SQOD Squad - Stupid Question Of the Day (3 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Loose gas cap?

Dying battery?(Voltmeter looks lower than I've ever seen mine)

Are there any noticeable changes in driveability?

HTH
Brand new battery and alternator (last week) with no change in driveability, just doesn’t go into 4lo. I check the cap, seemed tight. I took it off then put it back on. I’ll see what happens when I get to drive it again.
 
Brand new battery and alternator (last week)...

That's interesting - maybe not a coincidence? Has your Voltmeter always read that low? Maybe there is a problem with the new battery or alternator. Loose connection?

HTH
 
Pull codes, see what it tells you.
 
Got this on my way to work this morning....thoughts

View attachment 2018706

Buy a basic obd2 code reader at an auto parts store, or Harbor Freight.
If evap code related, reset it and repeat occasionally. But could be many things, including O2 sensors...mass air flow sensor...or practically anything else that Toyota somehow decided was worth flashing things like 4Lo over... :-/
 
If your rig throws a code like this, first step should be getting it scanned. Those lights, generally, aren't decipherable on their own. Autozone/O'Reillys/ect can pull them. Write down the codes and Google them. Don't take the auto parts guy's advice. Nearly all are clueless.
 
Darn, had to go back 9 pages to find this thread.

2008 land cruiser. 14x,000 miles on it. Tough dog lift, 32" KO2s, stock 18s.

Serious issues. Something is turning on, maybe traction control, maybe some other fancy system that appears to be engaging the driver front brake rotor while at speed. There is a beeping sound, some flashing lights on the cluster, and if I'm not paying close attention (like I wasn't once) I'm getting sucked towards oncoming traffic for about 1/4th to 1/2 a second.

I'll try to street view the two places it has happened. It just surfaced in the last few weeks.

First time, I was going about 25 to 30 mph, I believe I was off the gas, I was rolling slightly downhill, and may have started turning into this corner. It was leisurely - I was driving to the ferry to go to work, and I was way early. I had to scramble to regain control, it was almost like the power steering lost a little power at the same time. Definite pull to the drivers side. Hopefully you can see how lazy this corner is in street view. I wasn't cooking it or anything.

Google Maps

Second time happened on Sunday. This one I had a firm grip on the wheel and I was turning slightly to the right. I was slowing down from 50-55ish to 45ish (from what I recall) with nobody around, on a slight incline, this time going up in the mountains. Entire family in the car. Now my wife is kind of freaked out.

It was somewhere around here I think: Google Maps

Has ANYONE had anything like this happen?

Edit: I was able to find the Sunday incident on the dash cam. What the heck is going on here?!



I will also note that I can get the car to make a strange "boing" sound (from under the dash near the pedals) when going from reverse to drive quickly, while on an incline or decline, and the traction control light will flash. Crawl control makes all kinds of funny noises as well but I think that's expected.
 
Last edited:
I will also note that I can get the car to make a strange "boing" sound (from under the dash near the pedals) when going from reverse to drive quickly, while on an incline or decline, and the traction control light will flash.

I can't help you on the pull while driving issue, but FWIW this particular behavior is normal (or at least it happens on my 2009) when going from R to D too fast on a hill. I think it's the traction control kicking in, I get it occasionally in a parking garage that has a pretty steep incline.
 
I can't help you on the pull while driving issue, but FWIW this particular behavior is normal (or at least it happens on my 2009) when going from R to D too fast on a hill. I think it's the traction control kicking in, I get it occasionally in a parking garage that has a pretty steep incline.

Well, that's at least good to know. I added the dash cam video above so we can see what it looks like in real time.
 
Darn, had to go back 9 pages to find this thread.

2008 land cruiser. 14x,000 miles on it. Tough dog lift, 32" KO2s, stock 18s.

Serious issues. Something is turning on, maybe traction control, maybe some other fancy system that appears to be engaging the driver front brake rotor while at speed. There is a beeping sound, some flashing lights on the cluster, and if I'm not paying close attention (like I wasn't once) I'm getting sucked towards oncoming traffic for about 1/4th to 1/2 a second.

I'll try to street view the two places it has happened. It just surfaced in the last few weeks.

