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Bob_fromLA

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Everything posted by Bob_fromLA

  1. I appreciated the suggestions in this post when replacing my upstream sensors. I have no idea why the O2 heater low current test (runs only at engine start) also trips a VSC fault. But, like others my check engine light cleared immediately with new sensors and it seemed like a couple of starts and a short drive cleared the VSC issue as well. After having issues with getting test monitors to pass in several other vehicles, I simply drove the car for a month to let the stored fault code clear before getting a SMOG test. If anyone is following the Lexus LS 430 repair manuals, the inspection procedure on page 05-61 has a heater resistance specification at 5 to 10 ohms. The fault in my sensor was obvious, the heater circuit open. Both the opposite OEM side sensor and the new sensors all had heaters with resistance of 15 ohms, and I replaced both upstream sensors. I could not find / make a tool the separate the connectors and cut the drivers side sensor side connector in pieces, I would NOT recommend doing that as too much possibility to damage the body harness and spicing in a generic connector would be a better option. I also cut the small plastic tab off the new sensor connectors so they would not lock (used tie warps on the harness to ensure they stay mated). Therefore, the connectors would just pull apart in case I ever have to do this again. My guess is the more common fault is bank 1 (drivers side) due to the more extensive use of heat shields on that side.
  2. Update, it turns out that the VSC warning was triggered by a failed O2 heater. Haven't found anyone that knows about a connection from the simple, only at engine start, test for low O2 heater current and the VSC. However, the VSC issue was noted on some of the discussions on the O2 sensor. Mine was the very common bank 1 (driver's side), sensor 1 fault, possibly common as the sensor is surrounded by some heat shields and probably runs hotter than the sensor on the other side. A bit painful to change the sensors, somewhat complicated by which orientation the connector is in. Mine connector was in an impossible position to push the tab, so I cut the connector on the sensor in pieces very carefully and pulled it apart. I would NOT recommend doing that, if you can't get the connectors apart the splice in a generic sensor. The O2 sensor fault was cleared immediately and a couple of engine starts plus a short drive later the VSC warning went away. Therefore, my old battery charger did not cause the VSC issue.
  3. I've been told that you must have any replacement key programmed by a dealer or mechanic who has the special electronic tool used to set preferences, etc. Good luck!
  4. Hi, I agree with everything you said and possibly my new VSC warning has nothing to do the with battery charger. My old charger is the simple step down transformer and a rectifier, producing the pulsating DC that you reference and dropping charge as the battery voltage increases (10 A max in any case). My old scope stopped working, but that is what I can see with a simple meter measuring the pulsing as an AC component. More to come later as I find out if my Auto Enginuity scan tool can pick up the non-emissions codes, not much hurry as I did verify that ABS is still working which mostly leaves the yaw and steering angle sensors to be checked.
  5. The bushings are not super expensive, even for Lexus. Some dealers used to market the sport sway bar as a kit, with the appropriate sport bushings. Installing the sport sway bar kit is really easy, you don't even need a jack. The change to the sport sway bar, especially on slow speed corners, makes a noticeable.difference in push/understeer. I would note that a bit of research indicated that the other components of the "sport suspension" were higher rate springs and struts, marketed in some countries without the sport sway bar as the "rough road" suspension.
  6. Switch and motor are probably fine, but the grease Toyota uses becomes hard over time. The factory setting is to have the steering while tilt up for easy entry / exit, so it is often used. The telescope is less often used, mainly when operating the memory seat settings. Both tilt and telescope became frozen on our car. Almost every owner I've spoken to recently has some form of this problem. Fortunately for you, the tilt motor is easy to get close to. There are a couple of screws on the top trim panel, seen when turning the steering wheel left or right. After those are removed, take out the screw on the bottom. Final step is to press on the sides of the lower trim panel back by the dash and the top and bottom trim panels will separate. The tilt hinge points will be visible and I started with a few drops of light silicon oil on the hinges and on the screw shaft. After slow wiggles, the tilt started to work and I continued to add a few drops of oil while the operating range increased. At that point I also applied a little simple lithium grease and left the lower trim panel off so I can easily remove the top trim panel over the next few months to continue the lubrication process. I also had the default setting to tilt the wheel entry / exit disabled. The manual makes a telescope fix seem easy, but the later cars have the knee airbag that is in the way.
  7. I've been using an old 10 A battery charger periodically (couple of hours), when not using the car much. In general, a lead/acid battery is essentially a constant voltage source and it doesn't care much what connects to it in terms of voltage passed on. While I thought that would block any AC component from the battery charger, perhaps not enough on the Lexus. After the last time I used the charger (done many times before), I now have the VSC indication described above. I pass this on as a caution, I'm getting a new battery charger after I fix the problem. By the way, Lexus starts to describe the diagnostic tests on page 5-483 in the repair manual and VSC trouble codes are on page 5-499. No indication of an ABS issue, so I think the problem is in the only with the VSC sensors and I'll update this post after I fix the problem.
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