Gs300 (2002) - Vsc & Vsc Lights On

[Turner61]

Good afternoon all, I have just registered as a Lexus owner today after discovering your website. I have owned a fantastic 2002 GS300 for nearly 3 years with hardly a problem, it has been so good I have purchased a 57 plate GS300 SE-L to replace it. However when preparing my old car for sale the alarm went off a couple of times for no apparent reason, I therefore took it to the Toyota dealer who supplied the car but they could not find a fault. Unfortunately since the Toyota mechanic plugged into my car the VSC and VSC Off lights have both come on once the car is driven more than a couple of yards, the car still drives perfectly and is not in limp home mode. They are still unable to find a fault and I have been left with these lights on which will of course make it far more difficult to sell. I am convinced these lights were triggered by the Toyota mechanic scanning codes however I'm keen to avoid an expensive bill at the Lexus dealership if possible.

I have seen a couple of possible fixes on a USA owners website but am reluctant to try them. Can anybody please advise the best course of action? Many thanks.

[ColinBarber]

maybe your Battery is getting a bit flat? Make sure it is charged up fully. If it is the original then maybe it isn't holding a charge anymore - if you have a voltmeter it would be worth checking the voltage in the morning before trying to start the vehicle to see if it has dropped.

If you disconnect the Battery for a minute you will clear out the error codes. If they come back then we really need to know what code(s) are stored to narrow down the problem.

[TigerFish]

If it was triggered by the code reader, you can reset it by bridging two of the pins in the OBDII connector under the dash, you need to bridge pins 4 and 14

Procedure is:

• Ignition off
• bridge pins
• ignition on (do not start the engine)
• Leave on for 30 seconds
• ignition off
• remove bridge
• Check that lights are now extinguished.

If you don't want to do it yourself, if you are close enough to me in Basingstoke (on the mobile app, you can't see posters locations even if you have for it on your profile), pop round and I'll do it for you.

Agree with Colin re: the alarm. Could be a poor Battery, but also large metallic objects left in the centre console area can play havoc with the alarm for some reason.

[Turner61]

Thank you Colin and Rick for your responses. I have disconnected the negative side of the Battery for over a minute and re-connected but now the car won't start at all, there seems to be plenty of life in the Battery but it won't fire. Was this the correct thing to do? Sorry i'm no mechanic.

The fix described by Rick is one I've seen before on another forum, unfortunately I'm a long way from Basingstoke but will get some help from a friend to try it.

[ColinBarber]

disconnecting the Battery should have no negative impact.

Is the immobiliser alarm warning light going out when you put the key into the ignition? Try another key if you have one.

[TigerFish]

Yeah, if you disconnect the Battery, you need to put ignition key in and turn it to the "on" position (don't try and start it) and leave it like that for 5 minutes. Then take the key out, put it back in and it should then start fine.

[Turner61]

Thanks fellas the car now starts fine after following Ricks guide, although VSC lights are still on when driving. I will try bridging the pins and keep you posted. Your help is much appreciated.

[ColinBarber]

if the lights are still on then I feel you won't achieve anything by shorting the pins, you have already cleared any stored fault codes by disconnecting the Battery.

The fact that the light has come back on again means a current fault is being detected. Without knowing the error code it is difficult to diagnose the issue. You really need to have the error code(s) read by a diagnostic tool.

[TigerFish]

It depends what the fault is Colin. Not all ECU's clear down on a Battery disconnect, the ABS one definately doesn't, even when changing a duff wheel sensor to a good one, the only way to clear the codes is to do the reset procedure (I had to do that a couple of week ago when I changed an ABS sensor). Not entirely sure on the VSC ECU, but when I had the light on mine, it would go off when you switch ignition off and back on, as soon as the car moved off, the lights would come back on.

[ColinBarber]

looks like you can get the error codes without a diagnostic tool. DLC1 is located in the engine bay

and you can then reset using the following procedure:

[Turner61]

Many thanks all who responded, it seems that bridging the pins has worked for my GS300. After a short test drive everything seems to be back to normal. Magic!!

[TigerFish]

Excellent result B)

[eXOBeX]

I've known this to be due to the yaw sensor being out of calibration (some garage tools can end up clearing more than just the DTC, a local mechanic managed to do it on mine). Search on Google for "gs300 yaw sensor calibrate dlc1", the top result is a PDF that shows how it's done. The instructions Colin posted above are on page 1, the instructions for zero point calibration are on 5 and 6.

(absolutely no intention on treading on Colins toes here, it's just that the zero point cal worked for me)

[R55 BGL]

If it was triggered by the code reader, you can reset it by bridging two of the pins in the OBDII connector under the dash, you need to bridge pins 4 and 14

Procedure is:

• Ignition off
• bridge pins
• ignition on (do not start the engine)
• Leave on for 30 seconds
• ignition off
• remove bridge
• Check that lights are now extinguished.

If you don't want to do it yourself, if you are close enough to me in Basingstoke (on the mobile app, you can't see posters locations even if you have for it on your profile), pop round and I'll do it for you.

Agree with Colin re: the alarm. Could be a poor battery, but also large metallic objects left in the centre console area can play havoc with the alarm for some reason.

just done this on my 2002 gs300 and it worked a treat! had the lights on for just under a yer and could not get it sorted!

cheers

[Cruiser459]

Pardon my naivety but what do you mean by bridging

[TigerFish]

Pardon my naivety but what do you mean by bridging

Just means connect the two pins together with a paper clip or similar.

Sent from my Iphone using Lexus OC

[xlr_8]

i had this problem
i thought it need to change coils pack or something

i plugged the diag scan so i think this is why my VSC was OFF

just tried to bridge the pins and it works perfectly

Thanks a lot for the info ;)