Invincible Vehicle Stability Control

[RAC]

I have owned Hilux 's for 25 years without any problems until my most recent purchase a 2011 Invincible.Within a week of purchase March 2011, I realised something was sadly wrong when going around a right hand corner with either some weight in the back ( ie 3bags of cement ) or towing a trailor, with no warning the VCS kicks in pulling the Hilux into the grass verge, this occurs randomly at any time and at times can be very dangerous.I have had a dealership mechanic and a factory expert with their laptops and cables to look at it. They are at present looking at the data.However it has been said if they cannot find anything wrong with the data there isn't much they can do because there are only 2 people in England and 1 in Ireland that have complained and factory time could not be justified.Has anyone else had this problem and if so please go to your dealership and make some noise!

[shug3818]

Hi,

I have both 10 & 11 plated invincibles and I can put the vcs light on both of them almost at will, these motors are tall and narrow and If you heavy footed so to speak ie you are having the problem mostly on rh bends/corners, because we drive rh drive cars we tend to go into rh corners slightly quicker than Lh ones the hiluxes will step out rather quicker than a normal car especially at r/a's or in the rain ? e.g if i,m towing my ifor tralier with my mini digger I can almost put the vcs light on at every corner if i am going a bit faster than i should be the rear end losses traction all be it for a split second but the hilux picks up that loss of traction and hence the vcs light illuminates and the feedback from the steering is well alarming some times !, why don't you try driving in 4wd with the vcs switched off (light on dash illuminated) and see how it goes ?, after a short period of time the vcs will automatically switch back on (light goes out on the dash) just switch it back off again. I have to say though a few bags of cement has never really caused me any problems but I am not really a fast driver especially in the hilux !!!!!

[RAC]

Hi,

I have both 10 & 11 plated invincibles and I can put the vcs light on both of them almost at will, these motors are tall and narrow and If you heavy footed so to speak ie you are having the problem mostly on rh bends/corners, because we drive rh drive cars we tend to go into rh corners slightly quicker than Lh ones the hiluxes will step out rather quicker than a normal car especially at r/a's or in the rain ? e.g if i,m towing my ifor tralier with my mini digger I can almost put the vcs light on at every corner if i am going a bit faster than i should be the rear end losses traction all be it for a split second but the hilux picks up that loss of traction and hence the vcs light illuminates and the feedback from the steering is well alarming some times !, why don't you try driving in 4wd with the vcs switched off (light on dash illuminated) and see how it goes ?, after a short period of time the vcs will automatically switch back on (light goes out on the dash) just switch it back off again. I have to say though a few bags of cement has never really caused me any problems but I am not really a fast driver especially in the hilux !!!!!

Hello,

Thanks for your thoughts.The point being is you should not have to switch the VCS of on the dashboard to make it safe to drive.Have you complained to your dealer about the problems you are having as well.The implication I got from the factory mechanic was that if enough people complained about the problem something would have to be done about it.Did you buy your Hilux from Border Toyota as all the other ones I know about came from there?

[RAC]

i

[pinrol]

Hi Bro,

I'm from New Zealand and myself and other people I know have had problems with stability control coming on while towing, and even can happen with a near empty trailor. I found the more camber on the road, intern the more grip the the ute would have the more likely it was to come on.Myself I got to the point that we were going to sell our ute and buy a different brand, and when our local dealer heard about this they said they had some remapped moduals that apparently are in the abs pump unit, front rh corner of engine bay and they happily replaced it, no more problems, but I took the ute back about 5 times and they recond there was nothing wrong, but they admitted to other complaints, If you have any questions just ask.

good luck, its dangerous, and should have been recalled

[gf.keeper]

I have just taken delivery of a new hilux invincible (63 plate), is there anything I need to be aware of safety wise ??

[dervdave]

I have just taken delivery of a new hilux invincible (63 plate), is there anything I need to be aware of safety wise ??

No none as far I`m concerned, mine has been perfect and so have all the others I know of in the Hilux forum.

[bufordtjustice2003]

This issue is also happening with my 2011 model, again going into right hand bends. Happens more if there is a dip in the road. It doesn't matter if I'm towing or not, it happens empty as well as full and is very dangerous. I nearly lost control of mine today, surely this should be a recall issue as it's clearly not safe?

Mike

[FROSTYBALLS]

Report it using the following - https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-recalls-and-faults/report-a-serious-safety-defect

If there are sufficient complaints of the same issue, the DVSA will investigate the issue together with the manufacturer. If there aren't sufficient complaints the DVSA will report back to you stating there is not enough information to act upon. 

[Devon Aygo]

4 hours ago, bufordtjustice2003 said:

This issue is also happening with my 2011 model, again going into right hand bends. Happens more if there is a dip in the road. It doesn't matter if I'm towing or not, it happens empty as well as full and is very dangerous. I nearly lost control of mine today, surely this should be a recall issue as it's clearly not safe?

Mike

Is the car in the picture yours? if so I may have an answer. I have along with Toyota worked on several cases with similar symptoms and in all of those the cause was modifications to the suspension, wheels or tyres, By fitting larger or chunky 4x4 tyres or raising suspension alter the handling characteristics of the truck outside of those programmed into the VSC control unit causing the VSC to cut in.

