Its been a well documented issue that the 2006 - 2007 Highlander Hybrid sometimes have issues where the TRAC (traction control) and VSC (Vehicle Stability Control) will practically shut the car down, and refuse to move.
This type of situations sometimes happens in loss of traction situation like climbing a hill with not so ideal tires (non snow tires in the winter) or trying to say pull a boat out of the water.
This tends to render the vehicle both pretty and useless.
TO OVER COME THESE SITUATION - Just disable the TRAC/VSC
[edit: This statement is now confirmed incorrect]Toyota might have figured that this was a real issue going forward, so for the 2008+ Highlander Hybrid, they installed a "TRAC/VSC" disable button that will temporarily diable TRAC/VSC, and turn it on the next time you restart the car. [/edit]
Folks - read carefully - and read well. If you own a 2006 to 2007 Highlander Hybrid, you must memorize these sequence of steps.
TO DIABLE TRAC/VSC TEMPORARILY ON YOUR 06/07 HH:
1) Turn the Key from Off to ON/RUN (without starting the car)
You now have exactly 1 minute to execute the following (lots of time):
NOTE: Hold your brake peddle down throughout this proceedure
(this allows you to shift from P to N)
2) Fully press the Accelorator Peddle TWICE (2 times) in P(ark)
3) Fully press the Accelorator Peddle TWICE (2 times) in N(eutral)
4) Fully press the Accelorator Peddle TWICE (2 times) in P(ark)
5) With the brake peddle still pressed, Start the car.
Your car will now display that you are in FWD Maintenance Mode and your TRAC / VSC will be disabled untill the next time you start the car.
I've tested this out, and it works for my 2006 HH. However, we are still stuck without the ability to force it into 4WD mode. I haven't tested to see if the Rear Motor would even work at all with the TRAC disabled.
Now everyone go out and train yourself in this dark art, and let me know if it works for you too.
:chug:
I am sure Toyota's got a way to force the rear motor to output - else, how would they test / diagnose it.
I guess that would be the next challenge.
This type of situations sometimes happens in loss of traction situation like climbing a hill with not so ideal tires (non snow tires in the winter) or trying to say pull a boat out of the water.
This tends to render the vehicle both pretty and useless.
TO OVER COME THESE SITUATION - Just disable the TRAC/VSC
[edit: This statement is now confirmed incorrect]Toyota might have figured that this was a real issue going forward, so for the 2008+ Highlander Hybrid, they installed a "TRAC/VSC" disable button that will temporarily diable TRAC/VSC, and turn it on the next time you restart the car. [/edit]
Folks - read carefully - and read well. If you own a 2006 to 2007 Highlander Hybrid, you must memorize these sequence of steps.
TO DIABLE TRAC/VSC TEMPORARILY ON YOUR 06/07 HH:
1) Turn the Key from Off to ON/RUN (without starting the car)
You now have exactly 1 minute to execute the following (lots of time):
NOTE: Hold your brake peddle down throughout this proceedure
(this allows you to shift from P to N)
2) Fully press the Accelorator Peddle TWICE (2 times) in P(ark)
3) Fully press the Accelorator Peddle TWICE (2 times) in N(eutral)
4) Fully press the Accelorator Peddle TWICE (2 times) in P(ark)
5) With the brake peddle still pressed, Start the car.
Your car will now display that you are in FWD Maintenance Mode and your TRAC / VSC will be disabled untill the next time you start the car.
I've tested this out, and it works for my 2006 HH. However, we are still stuck without the ability to force it into 4WD mode. I haven't tested to see if the Rear Motor would even work at all with the TRAC disabled.
Now everyone go out and train yourself in this dark art, and let me know if it works for you too.
:chug:
I am sure Toyota's got a way to force the rear motor to output - else, how would they test / diagnose it.
I guess that would be the next challenge.