Towing question 2008 LC

[gomotomoto]

I occasinally tow an airstream behind my 2008 LC. It usually performs flawlessly, but the last trip, the LC did something really strange, was hoping to gain some insight as to what happened:

- I was towing up a short incline, really no big deal - not a steep grade or anything... trying to get the truck and trailer up to about 65 mph cruising speed in a relatively short time (entering freeway). On the dash, the 4LO was flashing and I could feel something felt different as I was driving.

Luckily, there was an emergency pull off, where I shut the truck down, re-started it -- and drove away. That had resolved the problem and the rest of the tow home was without event.

I'm worried that it will happen again, but in a situation where I won't be able to pull off to the side of the road safely.

So my questions:

1. Anyone know what happened?
2. Is there anything I can do to ensure it doesn't change anything while I'm towing?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Malleus]

I have a 2008 LX 570 that's had recent 4LO gremlins. Usually only when it's below 40°, but intermittently then. I haven't had the time to pull the position sensors and check them, but I'm concerned it's a transfer portion of the ECU that's failing. Your case may be related to the accel sensor, or ECU portion that's connected to it.

 

[gomotomoto]

I have a 2008 LX 570 that's had recent 4LO gremlins. Usually only when it's below 40°, but intermittently then. I haven't had the time to pull the position sensors and check them, but I'm concerned it's a transfer portion of the ECU that's failing. Your case may be related to the accel sensor, or ECU portion that's connected to it.

Interesting. It was 10 degress with the wind chill, so maybe it was a temperature thing.

 

[Malleus]

Like I said, it's intermittent. I first thought it was old grease/trash/dirt, because it happened last January, and went away when the outside temp rose. We had a couple of near freezing days here last week, and the gremlins returned. Doesn't happen after it's been driven for about 15 minutes or so; I guess once the engine's warmed up the xmsn case.

I'm still just guessing here, as I said, I haven't gotten under it yet.

 

[gomotomoto]

Like I said, it's intermittent. I first thought it was old grease/trash/dirt, because it happened last January, and went away when the outside temp rose. We had a couple of near freezing days here last week, and the gremlins returned. Doesn't happen after it's been driven for about 15 minutes or so; I guess once the engine's warmed up the xmsn case.

I'm still just guessing here, as I said, I haven't gotten under it yet.

I think you are probably right. This happened to me after the rig sat in low freezing temps for a few days. This actually happened a few miles away from when we first started the truck. Didn't happen again -- so that does seem logical. Thank you for chiming in.

 

[Malleus]

Please keep everyone posted on your progress, or lack thereof. I'll do the same. Since I haven't heard anyone with a later year complain about this, I wonder if it's a first year component problem, or if it's an age related problem. Doesn't seem to be influenced by mileage (I have just over 112k on mine), since other posters here have much higher mileage newer models, and haven't complained.

 

[linuxgod]

Do you guys exercise your 4WD and center diff lock regularly?

 

[skhochay]

I have 2009 towing R-POD periodically its only 3000 lb. I can step on the accelerator and hit 65-70 - not a single problem I only have 60K on the truck

 

[CT3]

I know that your situation is likely different than mine, but I had a weird experience recently where I too was accelerating on the highway (2015 LC) and my CEL + 4Lo lights illuminated. Pulled off, shut down, restarted the car and drove away with no problem. My friend scanned my car later in the afternoon... loose gas cap, of all things... I had just been to a full-serve-only station and never thought to double check that the cap was fully secured. Just something to be mindful of I guess. Hopefully your fix will be that easy as well!

 

[Malleus]

Do you guys exercise your 4WD and center diff lock regularly?

Daily

 

[linuxgod]

I know that your situation is likely different than mine, but I had a weird experience recently where I too was accelerating on the highway (2015 LC) and my CEL + 4Lo lights illuminated. Pulled off, shut down, restarted the car and drove away with no problem. My friend scanned my car later in the afternoon... loose gas cap, of all things... I had just been to a full-serve-only station and never thought to double check that the cap was fully secured. Just something to be mindful of I guess. Hopefully your fix will be that easy as well!

That's a good point. @Malleus and @gomotomoto might want to grab an OBD2 reader or a USB cable and a copy of TIS Techstream and see what codes are stored. On some of these older vehicles it could be that the gas cap is actually tight but the cold is causing the seal to shrink slightly and leak pressure in the fuel system, or it could just be a bad sensor reading (i.e. maybe a bad reading from the knock sensor causing the ECU to retard the engine timing unnecessarily).

It's unfortunate that Toyota doesn't print useful code data to the MID and instead just flashes "random" lights.

 

[Malleus]

I have and don't have any ECU codes that relate to the xfer system, and I don't know that there are any. The situation is related to faulty position sensor codes/displays and solenoid action, not engine trouble.