Hei everyone, I hope you are doing great.
I bought my 2008 IS350 about a year ago and it has been awesome, aside from the Check VSC message on the instrument cluster. Allow me to further explain:
The "Check VSC" message surprisingly showed up for the first time immediately after filling up the gas tank with 95octane gas [the previous owner never mentioned nothing about this]. Aside from the Check VSC message on the instrument cluster there were no difference on my driving experience, everything felt normal, after like a month when I was driving my way to work and the car went to "Limp mode" [rpms wont go higher than 2000]. Since then I have tried several things, and the code always comeback. This is the order of the things I have tried after mainly exploring the web looking for solutions and considering other people experiences:
-Disconnected the battery = clears the code, but it randomly shows up again. As you may know, this actually clears everything, so this is no solution.
-Cleaned the MAF sensor with CRC Electric Cleaner
-Cleaned the Throttle Body with CRC Throttle Body and & Air-Intake Cleaner
-Replaced all 4 wheels Brake Pads with OEM ones
-Cleaned all 4 brake rotors and calipers with CRC Brakleen
-Replaced the fuel tank cap [I always fill up the tank up to its max point, no further, and close the cap after just one click, at the gas station]
The Check VSC message kept coming back, and as a consequence I continued getting into Limp mode randomly, so I decided to get myself the Bluetooth OBDII scanner. Scanning my car after getting into Limp mode I got C1201 together with P0504, P0175, P0172 and P1170, and I did the following:
-Replaced 6 spark plugs with OEM ones
-Disconnected and cleaned with CRC Electronic cleaner the 4 connectors that go into the Injector Driver ECU. Also cleaned/brushed the ground connections of this DCU.
-Replaced the PCV Valve
-Replaced the Fuel Filter Assy OEM
-Poured a 473ml bottle of Cataclean into may fuel tank when there was 1/4tank remaining [as per Cataclean indications]
So after the above the Check VSC kept coming back, and every now and then I have been going into Limp mode [I can get out of Limp mode by turning OFF the engine and starting the car back, but this is so annoying while daily driving as you might imagine].
Trying to go a little bit further I followed the advice of doing the "Zero Point Calibration" through Techstream [I got it from ebay] by selecting the ABS/VSC/TRAC "Utility", and executing the "Reset Memory", and then a "Test Mode". After these I cleared all DTCs, and after a day without any issues today I got the Check VSC message again. Doing a Health Check on all DCU I am getting C1201 together with P0175, P1170 and P0504 [I attach to this post the Freeze Frame Data Report from Techstream for each one of these].
The TIS Repair Manual suggests to replace the ECM, and if that does not do it then to replace the Skid Control DCU, but I have a hunch that this might not solve the issue after everything I have done. And seeing C1201 constantly together with the other codes I am starting to believe that it might just be a "consequence" DTC and not the root cause of whatever issue my car is having. Honestly, I have no expertise in Toyota/Lexus cars, and I cannot see how P0175 [System too rich], P1170 [Fuel Performance/Fuel Injector], or P0504 [Brake Switch A/B correlation] might be related to C1201 Check VSC and cause me to go to Limp Mode [unless this is some kind of engineered behavior to protect me as a driver from an accident by going to fast on the road], and all this time I have been troubleshooting the wrong code or starting from wrong assumptions about the root cause.
I would highly appreciate any feedback or tip to continue troubleshooting this issue, if anyone could take a look into the data attached to this post and provide some lights to what to look at, which parameter is out of range, what part could be affected, I would highly appreciate it.
Thanks!
I bought my 2008 IS350 about a year ago and it has been awesome, aside from the Check VSC message on the instrument cluster. Allow me to further explain:
The "Check VSC" message surprisingly showed up for the first time immediately after filling up the gas tank with 95octane gas [the previous owner never mentioned nothing about this]. Aside from the Check VSC message on the instrument cluster there were no difference on my driving experience, everything felt normal, after like a month when I was driving my way to work and the car went to "Limp mode" [rpms wont go higher than 2000]. Since then I have tried several things, and the code always comeback. This is the order of the things I have tried after mainly exploring the web looking for solutions and considering other people experiences:
-Disconnected the battery = clears the code, but it randomly shows up again. As you may know, this actually clears everything, so this is no solution.
-Cleaned the MAF sensor with CRC Electric Cleaner
-Cleaned the Throttle Body with CRC Throttle Body and & Air-Intake Cleaner
-Replaced all 4 wheels Brake Pads with OEM ones
-Cleaned all 4 brake rotors and calipers with CRC Brakleen
-Replaced the fuel tank cap [I always fill up the tank up to its max point, no further, and close the cap after just one click, at the gas station]
The Check VSC message kept coming back, and as a consequence I continued getting into Limp mode randomly, so I decided to get myself the Bluetooth OBDII scanner. Scanning my car after getting into Limp mode I got C1201 together with P0504, P0175, P0172 and P1170, and I did the following:
-Replaced 6 spark plugs with OEM ones
-Disconnected and cleaned with CRC Electronic cleaner the 4 connectors that go into the Injector Driver ECU. Also cleaned/brushed the ground connections of this DCU.
-Replaced the PCV Valve
-Replaced the Fuel Filter Assy OEM
-Poured a 473ml bottle of Cataclean into may fuel tank when there was 1/4tank remaining [as per Cataclean indications]
So after the above the Check VSC kept coming back, and every now and then I have been going into Limp mode [I can get out of Limp mode by turning OFF the engine and starting the car back, but this is so annoying while daily driving as you might imagine].
Trying to go a little bit further I followed the advice of doing the "Zero Point Calibration" through Techstream [I got it from ebay] by selecting the ABS/VSC/TRAC "Utility", and executing the "Reset Memory", and then a "Test Mode". After these I cleared all DTCs, and after a day without any issues today I got the Check VSC message again. Doing a Health Check on all DCU I am getting C1201 together with P0175, P1170 and P0504 [I attach to this post the Freeze Frame Data Report from Techstream for each one of these].
The TIS Repair Manual suggests to replace the ECM, and if that does not do it then to replace the Skid Control DCU, but I have a hunch that this might not solve the issue after everything I have done. And seeing C1201 constantly together with the other codes I am starting to believe that it might just be a "consequence" DTC and not the root cause of whatever issue my car is having. Honestly, I have no expertise in Toyota/Lexus cars, and I cannot see how P0175 [System too rich], P1170 [Fuel Performance/Fuel Injector], or P0504 [Brake Switch A/B correlation] might be related to C1201 Check VSC and cause me to go to Limp Mode [unless this is some kind of engineered behavior to protect me as a driver from an accident by going to fast on the road], and all this time I have been troubleshooting the wrong code or starting from wrong assumptions about the root cause.
I would highly appreciate any feedback or tip to continue troubleshooting this issue, if anyone could take a look into the data attached to this post and provide some lights to what to look at, which parameter is out of range, what part could be affected, I would highly appreciate it.
Thanks!