighten it, diconnect the battery for a couple of minutes, reconnect, drive it and see what happens.

do you have an autozone near you? They will scan your truck for free. Then come back here with the code, do a search and get the help you need.

try the cheap and easy solutions first

 

[PitbullRescuer]

I'm in Glenside. Stop by this weekend if you want and I'll look at it for you. PM me for my address

 

[Super-G]

Well I disconnected the battery and gave the fuel cap a good twist, then after about 15 minutes I reconnected the battery and the lights are now off. I didn't drive the car just because it was late and I have an early start tomorrow.

I'll see how it goes tomorrow when I drive it to work. If it turns out to be just a gas cap that wasn't tight enough, I'm man enough to say oops.

 

[Super-G]

OK so it looks like I'm a dummy.

It appears that a loose or not so tight gas cap was the root of my issue.

I only brought the car home on Saturday. When I picked it up at the dealership they had filled the tank for me. I never checked the fuel cap. But it appears that it wasn't tightened enough. I drove the truck to and from work today without any warning lights.