Hard to say without the OBDII code, there are a lot that will disable the VSC/TRAC when they are triggered.

 

^this. On my brothers 2000 ES300, a bad O2 caused his VSC light to come on.....weird.
I swear the more I learn about Toyota's the weirder they become.

 

That'd be weird. I just didn't like how there was a weird 'tug' feel before the lights came on. Now that I think about it, I swear ALL the lights came on momentarily.

 

That'd be weird. I just didn't like how there was a weird 'tug' feel before the lights came on. Now that I think about it, I swear ALL the lights came on momentarily.

It is weird that the O2 sensor caused it to come on. But sure enough, after I replaced it, all of the lights on his dash went off.

When Toyota's throw CEL/MIL's it is very common for the VSC/TRAC system to go into limp mode until the aforementioned CEL/MIL is addressed which is why you are seeing everything light up.

That's very interesting, but it kind of makes no sense. Why would Toyota choose to disable Vehicle Stability Control for something silly like an O2 sensor?
It's like "hey your car is running like poop, so now we'll disable some safety features too!" This seems really idiotic to me.

 

Sounds like the engine almost stalled, codes are probably misfire or something of the like. Head over to autozone and get them pulled!

 

My FIL just pulled the code and said it's the cams. Not sure how bad it could be but when I called the dealership they said everything should be fine with these Toyota's which I'm not exactly comfortable. Should I have the actual Toyota dealership look at it? I'd hate for the dealership I bought the car from to reset or tell me everything is fine and screw me over.

By the way its the traction light and the VSC light that came on.

 

...
Should I have the actual Toyota dealership look at it? I'd hate for the dealership I bought the car from to reset or tell me everything is fine and screw me over.
...

Not a good position to be in... sorry, but it's just an opinion. If you take it to the stealership where you bought it, they may do only that necessary for the problem to appear to go away, and if you take it to another stealership, they may try to rake you over the coals $$$, making/causing you go back to the stealership where you purchased. Once back at the original stealership, they would have the opportunity to say that the problem was made worse or mis-repaired when the other stealership looked at it. My suggestion would be to get hard documentation on the problem and the fix where ever you go so that you will have something to fall back on should the problem come back with a vengence, or come back at all.

 

That "tug" you felt may have been the engine dethrottling as part of the VSC or TRAC. I wouldn't necessarily be concerned with that by itself. They didn't tell you what the code was? The code itself can be quite helpful to members on here in helping.

 

When Toyota's throw CEL/MIL's it is very common for the VSC/TRAC system to go into limp mode until the aforementioned CEL/MIL is addressed which is why you are seeing everything light up.

 

I wonder if the car sat for a long time before being sold, and that the long period of inactivity may have caused the problem. My brother was in Iraq for a year several times and his truck would sit at my parent's house, rarely being used. Every once in a while my dad would start it and drive it around a bit, but the tires would be low, there was out gassing film on the windshield, and it would run rough for a while.

 

Unlikely reading the Carfax report but who knows! Anything is possible. I'm probably overreacting...but just hoping that it's nothing serious.

 

A FYI regarding CARFAX...my '06 HL had over $10K in front end damage and was repaired through my insurance carrier. Before I brought the vehicle back to the dealership (leased) 1.5 years later I got a CARFAX report on my VIN - I wanted to see if the accident was there so I could prepare myself to pay for excessive wear, the accident didn't show up 1.5 years later! It was reported to PD and the insurance company so it should have been in the CARFAX report.

Caveat emptor! Good luck!

 

I've seen that too; from what I understand Carfax can't pull every record or sometimes limited by each state's law. One reason they were getting sued years ago but things may have changed since.

The code was 0019 due to camshaft; most likely the sensor but of course I won't know until they take a further look. I'll be without the car for few days but at least they're serious about doing actual work on it.

More stories later.

 

well about 2 hours ago this happen to me too

think its safe to drive the car with that?

 

Happened to my vehicle two days ago. I remote started the car on a cold morning and when I got inside and inserted the key I noticed the CEL and VSC lights were on and I could feel the engine kind of vibrating. Turned off the car and closed the gas cap till I heard a click.I went back inside the car and started it with the key and the lights did not come on and the engine was running normally. No vibration or rough idling. I will take the vehicle tomorrow and have it checked.

This is the second time this incident happened. The first one was last summer and it was fixed when I closed the gas cap tight. And the weird thing is in both incidents it happened when I filled up the vehicle at the gas station about a week ago. :facepalm: Could it be a bad O2 sensor or a defective gas cap? I will definitely go to the dealership and have the codes pulled tomorrow.

 

Pull the code.

Unless the check engine light is flashing, its usually safe to drive. But that's not an excuse to not get it checked :thumbsup:

 

the engine light is not flashing and the car still under warranty.

Will get the error code tomorrow but need to find the odbII machine , din;t had to use it since i change VW passat to the highlander.

 

yeah but could they pull the any code if both light is off?

 

Went to the dealership and they told me to bring the car on Monday. They said it is easier to pull the code if the lights are on but they are going to try on Monday if the code is still retrievable. I will post the outcome on Monday.

 

The ECU should store the code for some time after its triggered

 

Pulled the code p304 cylinder 4 misfire

After i read the code both light

Is it a big problem? Knowing my dealer if i bring the car without error they wont even bother checking.


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What is cylinder misfire? Is it something serious?


Sent from my iPhone using AutoGuide.com Free App

 

What is cylinder misfire? Is it something serious?

http://www.engine-light-help.com/P0304-check-engine-light.html

It depends on if the code keeps being thrown. If it was a 1 time deal, ignore it; it could have been a bad bit of gas. If it keeps coming up, it could be a few different things.

 

So late update but after dropping my car off few days ago they took it to the Toyota Dealership to get it properly diagnosed. It's two sensors including the O2 and camshaft timing (?). I just want my car back!

 

Alright I'm back; after almost three weeks of going back and forth the repair shop unable to fix with what the Toyota dealer asked, they finally agreed with the dealer to have Toyota fix the issue.

Just to summarize the problem was:
1. Check engine light, traction control and VSC light on
2. Code P0018 & P0019, bank 2

What they found and fixed:
1. After the tech removed the valve cover they found the oil fill baffle was broken and fell into the timing chain which caused the chain to jump a tooth on the gears
2. They cleaned everything and flushed the oil to make sure there are no other debris lying around including the engine lower oil pan
3. Set the engine fire timing, engine cylinder head cover on #2 replaced
4. And do the normal oil change including filter

What they suspect was Jiffy or some other dealer broke the baffle during the oil change and caused this problem. The repair overall was around $1,000...which of course I didn't need to pay.

What I noticed right away was the rattle has gone down even during cold startup, once warmed up it's smooth as butter.

So glad to have my baby back

 

oil fill baffle....someone educate me :lol: is that the piece of metal directly below the oil intake? I was inclined to think the 2GR didn't have one since you can see the VVT-I gears through the opening :dunno:

Oh well, at least its fixed, always a good thing.

 

Apparently so; maybe the way they pump oil they somehow managed to break this baffle...it's clearly written on the sheet I have here :lol: