VGRS light (1 Viewer)

[under_psi]

thanks @PADDO

im getting tired of finding stuff that was 'hidden' from me on the sale of this LX......

the (very wealthy) owner sold it through a liaison, probably to avoid "lying'' first hand to the buyer and just do it through someone else...

i know the steering rack has been replaced.

can you tell me, i may have missed, but what actually does the TSB o ring fix replace or take care of? im pretty sure mine hasnt had it and falls into the year and spec

 

[nnnnnate]

From Lexus...(link)
"Lexus has determined that the construction of the steering shaft on involved LX 470s is such that the snap ring on the shaft may disengage when the vehicle experiences an unusually severe impact to the front wheels, such as striking a deep pothole. If the snap ring becomes disengaged and the steering wheel is then repeatedly turned to the full locked position, the steering shaft may disengage over time."

Sorry to hear about the problems you are finding, everyone worries about getting lied to when they buy a new rig. It sucks when it happens to you.

I've had my VGRS electronics unplugged for a week and a half without any issues as all. I was hoping to test out the replacement parts I got in late last week over the weekend but got too busy with different things. I'm still hoping I can get it tested and calibrated tonight after work but we'll see.

Good luck with your rig, if you need parts I can give you the ebay seller that pulled the VGRS ECU from an '07 last week he is parting out. I was impressed with his communication and it got to me fast.

 

[under_psi]

@wngrog

this thread pretty mucch sums up the cover up....oh well....

 

[nnnnnate]

I had some time to install my new spiral spring and calibrate the replacement VGRS ECU. After initially thinking the $22 spiral spring I bought off amazon wasn't going to work due to a bent pin I got that portion installed, connected, and tested that all steering wheel controls worked. I re-read the initialization and calibration settings a few time before realizing that if you are using techstream you only need to follow the second to last page on the 357 doc @PADDO linked to here. That part went easy and quick and within just a couple minutes I had gone through the wizard and got my steering wheel centered and my VGRS dash light turned off. SUCCESS!!

My airbag light is still on and the trouble codes are pointing to an open circuit so I probably didn't get one of the connectors seated all the way. I'll work on getting that resolved here in the next couple days but I'm so relieved that I was able to get the "cheap" parts options to work out for me.

Thanks so much Paddo and the other guys on here that gave advice and direction. To anyone that finds this thread down the road, its pretty easy to troubleshoot this system with techstream and the links provided in the thread. If you are having trouble with it or need a little guidance on how to do some of the tests PM me or post here and I'll try to help as much as I can, where my limited understanding stops there are plenty of guys that will jump in to fill that gap as well.

This thread has literally saved me at least a thousand bucks between dealer diagnostic charges and replacement parts, probably closer to two grand.

 

[PADDO]

Excellent news! One last thing, do the SRS DTCs return after clearing or did you plug everything back in and expect them to resolve? Reason I ask is many SRS DTCs remain resident in memory and have to be positively cleared via Techstream after the fault is rectified. If they clear (or won't clear) and immediately return then you have an open cct or whatever that needs to be hunted down and fixed.

 

[nnnnnate]

I don't think I really saw a place to reset the airbag DTCs in the SRS tab on techstream but will look again tonight. Hopefully it will be that easy but I seem to remember on the DTC list it had like 4 codes. Two of them had stars in the "current" box and all of them had stars in the history box. Anyway, I didn't look into it much last night but will try and resolve it tonight when I get a minute.

 

[nnnnnate]

PADDO was right again, all it took was a DTC reset to clear the airbag light. I didn't notice the reset icon last night but when I was looking a little harder found it today.

I'm now warning light free.

 

[Laszlo Vencel Szabo]

Slightly off-topic question, but can any of you tell me how can I check if I have VGRS installed iny my LC100?
I have a VGRS symbol on the speedometer panel. Does it mean my car is equipped with VGRS?
Thanks!

 

[PADDO]

If your steering wheel takes approx 2.4 turns to go from lock to lock whilst parked then you have vgrs - also there are the vgrs fuses, ECU and a largish black boot covering the vgrs actuator assembly where the steering column passes through the firewall, footwell side.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Slightly off-topic question, but can any of you tell me how can I check if I have VGRS installed iny my LC100?
I have a VGRS symbol on the speedometer panel. Does it mean my car is equipped with VGRS?
Thanks!

