2001 rx300-- the "vsc" light on my dash is on..

245

Asked by Tina Aug 17, 2009 at 07:42 PM about the 2001 Lexus RX

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

my "vsc" light on my dash is on. what's it  mean? what do i do to fix and how much will it cost?

39 Answers

1,805

Is you VSC light on by itself, or is it on with a Check Engine Light as well. If it is just the VSC light then you need a Zero-Point calibration. This is supposed to be only done at a toyota/lexus dealer. They take out the VSC computer and run their diagnostics program and reset and configure(calibrate) your vehicles VSC. I personally would disconnect both battery terminals for at least an hour, even better overnight, this should allow enough time to have all the electricity drain completely from those computers. Hopefully this would reset everything. I would try this before going to the dealer, try to save some money. If it is the VSC and CEL(Check Engine Light), then you would have to get the codes read at AutoZone....they do this for free unlike the dealer and then post your codes up on this forum. Hope this helps.

172 people found this helpful.
1,075

The code that I'm receiving with the VSC light and Check engine light on together is p1135. I've checked all hoses and changed the 02 sensor, bank 1 sensor 1. had the codes erased and they still come back, what else could it be?

107 people found this helpful.
780

check the vacuum hoses on the back side of your air cleaner on the firewall side you will need a flashlight to see them. most likely they came loose when someone either checked or changed your air filter look for a metal tube coming up it should go into a rubber hose

78 people found this helpful.
2,720

I have had the same problem (VSC and Check Engine, Track off - light on). The OBD read by autozone was 1135. I drove like that for one month. Today, I decided to fix it. I checked the the vacuum hole/metal tube behind air filter, which was fine. Then, I changed 2 air fuel ratio sensor (B1S1 and B2S1, Bosch part number 15217, $180 each) and reset computer by unhooked positive battery terminal for over 10 minutes. The problem is fixed. VSC, CE, and Track light is off. Note that the front B1S1 is easily replaced in 10 minutes, but B2S1 must be accessed from the bottom of car and take over 30 minutes to replace. The wrench is 7/8 english size. See photo by other poster.

272 people found this helpful.
920

I have the same problem. My VSC and check engine lights have been on for years now. My Rx 330 has 225000 miles. The dealer says my VSC cable on one of the wheels is severed and this is causing the problem. I never checked into the cost of repairing it.

63 people found this helpful.
245

hey thanks for answering, my dad ended having to replace a couple of the sensors and it went back to normal

24 people found this helpful.
920

hmmmm how much were the sensors and since your dad did it is it that difficult. I am a Dad maybe I can do it as well :) hahaha

29 people found this helpful.
600

We have a 2001 RX300 and have been having VSC, CEL and Track off problems for a long time. We spent $1800 to have all the O2 sensors changed, everything seemed ok. Then came winter, when it rained the VSC light came back on. (I am so tired of repairing his car) I forgot to mention we just spent $3000 on a new transmission during last summer (115000 miles) Anyway back to the VSC, here is my fix (1) remove negative battery terminal for approx 10 min or (2) remove the yellow 25 amp fuse for approx 1 minute. Both of these will clear the computer and reset, VSC light goes off, or at least until the next rain. This occurs because one of the wheel sensors is dirty or malfunctioning which sets off the VSC light. This is not a long term fix but at this point it works short term. Here's another fun lexus oddity, now that winter is here our windshield defrost stopped working, no matter what button you select, it only blows face level. If I push defrost (auto or manual) still just blows at face level. Once again I removed negative battery cable for 10 minutes, and walla defroster now works. Some weird s**t going on with the RX300. Good luck. Wait until you try to replace the spark plugs (120000 miles)

60 people found this helpful.
890

I disconnected the battery and the light has gone off, The car has been to a garage 5 times to get this sorted and they failed as the light came back on soon after getting it back (annoying) So THANKS all x Sue

28 people found this helpful.
210

Disconnected the negative battery cable for 10 minutes and "voila" the check light is off! Thank you!!!

21 people found this helpful.
890

fault code P0505 was the reason the VSC & engine management lights kept coming on. The valve was seized.

30 people found this helpful.
400

How do I disconnect the battery cables that you guys are talking about? I'm a Mom and have no clue. Is this something I can do on my own? Is it pretty easy?

40 people found this helpful.
350

mom you need an adjustable open wrench fit it to the nut of the battery and turn it counter clockwise until the battery terminal is loose lift up wrap a rug around it to make sure it does not touch any metal part and wait for whatever time and reverse the procedure.