Where the truck had larger tyres than standard the wheel rotation speeds when turning where much lower than tat of standard size tyres triggering the VSC to cut in trying to correct what it perceived as loss of traction.

Where to chunky oversized 4x4 tyres where fitted the on road grip levels where compromised by a lower grip level and distotion of the tread in the corners creating understeer which the VSC ecu spotted an activated to correct.

Where the truck had huge oversized wheels and raised ride height both issues where causing a VSC error the wheel size had a rotation speed outside of that allowed by the ECU and the raised ride height increased the lateral g-forces whilst cornering again outside of that allowed by the VSC ecu triggering the to cut in.

In all cases fitting the correct wheels, tyres & suspension stopped the issue .

We also had 2 cases of complaints on trucks with factory equipment however in case after being driven by the driver at crazy speeds the technician reported that the only fault was how the car was driven in the other case which only occurred when towing we couldnt reproduce the issue even when towing at the maximum allowed weights we visited the owners yard and tested his trailer and load and found the nose weight of his trailer and mini digger where way over Toyota's maximum causing issues with the VSC when cornering above 30mph.

Again when used as designed / allowed there where no issues.

Only in one case have we actually found a fault which was with a wheel speed sensor intermittently dropping a signal output making the VSC believe there was loss of control when there wasn't.

[Rick848]

On 06/03/2016 at 8:09 PM, Devon Aygo said:

Is the car in the picture yours? if so I may have an answer. I have along with Toyota worked on several cases with similar symptoms and in all of those the cause was modifications to the suspension, wheels or tyres, By fitting larger or chunky 4x4 tyres or raising suspension alter the handling characteristics of the truck outside of those programmed into the VSC control unit causing the VSC to cut in.

Where the truck had larger tyres than standard the wheel rotation speeds when turning where much lower than tat of standard size tyres triggering the VSC to cut in trying to correct what it perceived as loss of traction.

Where to chunky oversized 4x4 tyres where fitted the on road grip levels where compromised by a lower grip level and distotion of the tread in the corners creating understeer which the VSC ecu spotted an activated to correct.

Where the truck had huge oversized wheels and raised ride height both issues where causing a VSC error the wheel size had a rotation speed outside of that allowed by the ECU and the raised ride height increased the lateral g-forces whilst cornering again outside of that allowed by the VSC ecu triggering the to cut in.

In all cases fitting the correct wheels, tyres & suspension stopped the issue .

We also had 2 cases of complaints on trucks with factory equipment however in case after being driven by the driver at crazy speeds the technician reported that the only fault was how the car was driven in the other case which only occurred when towing we couldnt reproduce the issue even when towing at the maximum allowed weights we visited the owners yard and tested his trailer and load and found the nose weight of his trailer and mini digger where way over Toyota's maximum causing issues with the VSC when cornering above 30mph.

Again when used as designed / allowed there where no issues.

Only in one case have we actually found a fault which was with a wheel speed sensor intermittently dropping a signal output making the VSC believe there was loss of control when there wasn't.

Surely toyota need to take into account that the hilux is primarily a work horse (granted lots only do the school run) and that some people will want better off road performance and fitted mud tyres. It's a horrible issue and very dangerous

[Devon Aygo]

1 hour ago, Rick848 said:

Surely toyota need to take into account that the hilux is primarily a work horse (granted lots only do the school run) and that some people will want better off road performance and fitted mud tyres. It's a horrible issue and very dangerous

They do but they cannot predict every combination of modifications and the responsibility for issues caused by unofficial modifications lay with the modifier/driver and not Toyota. 

In nearly all of the instances the issue occurs at the extreme limits of weights. towing limits and too high a speed for the circumstances etc. which causes the stability control to cut in, if the truck is going to driven in these conditions and the drivers finds the stability control too sensitive if they press and hold the VSC OFF button they disable the VSC totally for that trip but at their own risk!!.

[Rick848]

Belive me I would disable the VSC if I could, but it only stays off under 32 mph after that it comes back. Any other ideas?

[Parts-King]

You didnt answer the question, has your vehicle had modified wheels or tyres?

 

[pinrol]

Read my post previously. 

Remapped modules are available for the abs (stability control) unit from toyota 

I have one and it solved the problem. 

If you are having an issue, perfect place start. My one as fitted under warranty. 

I'm sure that they will sell you one.

[Devon Aygo]

8 hours ago, Rick848 said:

Belive me I would disable the VSC if I could, but it only stays off under 32 mph after that it comes back. Any other ideas?

If you just press and release then yes the VSC will cut in after 32mph  however you press and hold the button the warning on the dash switches to a different light ( sure it says "off" ) this will remain off until the car is restarted.

[orkenny]

Hello there, as a recent first time owner of a Hilux (2011 3.0) I'm also having this problem and I get it on turns to the left and in particular when there is a dip in the road. I have 265/70/17 mud terrains on my pick up which are only slightly bigger than the standard 265/65/17 size so I guess that may be a factor.

I'm going to contact a dealer about this remapped module, does anyone know the part number or the name of it?

Thanks

[Wasif]

Hiya.is there anybody who found a solution yet I have got 2012 hilux 3.0 and it has got same problem it’s very dangerous please let me know if you sort VSC problem on your truck guys thank you 

[daniel power]

hi im having same issues in the uk with my hilux. has anyone had this rectified in the uk ?