fault codes VSC light on

[finest1]

hi all,

on Monday morning I had a VSC come on. after the car warmed up and I drove it. I went off. no problem. 

Tuesday morning VSC light on all day. because im in local traffic im just pottering along. no issues with the car. drives normal. no strange noises

Wednesday morning VSC light still on. again driving to work, no issues. I did accelerate where I can and the car still had the same pull. in the afternoon I managed to run an OBD scan.  results attached. 16:00 park up at gym. 19:00 I get into car to go home, no VSC warning! drove home, no issues, car performing the way it normally does.  last weekend I did a motorway run for 20 mins, nothing too abnormal.

not sure if its anything to do with the cold snap. obviously i'll see what happens tomorrow morning.

in case photo does not work codes are:

P0300, P0301, P0303, P0102, P0113. I did a quick check on google, but doesn't really explain much.

I was wondering if any of you had this and what do the codes translate to 

 

thanks very much in advance

 

finest1

 

[Mauler]

I've looked into OBD codes a bit from when I had my Focus and worked on it myself.  P0 codes are powertrain related (on my Focus I always had one up because I didn't bother replacing the knackered glow plugs but it wasn't serious enough to bring on the CEL (VSC) light).

P0301-0312 are thrown up when the ECU detects a misfire (along with a general P0300), the last two digits specify which cylinder the fault was detected on.  So in this case it's cylinders 1 & 3.

P0102 is "Mass Air Flow/MAF Circuit Low Input", generally the MAF sensor isn't giving a signal as strong as the ECU wants so it may be dirty or faulty, or the sensor is fine but there might be a vacuum leak somewhere after the sensor, so the engine is sucking in air there and thus less air is flowing through the filter to the air flow meter.

P0113 is "Intake Air Temperature/IAT Sensor 1 Circuit High Input".  I had to look this one up myself; the IAT is basically a thermistor, it's resistance drops as the ambient temperature does.  If it was really cold it might trigger a P0113 code as very low temps will produce a high voltage but I don't know the ranges that an IAT works at so it might be normal or it might not?

 

Unfortunately I've only had my IS250 for two weeks so I've got no idea if the above results crop up sometimes on cars over a certain age/mileage or not.  My fairly unprofessional advice would be to clear the codes stored in the ECU and test again in a day or two to see if any have reappeared.

[BachelorDays]

Lots of discussions on a loose fuel filler cap throwing the VSC light. I'd investigate that first. Check the cap and the rubber seal inside it. Also clean the filler pipe opening (careful not to drop any dirt inside). Tighten the cap well. 

The codes are otherwise typical of a MAF needing a good clean or a change (more likely once you've gone past 120k miles) but the lights going off and then back on like this point more at the fuel cap.

[BachelorDays]

Just noticed the original post's date stamp! Doesn't look like a current issue any more.

[Texas]

Would be nice if OP was to report back and enlighten us with an outcome or not as the case may be.

paul m.

[finest1]

hi all,

the fault light went off 4 days after. not sure what it was. I put it down to the cold snap at the time. its been running fine ever since. however, I did clean the MAF sensor which I've never done in the 9 years I've had the car. upon inspection the MAF sensor did not look like it had any dark patches or carbon on it. regardless, I gave it a good spray with sensor cleaner.

day after car was running fine. however on the second day I noticed the car was "eager." a touch more responsive in acceleration. I know it could be placebo or maybe the temperature rose by a degree or 2. any way according to internet and this forum, its worth cleaning the MAF sensor periodically.

on sunday I drove from Gatwick to my home which was all motorway driving, no issues, car smooth. 

one last thought, I probably need to think about changing the spark plugs.

thanks

 

[Texas]

Thanks for coming back and updating this topic. Glad it was not something more serious  ( expensive)

with regard the spark plugs then they are at the 60,000 ( 6 year ) service point but generally can/do last a lot longer ( upto 100,000 miles)

paul m