17 people found this helpful.
350

I found out after reading some answers that hoses were not connected after wallmart replace the air filter. looking directly after the air filter one hose leading to a metal tube was disconnected and an elbow type tube was not into placed {behind the air filter] into the filter assy SHODY WALLMART WKMANSHIP it can cot you $$$$$$

16 people found this helpful.
890

I had the sensor replaced and it wasn't that so had the valve unit cleaned out and they found the valve was seized, they managed to get it cleaned up and got the valve working (thankfully) as a new valve unit would have cost over £300.00. The car now runs a lot better,,, revs have dropped and the fuel economy is very much improved. The cost of having this sorted out was £100.00.

15 people found this helpful.
90

I have a 2007 RX350 and I have never been so disappointed with a car like I am with this one. Just over $12,000.00 worth of work in the past 2 years. I wasn't counting before that but there is ALWAYS something wrong with it. Is it normal to have to replace 6 O2 sensors in 18 months? Or 5 tire pressure sensors, power steering rack, rear hub & bearing assembly, steering wheel main shaft, ignition coil, inner and outer tie rod ends, 2 full sets of front and back breaks on top of regular oil changes and check-ups every 3 months? It only has 83,500miles on it, I'm not a long distance or crazy driver. I will never buy another Lexus, their no lemon law has severe "glitches".

9 people found this helpful.
890

I would be getting rid of the car, mine is a 52 reg and not been a bad car (I like it) it has not cost anything really in repairs I have it serviced and thats it for a year

4 people found this helpful.
180

I'M CONVINCED THAT THE DEALER OR WHOMEVER YOU TOOK THE CAR TO MILKED YOU ON A LOT OF UNNEADED REPAIRS, especially if you are a woman. It's happenedto and mom and my sisters lots of times and really upsets me.

18 people found this helpful.
180

Great site, I found this page because my VSC light came on, going to disconnect battery over night and see what happens, if that doesn't fix it, there's a lot of useful info here. I'm a pretty good backyard mechanic so I confident I can handle any of these suggestions. Thanks

18 people found this helpful.
160

I had a severed sensor cable on the right rear wheel, which I was able to splice and that cured the problem

16 people found this helpful.
890

I had a plastic plug that had cracked and when the car got warm the lights came on, I had the plug replaced for £70.00 and it is right now (happy motoring now) lol Thanks

5 people found this helpful.
890

I have a service contract with my local lexus dealer which cost me £22.00 per month over a 3 year period, I get all my services intermediate and full so I think this is a good deal as someone I know paid nearly £800.00 for a full service and cam belt change. So it is worth asking your dealer about special offers they have on servicing. They tell me about any problems with my car so I can get it sorted at my local garage (cheaper) and not at the dealers.

7 people found this helpful.
70

I had left my car running with the heat on minmally for my mom, while I went into a medical supply store to grab supplies for after a procedures. Her heater seat was probably on half way and when I walked back to the car, I noticed I had left the lights on. Gone for probably 15-20 minutes. She said the radio and dashboard lights had just gone off. Check SVC light was on. Tried to restart car from the on position. No luck. Same SVC light. Turned key all the way off, then tried restart. No luck; same light. I turned the key position off and waited 5-10 minutes. Car started with no SVC light. Called dealer. Said car battery (not the major one for the Rx400H (2006 with 110K miles) might be getting low. Normally, if I am sitting in the car in a similar position, drawing power and not driving, the car motor kicks in for power generation. I presume this did not happen when I got the SVC light. Dealer said I could have damaged the major battery (the $6K one). When I drive the car, it is normally 25 miles at normal highway speeded. Been dealer maintained. Just got the 110K service last weekend. Thoughts? Was hoping to get 300K miles out of this. Never had any major issues or costs with the car so far.

7 people found this helpful.
900

I had the VSC light issue. Only the VSC light came on. Car starts up no lights then after driving for 1 min or so VSC light pops on . Also noticed loss of power with light on and if accelerating quickly track light came on before then VSC light turns on. Took it in diagnosis was bad\faulty "STEERING WHEEL ANGLE SENSOR" . After replacing this sensor vehicle had no issue apart from steering wheel alignment off which was also fixed. So my issue was resolved by replacing steering wheel angle sensor and alignment.

8 people found this helpful.
120

How many fuel in LEXUSE RX 300 year 2001

12 people found this helpful.
190

I have a Lexus 2003 RX-300 and just recently my VSC light, Check Engine Light (CEL) and my Trac Off light all came on. I have a friend who used to be a full-time mechanic for a Lexus dealership. He said he'd come over with his code fixer. Whatever the hell that is. In any case, started my car, plugged the reader to an outlet inside the front cabin of the car (no need to go under the hood), zeroed out the codes and they were gone. HOWEVER, he did ask me a question that made me think. He asked me if I ever drove the car with the gas cap off by mistake. I hadn't BUT, I just did fill the car with gas and left it running while I did. Normally I have never done that before, but I had a couple passengers int he car and I didn't want them to roast. He said the codes I had were due to an oxygen sensor. And the least little bit of oxygen in the system that is not supposed to be there will set it off. He checked my air intake hoses under the hood to make sure one of them hadn't been disconnected. After he left I remembered that I had filled the tank with it running. I would guess that was the cause of it. IF that is the cause, it MIGHT solve some of your problems.

19 people found this helpful.
40

I have a Lexus 2003 RX-300 and I had my car smog tested a couple of months ago. As soon as I picked up the light from the smog tester, I noticed the VSC light was on. I took it back to the tester and he said nothing he did would have caused it. However, after reading about how a little bit of oxygen in the system that isn't supposed to be there will set it off, I think the smog test may have caused it somehow. I'll try unplugging the battery.

4 people found this helpful.
100

my vsc and check engine light came on....i went to autozone got my 2002 rx lexus scanned ,the problem was..MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR....it took me 10 min to change....so far everything look good

10 people found this helpful.
40

same trouble/same solution with GS300: disconnected the negative battery cable for 10 minutes and "voila" the check light is off! Thank you!!!

4 people found this helpful.
35

disconnected the 25 amp yellow fuse and NOW no VSC or engine light on....THANKS Had all sensors replaced 3 yrs ago and now have 200,178 miles on it and runs like new

3 people found this helpful.
130

I used to have all 3 lights on...Engine, Trac Off and VSC....Code was P0505.....While I was still contemplating having it fixed, Engine light went off on its own. It even passed emission test after that. Trac Off and VSC are still come on, not when starting car, but when start driving. What should I do? Can I just not worry about it? Its a little uncomfortable when I apply brakes as if these two lights have something to do with stopping the car. Muhammad Saleem

13 people found this helpful.
60

It's funny because I've had a bunch of Lexuss. The VSC light and engine check light have went on a lot and most of the time it has always been a chewed through or cut injector wire. So be aware that it could also be that. And also it seems like the easiest thing to check first. Why not. Hope this helps.

6 people found this helpful.
30

My VCS,TRAC OFF light and engine warning light all came on yesterday. I had an oil change a week ago and they had checked the air filter (Which did not need replacing) so I began wondering if the two were connected. I remembered hearing from my father-in-law that once he had an oil and air filter change and the same lights came on. The service was at a non-lexus dealer. He took the car to Lexus dealer and they found that during the Oil/Air Filter service, a vacum hose had been disconnected from the air box. So after looking at similar answers above, I decided to see what I could do before going to a VERY EXPENSIVE LEXUS dealership. Sure enough, I found by shining a flashlight behind the air filter box that there was indeed a disconnected hose. I put it back on but warning lights still lit up. Then I remembered that I had read after reconnecting the hose you need to disconnect battery terminals for 15 minutes. I did this and Viola!!! Problem solved. NO MORE WARNING LIGHTS!!! SO please try this before handing over your hard earned cash to a dealership...

3 people found this helpful.
20

So if I disconnect the battery for ten minutes it should be fixed

2 people found this helpful.
40

My brakes have been acting up though. When I am at a dead stop and go to take off they grab. The front brakes. But my CEL and VSC just about 20min ago came on. So I am kind of Leary about just disconnecting a battery. I am concerned about this brake grabbing thing.

4 people found this helpful.

2020 RX300 VSC and check eng light on. P1730 code came up at O’Reilly, thoughts? Thx

80

Hi All, I have the same problem with my Lexus rx300 2002 car. I have the P1135 code which mean the Faulty Air-Fuel Ratio (A/F) Sensor Bank 1 Sensor 1 not working good. i took my car to the garage and he said the front sensor is not working good. i found out later that the back sensor is B1S1 not the front one. i change it and the car worked batter but the VSC and engine light still one. I changed the Air Flow meter and the car perform much batter, but the VSC and engine light still one. I will try today to do some more things and I will keep updating you guys.

6 people found this helpful.
80

important updates: (Solved !!!!) As I mentioned the B1S1 located one the other side of the MANIFOLD, when I changed it for the first time ave bought a sensor from ebay and it was mentioned (genuine) but it was not. what i did to solve the problem .. I have bought an original sensor from Denso website) and its worked and finally the issue solved :)

2 people found this helpful.
20

Well I have a 2001 Lexus RX 300 2001 and it seems like everything wanted to happen when inspection time was due. My VSC light came on my ABS light came on and my engine light light . I know one issue is because of a faulty sensor that will be fixed as soon as part arrives. I’m hoping it turns off engine light to finish inspection. As well going to try the whole battery and fuse yellow 25 and go from there . Just put it this way from normal maintance care to small issues arising to major issues I’m over 2 grand now. After this I think it’s time to trade .

2 people found this helpful.

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