Does the VGRS light come on when the key is turned on?

 

[Laszlo Vencel Szabo]

That was quick Thanks for your replies.
The VGRS light does not come on when I turn the ignition key and I can only see this (attached photos) at the firewall.

 

[Laszlo Vencel Szabo]

Sorry for the bad quality of the photo, but it is late night here in Budapest.
I assume if VGRS light in npt coming on then it means I don't have VGRS.
Do I miss a lot by not having it?
Can it be still installed (retrofit)?

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Not saying you cant but I do know there is a very costly computer involved. The VGRS module on the steering column can be changed. I only know that because when I thought mine was bad. I was just going to replace the module with a non VGRS piece of the steering column out of a LC and pull the VGRS lamp

 

[Laszlo Vencel Szabo]

Perhaps I should start saving and looking for a used VGRS shaft assy (45220-60201 or 45220-60202) as well as a used VGRS ECU (89181-60021).
Both are very expensive if bought new, the assy costing 4x more than the ECU.

 

[nnnnnate]

While you could change out the shafts I really don't know why one would want to. If I remember right none of the Toyota LCs in the US came with them and the LXs only got them in 2002 or 2003. There is a computer component (ECU) and the intermediate steering shaft has gears and a motor rather than being just a straight shaft.

What the VGRS does is change how much you need to turn the steering wheel to get your tires to move depending on several factors including vehicle speed. If there are any issues with the system, it defaults into "off" and the gears and motor lock down and become basically an expensive straight (dumb) shaft as a safety precaution.

I drove mine in this condition, locked up due to an ECU error, for a couple of months. Initially I wasn't aware the purpose of the VGRS system and really couldn't tell any difference when it was working to when it was not. I would certainly NOT retrofit a non VGRS vehicle to add it due to its exorbitant cost and little benefit as I see it. Had I not been able to local my used VGRS ECU I would have replaced the shaft because I was not willing to spend $2000+ for a new OEM unit.

I know people have different opinions about all this stuff so I say to you if you want it go ahead and add it. There shouldn't be a technical roadblock that will keep you from adding the parts to your non VGRS equipped vehicle.

 

[Laszlo Vencel Szabo]

I fully understand your point and I will put this to the end of my list. Nowadays I am looking more into adding Ski Control to my car as it is not equipped with it by default. I will also need to acquire a new ABS ECU and to add some additinal sensors, but I would like to drive my family in a safe car.
Thanks again for your support!

 

[nnnnnate]

So after doing the work outlined above I cleared the DTCs via TechStream and the ABS light went away for a while but came back on. I've tried my hardest to ignore it but now would like to get it resolved.

I guess I was thinking that the issue had to deal with the cheap clock spring that I installed off amazon so I pulled the shroud off and checked to see if I had any pins buggered up on the connectors. I didn't see anything wrong there so I did the only other thing I could come up with. I checked continuity on the two ends of the clock spring, (air bag connectors to plug on the other end) all was good. So I plugged in the harness side to the clock spring connector and checked continuity again and again it looked good. Because I'm getting good electrical signals I'm thinking that the clock spring isn't the issue but am just not sure and I'd rather not spend $200 just to prove myself right.

I'm not sure what to check from here and could use some guidance if anyone has experience with this.

Thanks.

 

[mystican]

any update?

 

[nnnnnate]

I ended up replacing my clock spring last year from the $20 certainly not OEM unit to an OEM unit and my ABS issues went away.

A week ago while parking my steering wheel went off center and I'm showing a C1554 code again. I tried to reset it via Techstream but it won't clear so I guess I'm back to where I was a year ago. Its odd that I'm having the same issue with two VGRS ECUs since this is fairly rare and it leads me to believe that I've got other system issues. I'll start going through the steps I did at the beginning of this thread and see what I find.

 

[under_psi]

i replaced my VGRS shaft/actuator in october....evidentially, this part failure is a very rare occurrence....very limited information on it...

but after the last time it "let loose" it was scary. the steering wheel disconnected as i was taking a curve on a highway ramp at 60. the steering went "limp" for about 1 second......that was it for me.

i got the shaft through a friend on here and had it put in.....part ran $2490 plus tax.....F me....labor to install was only $300 or so....