Steering Angle Sensor money pit

[Antique]

I hope someone can help me before my Lexus RX300 becomes a money pit. I have had a problem with the ABS light for several years now, it would come on for a short while then go off for weeks, even months so I never worried too much until recently. A few weeks ago the ABS and VSC light came on and stayed on, after three weeks I decided it was time to get it sorted. I first tried a local garage who advertised “Diagnostic” They said it was the ABS pump and duly gave me a quote of £1850 plus. After some investigation I found a garage who claimed to be setup for top “Diagnostics” mainly BMWs and Mercedes but they assured me they could fix the problem. They performed a one hour check but told me they would need a three hour session to cure the problem. I agreed on the understanding they were confident they would cure the problem. After having the car for more than three hours they contacted me, first going all around the houses about everything they had done and then dropping the bombshell that they were unable to fix the problem because the didn’t have the Lexus software and then went on to charge me £160 for not fixing the problem. They did however tell me the problem is with the “Steering Angle” which is stuck at 116.4 degrees, as if it is permanently on a full lock. I am now advised, because it is usual for the sensor to have failed and so can not be recalibrated to buy a new sensor. Now after that rather extended preamble is the knub of my problem. I contacted Lexus for a price for the sensor and was told for my model it comes in two parts, the sensor which costs £396.64 and a cable which costs £241.34, I was so shocked I forgot to ask if that included VAT!!! My question is do I need the cable part and most important will the replacement of the sensor solve my problem and put out the lights???

I apologise for the length but I needed to get this off my chest. Any advice will be gratefully accepted.

[Lost it]

Well, a quick search brought me this...

 

 

[PCM]

Talk to Japex in Herts... get a second opinion.

[Antique]

Yes LI, I have seen this and a couple others from USA, problem is you don't see them later perhaps needing a new CPU. But thanks all the same.

PCM. Thanks I will give it a try. have spoken again with the chap who did the diagnosis, it seems no guarantee because this may be only a part of the problem. He says even after the replacement it still has to go through the diagnosis again and it may bring up new issues. It appears to me while we have the technicians replacing the mechanics and even with diagnostic machines it still looks like guess work. You can't even do a temporary check with a digital tool to see if that will solve it before you lay out all that money and replace the sensor. If I can get a used sensor for 50 70 pounds and it fails to solve it I have only lost that amount unless the used one is faulty but how can you tell?

[PCM]

Did the garage read the error-codes, and did they tell you what the codes were?

 

[Antique]

Yes, he spent over 3 hours and is a very competent technician. The problem for him was he didn't have the software to go any further and my problem is Lexus is over 20 miles away from where I live, otherwise I would have gone to them first. On the first 1 hour diagnosis there was 8 errors, 2 with the air condition, which I am not concerned about. The other were : C1223 ABS control system malfunction. C1243 Deceleration sensor stuck. U0121 Please refer to manual. U0123 Lost communication with yaw rate sensor module. U0124 Lost communication with lateral acceleration sensor. U0126 Lost communication with steering angle sensor module. I think they cured all except the last one and he told me not accept any suggestion I needed to replace the yaw sensor module. He said the Steering angle sensor need to be recalibrated (main dealer or Lexus specialist) I took my car to the mechanic you does work on my car and the MOTs and he checked it out and he showed me on his diagnostic tablet the fixed 116.4 degree on the steering sensor reading and how when he turned the steering the figure never changed but he suggested that it might no be possible to recalibrate and in his experience they mostly have failed and should be replaced. Its just once again no guarantee this would solve the problem, thus becoming a money tree! 

[Herbie]

16 minutes ago, Antique said:

It appears to me while we have the technicians replacing the mechanics and even with diagnostic machines it still looks like guess work. You can't even do a temporary check with a digital tool to see if that will solve it before you lay out all that money

Unfortunately, that's just how it works.

I'm a time-served electrician by trade and not long after successfully completing my apprenticeship, the factory closed down and I went onto Post Office Telephones and became a faultsman jointer, dealing with problems in the underground cable network. After a back injury that LED to medical retirement I now repair computers for a living and I also hold a full Amateur Radio licence.

In other words, most of my life I've been around electrical/electronic stuff, mainly in a breakdown and maintenance capacity and yes, there just are situations like yours where fixing one aspect of something shows up faults elsewhere. Not 'guesswork' but just the nature of the beast.

I think I'd be inclined to go the eBay/breakers yard route first. Oh, and unless there's something highly unusual I really can't say why a cable would need to be replaced with the sensor.

[Herbie]

This topic may or may not help but it's worth a bit of time to read the whole thing: