VSC and Engine lights are on
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Re: check engine and VSC light
Did you actually have the VSC light AND the engine light on at the same time? Did the dealer say that you had an evap leak when they did the diagnostic test? I thought my problems were gone because the lights went out, but as of just this Sunday, they came on again!!! I was sitting/idling for about 10 minutes looking at a paper and when I looked up the lights were on. I did get gas the night before and didn't really push and tighten my gas cap as securely as I have been more recently, so I am almost thinking I have a bad gas cap that may be leaking some fumes to cause the lights to go on, but I'm not sure.... Can you give me more input what your experience was?ttenrag said:
sharp4runr
New member
I've had the VSC and the VSC OFF lights come on after getting the Sulfur TSB done. They replaced the shorted terminals and that has fixed it.
slowginjoe
New member
Re: Re: check engine and VSC light
a loose gas cap should not cause the VSC light to go on, just the check engine light. when i had the sulfur TSB done, one of the things it involves is reprogramming the ECU. after they did that they couldn't figure out why the VSC and check engine lights were on. they didn't realize that the yaw sensors needed to be recalibrated after reprogramming the ECU. the yaw sensors are part of the VSC system. they would not let me leave with my truck until they fixed that for liability purposes.
so, did you by any chance have work done to your truck recently which might of require ECU reprogramming?
MJB said:
a loose gas cap should not cause the VSC light to go on, just the check engine light. when i had the sulfur TSB done, one of the things it involves is reprogramming the ECU. after they did that they couldn't figure out why the VSC and check engine lights were on. they didn't realize that the yaw sensors needed to be recalibrated after reprogramming the ECU. the yaw sensors are part of the VSC system. they would not let me leave with my truck until they fixed that for liability purposes.
so, did you by any chance have work done to your truck recently which might of require ECU reprogramming?
Re: Re: Re: check engine and VSC light
I have NO IDEA why the VSC lights are coming on when the engine light is coming on. I've taken it to my Toyota mechanic and they came up with an evap leak. they cleared the codes and the lights went out. After 200 miles of driving, they came on again. I took it to the dealer where I purchased it. They came up with the same results. they even did a smoker test and found no leak. Obviously VSC has nothing to do with an evap leak. I've never had any engine work done or any problems, other than the usual maintenance work and a new set of rotars. I'm not sure what the ECU is, but I had the diagnostic test done twice to find out what the computer indicates what the problem is and the mechanics cleared the codes and eventually the lights went out... that's about all I know. Did you have the Sulfer TSB done because your engine light came on and that's when the VSC lights came on (so I can understand the sequence of your situation)?
slowginjoe said:
I have NO IDEA why the VSC lights are coming on when the engine light is coming on. I've taken it to my Toyota mechanic and they came up with an evap leak. they cleared the codes and the lights went out. After 200 miles of driving, they came on again. I took it to the dealer where I purchased it. They came up with the same results. they even did a smoker test and found no leak. Obviously VSC has nothing to do with an evap leak. I've never had any engine work done or any problems, other than the usual maintenance work and a new set of rotars. I'm not sure what the ECU is, but I had the diagnostic test done twice to find out what the computer indicates what the problem is and the mechanics cleared the codes and eventually the lights went out... that's about all I know. Did you have the Sulfer TSB done because your engine light came on and that's when the VSC lights came on (so I can understand the sequence of your situation)?
sharp4runr
New member
No, the check engine light didn't cause me to get the Sulfur TSB. The awful rotten egg smell made me do it. Prior to the TSB, no warning lights were on.
I got the TSB done and when I picked it up, the VSC TRAC and VSC OFF lights went on. I took it back in on Monday (Picked it up late Friday evening) and they had it fixed by Monda evening.
I believe your ECU is in the center console area underneath your cupholders. I remember seeing something that resembles it when taking apart the dash.
Try taking it to another dealership if your regular one can't fix it. It's definitely not your fault and they should have it fixed especially if its still under warranty. Also, you mention that you had your rotors replaced. Why was that done?
I got the TSB done and when I picked it up, the VSC TRAC and VSC OFF lights went on. I took it back in on Monday (Picked it up late Friday evening) and they had it fixed by Monda evening.
I believe your ECU is in the center console area underneath your cupholders. I remember seeing something that resembles it when taking apart the dash.
Try taking it to another dealership if your regular one can't fix it. It's definitely not your fault and they should have it fixed especially if its still under warranty. Also, you mention that you had your rotors replaced. Why was that done?
slowginjoe
New member
Re: Re: Re: Re: check engine and VSC light
No, I had the sulfur TSB done simply because, like all people who have it done, the exhaust smelled like rotten eggs. Other than the smell there's nothing wrong with the truck. So after they put on the new catalytic converters and reprogrammed the ECU* per the service bulletin, the check engine and VSC lights came on because they didn't perform the last step of the service bulletin, which is to recalibrate the yaw sensors. The lights would come on after driving the truck for a few miles when the ECU realizes the the sensors are reading incorrectly. It was documented in the sulfur service bulletin to recalibrate the sensors as a last step but they somehow missed it. The dealership would not let me leave with the VSC lights on, meaning it wasn't working properly as they are liable if I got into an accident. (and I don't believe a reputable dealership would let any customer drive off in one of their new cars with any safety features disabled, instead they gave me a free rental for the night so they could figure out what was wrong) After they realized what was wrong and recalibrated the sensors the lights never came back on again.
* An ECU (Electronic Control Unit) is the computer that controls your engine and transmission if you own an automatic. Various sensors provide operating parameter information to the ECU. It uses that information to run the engine and other systems under its control at the optimum performance level.
MJB said:
No, I had the sulfur TSB done simply because, like all people who have it done, the exhaust smelled like rotten eggs. Other than the smell there's nothing wrong with the truck. So after they put on the new catalytic converters and reprogrammed the ECU* per the service bulletin, the check engine and VSC lights came on because they didn't perform the last step of the service bulletin, which is to recalibrate the yaw sensors. The lights would come on after driving the truck for a few miles when the ECU realizes the the sensors are reading incorrectly. It was documented in the sulfur service bulletin to recalibrate the sensors as a last step but they somehow missed it. The dealership would not let me leave with the VSC lights on, meaning it wasn't working properly as they are liable if I got into an accident. (and I don't believe a reputable dealership would let any customer drive off in one of their new cars with any safety features disabled, instead they gave me a free rental for the night so they could figure out what was wrong) After they realized what was wrong and recalibrated the sensors the lights never came back on again.
* An ECU (Electronic Control Unit) is the computer that controls your engine and transmission if you own an automatic. Various sensors provide operating parameter information to the ECU. It uses that information to run the engine and other systems under its control at the optimum performance level.
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I appreciate both of your feedbacks about this problem. It seems in both of your situations your VSC lights came on due to the sulfur problem which in turn causes the ECU to be reprogrammed in the process. I guess I'm puzzled because the very first time any lights at all came on, all three lights came on together - even though there's no relation to VSC and the engine, and why would the VSC light come on when the diagnostic test showed an evap emission leak???
I am going to bring all of your responses to my mechanic's attention to let him ponder this. I will also contact the dealer - who should be the experts and know where to look for problems like this (that's why we pay them the big bucks for their service). I even asked them if it could be a bad sensor...his response was "the computer would indicate if there was a bad sensor, which it is not so indicating". I guess if the computer itself is faulty or needs reprogramming to correctly detect problems, then it probably would not give an accurate test result, right?
Again, thanks, so far, for all the info. Hopefully your information will spark something with the mechanics that they didn't think of checking.
To be continued.....