First time, I was going about 25 to 30 mph, I believe I was off the gas, I was rolling slightly downhill, and may have started turning into this corner. It was leisurely - I was driving to the ferry to go to work, and I was way early. I had to scramble to regain control, it was almost like the power steering lost a little power at the same time. Definite pull to the drivers side. Hopefully you can see how lazy this corner is in street view. I wasn't cooking it or anything.


Second time happened on Sunday. This one I had a firm grip on the wheel and I was turning slightly to the right. I was slowing down from 50-55ish to 45ish (from what I recall) with nobody around, on a slight incline, this time going up in the mountains. Entire family in the car. Now my wife is kind of freaked out.

It was somewhere around here I think: Google Maps

Has ANYONE had anything like this happen? Now that I think about it, I might have this most recent incident on my dash cam. I'm going to go see if I can find it. Thanks in advance.

I will also note that I can get the car to make a strange "boing" sound (from under the dash near the pedals) when going from reverse to drive quickly, while on an incline or decline, and the traction control light will flash. Crawl control makes all kinds of funny noises as well but I think that's expected.

** I am NOT an authority in this.***
But...
Sounds to me like a defective traction control triggering event.
If I forget to turn stuff off on dirt roads, it can assuming you’re losing grip and try to correct...which can be bad. When it kicks in, clicks are heard and lights flash. But it should not be doing that on pavement under good traction conditions.

The “boing” sound also happens from that occasionally. Often if I turn sharply out of a steep driveway that crosses a deep road run off trough...the “boing” can trigger.

Have Totota look at it, but only if they recognize what you describe. If not...go to Lexus or another dealer.
 
Last edited:
Sounds to me like a defective traction control triggering.
If I forget to turn stuff off on dirt roads, it can assuming you’re losing grip and try to correct...which can be bad. When it kicks in, clicks are heard and lights flash. But it should not be doing that on pavement under good traction conditions.

The “boing” sound also happens from that occasionally. Often if I turn sharply out of a steep driveway that crosses a deep road run off trough...the “boing” can trigger.

Have Totota look at it, but only if they recognize what you describe. If not...go to Lexus or another dealer.

Thanks, defective traction control. That sounds like the culprit. Check out the video I added. Conditions were pretty much ideal... I think it was even 75 degrees outside with 20% humidity. I'll call around to a few places tomorrow to get some leads. My local Toyota dealer is useless unfortunately.
 
Last edited:
PS. Meanwhile...to improve safety...turn off traction control and drive carefully. I suspect if you turn it off, this will stop happening. But on streets, traction control is normally a good thing. Just not if it’s wacky. So get it checked, but turning it off in the meantime is safer than being pulled out of your lane as you describe.
 
PS. Meanwhile...to improve safety...turn off traction control and drive carefully. I suspect if you turn it off, this will stop happening. But on streets, traction control is normally a good thing. Just not if it’s wacky. So get it checked, but turning it off in the meantime is safer than being pulled out of your lane as you describe.

Yeah, good idea. Hold the button for 30 seconds while stationary? I was trying to turn it off today but it was while moving. It would shut off briefly only to return a few minutes later.
 
Yeah, good idea. Hold the button for 30 seconds while stationary? I was trying to turn it off today but it was while moving. It would shut off briefly only to return a few minutes later.

We both have 2008’s.

**Turn to page 201 in your 2008 manual and read the next 5 or 6 pages carefully formore specifics and help on deactivation, reactivation, etc.

Drive carefully if you deactivate. No promise this is your issue.

**Again... Just my 2 cents.
Proceed with caution... **
 
Last edited:
A very similar issue exists in the Tacoma line. The VSC gets out of wack and needs to be to be recalibrated. Thankfully there is a simple fix ( using the OBD port) for this at least in the Tacoma's, not sure if it crosses over into the LC platform.
 
A very similar issue exists in the Tacoma line. The VSC gets out of wack and needs to be to be recalibrated. Thankfully there is a simple fix ( using the OBD port) for this at least in the Tacoma's, not sure if it crosses over into the LC platform.

Yes. I think the best news for his situation is it almost surely is NOT some horrible mechanical problem.
 
I'll toss this out there as a FWIW...

Your description reminds me of a very similar malady that was happening to our '04 Highlander many years ago. It was like the traction control was out of whack. I called the local dealer, they said that one of the sensors needed to be recalibrated. He said to disconnect the battery and let it sit overnight, then hook it back up in the morning, see if it improves. Did that, it's been fine ever since, no more wackiness.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom