All kinds of malfunctions (1 Viewer)

[Reg Wang]

At the shop this morning due to the VSC system, 4Lo, Check engine and traction lights all came on suddenly. 2011 LX570, 85000 miles. Drives fine. Scanned and showed all kinds of Faults (torque converter, air conditioning, steering angle sensor, main body???). How can it be, everything works fine.

 

[options2]

Low battery / voltage? I think the computers in modern cars are pretty sensitive to stuff like that.

 

[KLF]

Have them look for wiring damaged by mice chewing on it.

 

[tominboise]

Had the windshield replaced at any time? There are stories of leaking windshields corroding connectors on the firewall.

 

[options2]

Have them look for wiring damaged by mice chewing on it.

Also a real thing. I keep active mouse traps in the garage year round because of this.

 

[Ninja Cruiser100]

Guessing battery.

 

[bloc]

Whatever they find, please report back.

 

[Sandroad]

There are some similar threads that point to battery issues. Here’s one:

Help! Dash lights lit up after Dead Battery..

 

[RSmithUT]

I’m a newish LX owner (08 with 135k miles) that just had this problem staring in the snow. I bought the vehicle in the summer, and did not have similar issues then.

Warnings were traction control, check engine, flashing 4LO, and “check VSC system.” Local dealer traced codes back to short or corrosion near trailer hitch connections. Dealer cleaned connections and cleared codes.

Warnings started again during similar wet/slushy conditions about a week later. Same codes (read by me this time based on cheap Harbor Freight code reader; sorry I don’t recall the specifics). I re-taped the wiring harnesses and cleared the code. No similar conditions since to see if warnings were related to road slush or if this worked.

In both cases, warning lights went away within a couple of days. There were no noticeable electrical/mechanical/performance issues other than being unable to shift into 4 Lo while warnings were active.

 

[RET2]

If you go back into that harness again perhaps using some dielectric grease could help prevent the moisture/corrosion issue?

 

[RSmithUT]

That’s a better idea than mine. Thanks. I’ll give that a try next if it keeps happening.

 

[RET2]

Why not be proactive and try to prevent another incident which will surely occur at the worst time. What if it happened while you wife was driving in traffic and she became distracted and had an accident. You've met Mr. Murphy haven't you?

 

[Markuson]

I’m a newish LX owner (08 with 135k miles) that just had this problem staring in the snow. I bought the vehicle in the summer, and did not have similar issues then.

Warnings were traction control, check engine, flashing 4LO, and “check VSC system.” Local dealer traced codes back to short or corrosion near trailer hitch connections. Dealer cleaned connections and cleared codes.

Warnings started again during similar wet/slushy conditions about a week later. Same codes (read by me this time based on cheap Harbor Freight code reader; sorry I don’t recall the specifics). I re-taped the wiring harnesses and cleared the code. No similar conditions since to see if warnings were related to road slush or if this worked.

In both cases, warning lights went away within a couple of days. There were no noticeable electrical/mechanical/performance issues other than being unable to shift into 4 Lo while warnings were active.

Those are exact lights I get...due to evaporator codes. Most common time is shortly after filling the tank...the next morning—likely due to pressure changes inside the tank.

Those seemingly unrelated warnings have no effect on anything after clearing them with a reader (like the cheap harbo freight one mentioned).

 

[Reg Wang]

After the first visit to the shop and cleared the codes, today they came on again, scanned, same “torque converter solenoid...stuck off”. Will get it looked at on Monday morning (my technician has been on vacation). Cleared codes again. Now, I don’t know how the car is supposed to feel at a healthy 4Lo, but my car drives just the same in 4Lo as in 4H, I guess that’s not right?

 

[Weedhopper]

That’s not right. It will feel more like a tractor in 4lo.

 

[TonyP]

It's probably never actually going into L4 due to the codes.

 

[VooDoo2]

At the shop this morning due to the VSC system, 4Lo, Check engine and traction lights all came on suddenly. 2011 LX570, 85000 miles. Drives fine. Scanned and showed all kinds of Faults (torque converter, air conditioning, steering angle sensor, main body???). How can it be, everything works fine.

1. Use the CDL more. The solenoid can get sticky due to lack of use.
2. Water in plugs on transfer case. Remove, clean, dialectric grease.
3. Bad earth to transfer. Remove the lead, clean ends and refit. Adding another dedicated lead has helped some.
4. Solenoid full of water, mud, contamination. Can be taken Apart and cleaned and serviced but Toyota tend to just replace. Guides are online, often for the tundra but same process.
5. Low voltage on startup. System does a self check and poor connections can give a false error. Restarting the car often clears the error. Some have reported cold starts having this error but after car is warmed up, error doesn’t return until the car is cold again.

 

[gaijin]

2. Water in plugs on transfer case. Remove, clean, dialectic grease.

Now that sounds complicated:

 

[empty80]

Now that sounds complicated:

 

[Reg Wang]

VooDoo, thanks! So, mechanics had the car for a couple of days, drive around but nothing was wrong, cleared warning once again. I need the car so I got it back. The potential approach to diagnose would be numerous and he thinks it’s not worth it to go crazy taking things apart, especially if it’s a computer error. BUT, I activated Crawl Control, it works fine, meaning 4Lo is fine.