My father is taking the RX330 tomorrow to the dealership. He thinks I broke something in it when I took it out on Friday Night. It was COLD so me and my friends stayed in my car with the seat warmers on and the heater blasting away. We rode around town just talking for over a couple hours. I would also go park somewhere and keep the engine running. After doing another driving round, I parked again somewhere and turned the engine off after being on well over a couple hours. We just sat in the car, with no seat warmers and heater off, but just the radio, watching the frost cover my car. After a hour, I started the car up and noticed the Check Engine, VSC, and TRAC OFF light going off in the dashboard. It worried me, because it never happened before. I didn't touch any buttons or abused the car. So I have no clue why its going off. My father used the car that morning and got onto me when he came home telling my I broke something in the car. I couldn't tell him why because I honestly don't know. So he's taking it to the stealership tomorrow seeing if anything is really broken. Anyone got any clue as to why the Check Engine, VSC, and TRAC OFF is going off? If so, how can I fix it and remove it. It would save me from hitchhiking tomorrow and save my father a 100+ mile to and back trip.

(P.S. The Lexus is the only car in the family as of now, since my sister totalled the 4Runner and the Supra is in the shop STILL as it been over a month.)

I appreciate any help,
2NAC.

 

Seriously, you were using the seat heaters in Florida? I rarely use them when I'm in Wisconsin. They get so hot, even on low that I can't stand to keep them on. LOL! I'm in SW FL and it wasn't that cold but even in the northerly counties it was only around 32°, right?

It doesn't sound like you caused any problem but I can't say what is going on. When you have control of the vehicle and something goes awry you have to expect to get the blame. That's the way things work. Once the dealer checks the codes they will know what happened and what needs to be fixed. Problem is that anything the dealer does costs lots of money. You might have driven to an auto parts supply store and most of them will be happy to read out the codes and tell you what is wrong for free. Make a note of that for next time.

 

Could be the battery, some people have the same issue and when they replaced the battery, the problem went away...good luck.

 

If the car is running well then unlikely to be anything serious. Weak battery is likely. Try disconnecting the battery (which should reset the error codes), giving it a charge, reconnecting and seeing if the CEL comes on again.

Another common issue is a loose gas cap. Did you recently fill up?

 

I appreciate all your help everyone.

Ha. I know its kind of sad, but we were freezing! I didn't think about the battery thing, I'll make sure I'll do that early morning. I had knowledge about getting your codes read from any local automotive store, but my father looked at me like I'm stupid. He even said I most likely burnt the ignition... He's hard headed and most likely will drive 100+ miles and spend money just to prove a point to me.

Again, I appreciate your help and will do the battery idea.

 

Read this:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx3...n-driving.html

Sounds like your brake light switch went out. Not as scarry as it looked.

 

Just had to take my RX 330 into the dealer for the same issue. It was the brake light switch. Luckily it was covered by the warranty and there was no cost to me.

Good luck!

 

Dad's are like that. I know mine was and when I had kids I found I was cut from the same cloth. LOL

Now that my dad has passed away I miss his snide comments from time to time. Enjoy him while you can.

 

As discussed in another thread, you want to remove and replace the gas cap. That might reset the lights, after you drive for 1/2 an hour.

It could be an oxygen sensor. They tend to fail in RX's. Not a big deal to replace it. All the idling might have made it fail.

 

Biff44,
Second time you suggested gas cap or O2 sensors will send a VSC, ABS, and braking related lights. I am confused. I am a good shade tree mechanic (haven't had a car in the dealership for repairs in 20 years) but I don't know what the connection is here.

Can you explain?

 

I would think emissions control requirements (OBD-II).

My wife's '05 will toss a VSC light occasionally, especially in the cold. According to my reading, the ECU monitors the gas tank pressure, and if it's not behaving as expected then it assumes the possibility of a fuel vapor leak. It will then light up the VSC light of all things.

I always figured it was because they had forgotten to include an "Emissions" light on the dash, and had to start doubling up existing indicators to cover the 1001 things that can go wrong with these cars.

Certainly lighting up an esoteric-looking drivetrain-related light on the dash would motivate Jane Average to take her car in and get it fixed - assuming anything was wrong in the first place.

 

It is quite simply just the way they wrote the software. If x, or y, or z goes wrong, illuminate idiot lights a,b and c. Stuff like that. There is no reasoning to it.