Trc/vsc/engine Light On T180

[tubaman]

Today my TRC (Traction Control), VSC (Vehicle Stability Control) & Engine management lights all came on together and have stayed on.

Any ideas what usually causes this to happen ? I'm guessing its some sort of wheel sensor issue ?

It happened to me about 6 months ago but the lights all went out and stayed out for 6 months.

Car is a 2.2 D4-D T180 2006 - still drives well with the lights on but clearly my TSC & VSC are not working and I have not turned my traction control off.

[palmerino]

Today my TRC (Traction Control), VSC (Vehicle Stability Control) & Engine management lights all came on together and have stayed on.

Any ideas what usually causes this to happen ? I'm guessing its some sort of wheel sensor issue ?

It happened to me about 6 months ago but the lights all went out and stayed out for 6 months.

Car is a 2.2 D4-D T180 2006 - still drives well with the lights on but clearly my TSC & VSC are not working and I have not turned my traction control off.

Hi, there!

I would suggest you to read the codes even if it is not at toyota garage, could be at any of your local ones, as this can be sometghing serious and dangerous for you to drive like that. And the local garages are much cheaper than Toyota. Once you know you could take it from there.

Regards

Palmerino

[hubla]

Today my TRC (Traction Control), VSC (Vehicle Stability Control) & Engine management lights all came on together and have stayed on.

Any ideas what usually causes this to happen ? I'm guessing its some sort of wheel sensor issue ?

It happened to me about 6 months ago but the lights all went out and stayed out for 6 months.

Car is a 2.2 D4-D T180 2006 - still drives well with the lights on but clearly my TSC & VSC are not working and I have not turned my traction control off.

I had a similar problem. In my case it turned out to be a clogged DPF pipe. If under warranty, Toyota will fix this by replacing the CAT. If not under warranty, a new CAT is expensive. Fortunately for me, there is a simple fix described somewhere in this forum that worked for me. The fix involves blowing air down a hose with a compressor. That did it for me and the lights never came on after that. I also cleaned the EGR valve, which might have helped.

[tubaman]

Thanks for the help - appreciated, but I can't think how a blocked DPF pipe would have anything to do with traction Control or Vehicle Stability control ?

I maybe wrong but to be fair, I have suspected this pipe may have been blocked for a while as I never seem to smell or hear a regeneration cycle

[jimtaxi]

Thanks for the help - appreciated, but I can't think how a blocked DPF pipe would have anything to do with traction Control or Vehicle Stability control ?

I maybe wrong but to be fair, I have suspected this pipe may have been blocked for a while as I never seem to smell or hear a regeneration cycle

I had the same fault on my T3X 2.2 150 the AA operative said that after driving the car he was sure it was a fuel problem contaminated possibly. he reset code and drove car again, the code for "injector circuit open " came up he said that was impossible and recommended a trip to the dealer. The main dealer came to same conclusion and drained fuel from filter area and associated pipework renewed filter and bingo car drives normally. They changed engine oil and filter too.The dealer said they were sure the fuel was contaminated with either moisture or some other liquid car has now driven 3500 mls with no lights on.

[Trev Miles]

Check your brake light bulbs!!! They are on the same circuit!! I bet you have one or both that have blown.

[Beagh1958]

To Tubaman.

Clean your EGR valve as suggested by previous posting before spending any money. Sits on top of the engine, have had this problem on a few ocassions & all lights once cleared should hopefully stay off. Don't ask me how this fault can turn these warning lights on, but they do.

Regards, Beagh.

[tubaman]

Thanks guys - lights currently off but I know they will come on again for say a few days in the coming weeks.

Somethings clearly starting to fail or give intermittant readings just not sure what !

[Rossi46]

Buy an OBD2 reader from eBay and read/clear the codes yourself.

It saves a lot of time and money, mine was less than £20 from eBay.

Also, every time the engine light has appeared on my dash, it has been accompanied by the VSC and TRC lights as well.

[tubaman]

Now that's interesting - do the TSC & VSC always come on with any engine fault that causes the engine light on the dash to come on ?

If so, I was assuming my issue was something to do with this yet in reality it could be anything.

[Rossi46]

Now that's interesting - do the TSC & VSC always come on with any engine fault that causes the engine light on the dash to come on ?

If so, I was assuming my issue was something to do with this yet in reality it could be anything.

I'm not sure about that mate but i've had 2 different faults since i've owned my car and both times VSC/TRC came on.

[Beagh1958]

To Tubaman.

Clean your EGR valve, it's free to do & you don't have to charge yourself. As i suggested, i have had this problem many times & it has always cleared the fault.

Regards, Beagh.

[tubaman]

I like to think of mayself as a bit of an expert at cleaning EGR valves - its been done twice in the last 6 months.