I am going to bring all of your responses to my mechanic's attention to let him ponder this. I will also contact the dealer - who should be the experts and know where to look for problems like this (that's why we pay them the big bucks for their service). I even asked them if it could be a bad sensor...his response was "the computer would indicate if there was a bad sensor, which it is not so indicating". I guess if the computer itself is faulty or needs reprogramming to correctly detect problems, then it probably would not give an accurate test result, right?
Again, thanks, so far, for all the info. Hopefully your information will spark something with the mechanics that they didn't think of checking.
To be continued.....
Good Times
New member
if you cel light keeps on coming on, take it to the dealer to have them pull the codes that's throwing out. if you live outside of CA and have an autozone nearby, they can do it for free.
once you get the codes, you'll be able to determine what exactly needs to be replaced. one the item is replaced, you must clear the codes (dealer, autozone can do this). If you don't clear the codes, the code will come back up and give u xmas tree lights on your dash.
btw i had my xmas tree lights come on it was the result of a bad sensor for the evap (at the throttle body). They replaced the sensor under the warranty and now it's all good
good luck
once you get the codes, you'll be able to determine what exactly needs to be replaced. one the item is replaced, you must clear the codes (dealer, autozone can do this). If you don't clear the codes, the code will come back up and give u xmas tree lights on your dash.
btw i had my xmas tree lights come on it was the result of a bad sensor for the evap (at the throttle body). They replaced the sensor under the warranty and now it's all good
good luck
msanta
New member
Engine light & VSC TRAC< VSC OFF ligths on!
Two days ago I refueled and the guy forgot to close the cap correctly so last night the ENGINE, VSC TRAC and VSC OFF lights all came on. I took it to the dealer immediately, thinking the worst(I couldn't sleep last night). They found out that the purge valve had to be replaced. Most likely because of leaving the gas cap off. I should have made sure that the cap was closed properly! So from now on, every time I refuel I will make sure it's closed correctly. The service rep said that is common that the VSC lights go on with the engine light, I don't understand the rationale because theyy are to different systems. So far, I have driven the car to work(30 miles) and the lights haven't come on!
Two days ago I refueled and the guy forgot to close the cap correctly so last night the ENGINE, VSC TRAC and VSC OFF lights all came on. I took it to the dealer immediately, thinking the worst(I couldn't sleep last night). They found out that the purge valve had to be replaced. Most likely because of leaving the gas cap off. I should have made sure that the cap was closed properly! So from now on, every time I refuel I will make sure it's closed correctly. The service rep said that is common that the VSC lights go on with the engine light, I don't understand the rationale because theyy are to different systems. So far, I have driven the car to work(30 miles) and the lights haven't come on!
Thanks msanta for your reply. It's been a while since this happened and I've just been waiting for after the holidays to get it fixed. From the info I got from this forum, I was going to give it to the dealer to figure out. Your situation sounds exactly like mine as far as the panel lights go. When they replaced the purge valve, I would assume they probably reset the computer and cleared the codes? How much did it cost for what they did? I'd like to know what I'm in for when I take it in if that is the problem. Do you know how they discovered it was the purge valve? I ask because I even took it to the Toyota dealer and they couldn't figure it out. (maybe I should go to a different Toyota dealer!) A smoker test was done and there was no leak to be found either. I just gave up from frustration for a while since I was told there is no real problem driving it since my VSC was still working.
msanta
New member
I did a search in this forum for "purge valve" and found an article that explains why the purge valve may go bad. The dealer didn't charge anything since my truck is still under warranty. In reference to the valve, this purge valve is a pressure valve, when the valve breaks due to over pressure or any other reason, the engine light goes on. I drove my truck about 30 miles with the gas cap not properly closed so I figured there was a lack of pressure in the gas tank. Anyhow, the article explains it in detail. It also explains why the VSC lights also go on too. It also emphasizes the fact that everyone should make sure that when you refuel you must turn the engine off and close the cap at least 5 clicks or the computer will think there is something wrong giving you the annoying check engine light and light up your dash board.
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