2002 Gs300: Check Engine, Vsc, Vsc Off Showing

[ofthatilk]

Hi all,

I'm new to owning a Lexus (2002 GS300) and new to this forum.

I've read several similar posts but nothing matching my exact circumstances, so I'll post this query here.

I test drove my GS300 on 10/10/2009. It had the "Check Engine" light on then. The guy said he will have it looked at. The car was very, very low on fuel.

I picked up the car on 19/10/2009. Re. the check engine light, I was told an oxygen sensor needed changing. Car still low on fuel. Also all 4 tires had been replaced (came up at MOT, old ones were worn), not sure if old and new tires are exact same dimension, new ones are 235/45 R17 97 Z. As I drove off, VSC and VSC OFF lights came on. Seller said it was due to same problem with O2 sensor and it will reset once the sensor was changed.

Now I've had the O2 sensor changed, bank1 sensor2. Check engine light has reset, but VSC and VSC OFF lights are still on. Garage said no connection between VSC system and check engine light - they think it's a seperate problem, but they are not Lexus specialists.

Tires all have the correct pressure, etc, and obviously they are not worn since they are new. They are "entry-level" quality (Unitrac Focus 3000), and there was an initial problem with them being poorly balanced, which caused vibration at speeds exceeding 60 mph. They have been rebalanced and I was told this cannot be improved further, but there still is some residual vibration at high speeds, wich may be down to the poor quality of the tires themselves. Not sure if this is related to the issue with the VSC lights.

I read in one post about VSC lights being associated with fuel issues. Maybe something was triggered when the car was running that low on fuel before I bought it. Initial refill was 69 litres.

Do we need to / can we input new tire data in the car's computer after a tire change?

I was quoted £120 to diagnose this fault at my nearest Lexus garage. Want to avoid this cost if possible.

Any ideas?

[kam05]

Hi mate, welcome to LOC.

Not sure why you have the VSC lights are still on, but in my experience cheap/budget tyres are near impossible to balance. You will always notice bad wheel vibrations and excessive tyre noise with cheap tyres.

My last set of tyres on my IS200 were Fullrun HP199 tyres- these made so much noise it sounded like my wheel bearings were shot.

Sounds like you need to take the car to someone who has decent diagnostic tools (and they know how to use said diagnostic tools properly)- this doesn't have to be a Lexus garage.

[knitware]

Hello and welcome!

Did you buy the car with the VSC fault? I hope not! You sholdn't buy anycar with a warning light showing, eg ABS, unless it's very cheap, in fact not even then!

I also cannot understand how it passed it's MOT with the VSC flashing either. VSC is for the stability control and it therefore should not pass an MOT with the warning light flashing. I had this problem on my car and the fix was 2 O2 sensors and an ECU, £3000 in total, luckily the garage paid.

If you have bought this car I would return it until the problem has been solved.

[fildigger]

VSC...Could this be ECU/Brake Booster ?????

Do a search under 'Hydraulic Brake booster'..................It can be awkward & expensive!!!, The Only potential weak point in an otherwise fantastically Comptent Machine!

TYRES........Have them Re-balanced and a Four wheel Laser alignment done. Alternatively, Take them off, Sell them as 'As New Tyres' and go and buy some Quality tyres in keeping with the Car.

Good Luck.

[ofthatilk]

Just a little update on this problem:

The fuel issue and tyre vibration are definitely unrelated to the VSC light.

I have had a very bad experience with the garage that replaced the O2 sensor. When I drove off, I realised that the VSC and VSC OFF lights were still on. I returned immediately and was told (as described in my previous post) that the VSC system was unrelated to the O2 sensor and to make an appointment with them for further analysis. I was also told to expect the "check engine" light to come back on again, and it might have to be reset several times before it would stay off. They went on to explain that it may not stay off at all as following the replacement of one O2 sensor the remaining ones (being "old") were now sensing different exhaust gas values to the new sensor, and there would be a continuous discrepancy which could only be rectified if all were sensing correctly, i.e. ALL sensors would eventually have to be replaced. They suggested that Lexus would always replace all 4 sensors rather than just a single one.

This all sounded a bit dodgy and illogical to me, so I took the recommendation posted here and went to an independent Lexus specialist to analyse the problem. They discovered that the previous garage had changed the incorrect O2 sensor (!). I knew they were not Lexus experts but am still surprised that one could f... up this simplest of jobs. (Maybe I should have taken the warning sign when they previously replaced the radiator on my Camry and missed the "minor" item of replenishing it with water...)

Anyway, the new garage has now replaced the correct O2 sensor and ALL lights have gone out. Problem solved!.

I went to JEM in NW9 after finding several positive mentions elsewhere here in this forum. Yes, it is a 90 minute drive for me, but looking at the hassle I've already had with this issue it was worth it. I can only confim that JEM are very good, professional and courteous, and I will definitely go there again for any technical issue.

Still have the tyre vibration, and thinking of replacing them with new, high quality ones, which is a shame because the current ones are also new and I don't think I will get much money for them at all, as they are rubbish...

[kam05]

Nice one- glad you got the problem sorted.

Out of interest what tyres are on the car? As the tyres are newish, why not stick them on eBay?

[ofthatilk]

Out of interest what tyres are on the car?

Have

UNITRAC Focus 3000, 235-45 R17 Z (97)

I think the Z and 97 rating may actually be too high for this car, i.e. it's too rigid a tyre, hence causing vibration at higher speed - does this make sense?

Thinking of getting

MICHELIN Primacy HP 235-45 R17 W (94)

instead.