I hooked my laptop & OBD II software upto the car at the weekend and its the dreaded 2002 code (re the Cat) - so looks like I may have a battle with my local dealership to have the cat replaced as its a know (to Toyota) fault - replacement CAT with modified (larger) pipes I understand is the only solution

[Rob S]

TRC/VSC/Engine warning light.

Hi all - I am a new member after just finding the owners club via google.

My 2007 44k miles T180 which has been brilliant since I bought it 2 yrs ago has just developed the same fault as the first post in this topic, the TSC, VSC and engine warning lights have come on together. After a while they all went off but after a few miles came on again and now stayed on. My local garage (not a Toyota dealer) plugged in his diagnostic gizmo and the fault is apparently with the diesel particulate filter. He suspects it is partially blocked and has put a bottle of cleaner additive in my tank and told me to give it a 30 mile blast on the motorway. I've not done this yet but am concerned that I might do some engine damage.

I would really appreciate any advice and information on what to do.

Many thanks.

[Druid Boy]

When this happened to my 06 2.2D4D it was the EGR failing. It did reset itself but came back. Note that the symptoms were accompanied by a loss of power which hasn't been mentioned here so in this case it amy not be the EGR but it is an easy DIY clean.

The reason the VSC & TCR lights come on when the EGR valve fails is that if your EGR valve isn't working the car cannot kill the engine power by recirculating the exhaust gas, a function of both VSC & TCR.

[Rob S]

Thanks for the advice and explanation Druid Boy. I will try cleaning the EGR but there is definitely no loss of power - it runs like a dream. Do you think it could still be EGR even though the diagnostic states it is the DPF ? Thanks to you at least I understand why the VSC & TCR lights are on too.

[antred]

The VSC and TC lights came on my T180 (not the engine management light) and it was because I had 1 budget tyre fitted following a puncture, turns out you have to have tyres which are similar on the same axle. Replaced the new budget tyre and it was sorted, it does mention this in the handbook.

[Druid Boy]

If the diagnostic says DPF then I would have to go for that first to be honest. After all, what are diagnostic tools for if not to provide a diagnosis. Good luck with this. Let us know how you get on.

[Rob S]

Good news folks.

As suggested by my garage I took my T180 for a blast down the motorway with a full bottle of fuel additive in a full tank of diesel. I did around 40 miles at 3500 to 4000rpm - the VSC, TCR abd Engine warning lights stayed on... The next day the lights were still on driving across town. That evening when I fired up the engine, the lights went out ! They have not come back on for what is now around 40 miles town driving.

Seems like the fix has worked so I thought this post might encourage others to do the same.

I have also ordered a bottle of BG244 additive to add to make sure.

Thanks for the advice posts - greatly appreciated.

Rob

[North East Tech]

Hi, as above there is most likely 2 causes

1. a blocked air pipe to the dpnf catalyst P2002

2. a stuck or sticking egr valve due to carbon build up P0400

I would advise that you did nothing yourself and took the vehicle to a toyota dealer, the reason being that both faults are covered under a silent extended warranty providing you have full documented service history and your vehicle has under 110,000 miles or is less than 7 years old.

The most likely cause is excess carbon build up which will cause both faults. The route cause of this is incorrectly designed piston crowns which create to much heat and thus cause the engine to burn oil and create carbon deposits. This is also the cause of blown headgaskets and damaged cylinder heads / blocks. All of these faults are covered if the failure is found to be down to the pistons, you may be asked to cover the cost of the engine strip in the first case until cause is determined but providing your vehicle meets the above mentioned criteria it shouldn't be a problem.

In most cases the engine normally gets new pistons and rings, big end bearings, new EGR valve and a new cylinder head. There is a modified pipe and adapter for the dpnf catalyst and then a forced regeneration will sort the problem.

D4D engine vehicles 2006 onwards (2.0 and 2.2) also have an extension on waterpumps as they are also a big problem.

The reason abs and vsc lights come on with an engine fault is on vehicles equipped with vsc all systems are interlinked as the abs/vsc system needs to be able to control the throttle etc in the event of lost traction .

The EGR valve is used to cool the combustion process by recirculating exhaust fumes back into the combustion chamber which will burn less fierce than air preventing Nox from being produced. This is only done over certain engine speeds as it would have an negative effect on the engine performance. Cleaning the valve is only a temp fix and it will reoccur.

Hope this helps you all :-)

[tubaman]

North East Techs comments should qualify as Post of the Year - so informative. MANY thanks

[Fubarca]

North East Techs comments should qualify as Post of the Year - so informative. MANY thanks

Ditto, kwolity post by North East Techs.

My T180 has just gone in to a main dealer for a complete new engine. Had the same three lights on trc, vsc and engine management light on my way to the airport to go on holiday in late June. Immediately lost power and went into limp/safety mode. Obviously I didn't have a scooby what was going on but my trouble and strife looked in the manual while I was still driving and it said it could still be driven safely, so we carried on to the airport.

When I got back off Hols I half expected the error to have cleared but it hadn't, so I took it in to the place I had bought it from. RRG Stockport. They said it would be £49 for a diagnostic check and they would ring me to let me know what the error was.

This car was purchased new in June 2006 and I have done 32,500 miles at the time of the fault. It has also been regularly serviced at the same main dealer (every year even with the low 6.5k per year mileage). So needless to say I wasn't happy at it developing a fault. I had read some post on these excellent forums about cat failures and head gaskets blowing etc in these engines so was ready to kick off with the dealer if he said it was out of warranty.

I couldn't believe my ears when he said the car needed a complete new engine. Fair play to the dealership as they never even quibbled about it at all and told me straight away that Toyota would cover it under extended warranty. They didn't even charge me for the diagnostic check. It is now with them for the week while they fit the new engine and test it. I have always been a Toyota driver and have had two corollas in the past and a previa that I never had any problems with. All petrol engines mind you. The fact that they are covering this work is testament to toyota's reputation management and I could not fault the dealership, but I have to say after my experience and readiness posts on here and the lexis owners forums, I am loosing my faith in the Toyota brand.

You pay slightly over the odds (in my opinion) to get the reliability that you expect will come with a Toyota. I bought this car fully expecting to have it for at least ten years out of it with no problems. This episode now makes me feel like the car will develop other faults that may not be covered under extended warranty and I will end up having to Shell out for repairs on a car that is just about run in at 33k.

I would be interested in getting other views on whether I should ditch this car fast after the new engine is installed or whether I should keep it as it will have a new engine??

A Toyota mechnic has told me that they have just stopped trying to repair the engines on the older models, which were some of the first to have the 2.2 d4d turbo engine fitted, and they have now just decided to replace the engines, no quibbles. Okay Toyota are doing this at their expense, but will this car develop further faults? These faults must be well documented with Toyota dealerships and must be known issues.

Any advice appreciated.

[jimmy riddle]

oh dear my 56 plate t180 trc/vsc lights came on today . i turned engine off and on lights off .. taking it to dealer tomorrow

[cvsmjd]

Hi, as above there is most likely 2 causes

1. a blocked air pipe to the dpnf catalyst P2002

2. a stuck or sticking egr valve due to carbon build up P0400

I would advise that you did nothing yourself and took the vehicle to a toyota dealer, the reason being that both faults are covered under a silent extended warranty providing you have full documented service history and your vehicle has under 110,000 miles or is less than 7 years old.

The most likely cause is excess carbon build up which will cause both faults. The route cause of this is incorrectly designed piston crowns which create to much heat and thus cause the engine to burn oil and create carbon deposits. This is also the cause of blown headgaskets and damaged cylinder heads / blocks. All of these faults are covered if the failure is found to be down to the pistons, you may be asked to cover the cost of the engine strip in the first case until cause is determined but providing your vehicle meets the above mentioned criteria it shouldn't be a problem.

In most cases the engine normally gets new pistons and rings, big end bearings, new EGR valve and a new cylinder head. There is a modified pipe and adapter for the dpnf catalyst and then a forced regeneration will sort the problem.

D4D engine vehicles 2006 onwards (2.0 and 2.2) also have an extension on waterpumps as they are also a big problem.

The reason abs and vsc lights come on with an engine fault is on vehicles equipped with vsc all systems are interlinked as the abs/vsc system needs to be able to control the throttle etc in the event of lost traction .

The EGR valve is used to cool the combustion process by recirculating exhaust fumes back into the combustion chamber which will burn less fierce than air preventing Nox from being produced. This is only done over certain engine speeds as it would have an negative effect on the engine performance. Cleaning the valve is only a temp fix and it will reoccur.

Hope this helps you all :-)

Hi my lights have just come on - I had it serviced last week at a local independant garage - new discs and pads were fitted. I have taken it back and mentioned (from reading over threads) the EGR valve. My car does use a lot of oil- from what you say it looks like I should have taken it to the dealer. Can I ask how do I put to the dealer that this fault is covered by a silent extended warranty ???

Thanks for any help /advice

[Fubarca]

Got my T180 back now and everything seems okay so far. Keep fingers crossed.

The repair sheet said the garage had done a 3/4 engine replacement. It was with the dealer for over three weeks as the wrong parts had arrived the first time. Toyota allowed me to get a hire car after the first week had passed. If it had been fixed in a week as the dealer had claimed it would have been, I could have done without a car for a week but when it went beyond this I just complained and they allowed me to get a Zafira from a car hire company. All costs were picked up by Toyota so I can't complain.

CVSMJD - when I took my car to the dealer they never even argued or quibbled about it. They said Toyota would pick up the cost of repair straight away. I do have a FSH with the same dealer and the car has only done 33k though. It is now 5 years and 3 months old.

Still not sure whether to keep the car or not as I have done a lot of research and there appear to be a few problems with this model and year.