VSC Trac Check Engine Lights and Sputtering at 2900 RPM!!
 

Started my automatic trans xB last night. Idle was rough and then the VSC, TRAC and Check Engine lights all lit up. I only have 900 miles on the car.

As I drive, it feels sluggish but when I hit just under 3000 rpm it now sputters, and bucks until it shifts to the next gear and the RPMs drop.
Now, every time the RPMs rise to around 2900 the bucking occurs.

After researching other posts, I've seen triggering the lights attributed to:

- bad gas
- dirty MAF sensor
- Bad "charcoal filter"
- Bad knock sensor
- Bad spark plugs
- Poorly installed A/V mods

I have quite a few engine-related mods and don't relish the notion of battling the dealer on which mod they feel brought this on. I have no A/V mods at all.

My main question is this - what would cause the bucking at exactly the same RPMs? The only post that had the lights AND the "shuddering" was the whole bad gas saga posted by Skywalker.
No hint from recent driving that fuel might be bad. I buy my gas at Shell/Citgo and have never had a gas related problem before.

I have an Injen CAI that has a long run from the fender well to the MAF... this has been on for maybe 200 miles and I drive on suburban streets. Can a MAF get fouled that quickly??

The last mod I did before this started was installing the OEM foglight kit. I did briefly disconnect the positive wire to the battery.
I cannot conceive of a relationship between that and the bucking I get at a certain rpm point.

I'll try the whole "rebooting of the ECU" by disconnecting the battery. This seems to cure some ills, but I can't make any connection between that and the bucking.
Does feels more like a fuel system problem than an electrical problem.fortunately no mods made to the fuel system to the engine.

Any comments?

this might not help, but when i picked up my car from the dealer, she was telling me to make sure when i filled my tank with gas to make sure to have the gas cap super tight. she basically stated that all the warning lights will turn on if the gas cap is loose. i dont know if this will help, but i thought i should post just in case...

Thanks. I've tried filling the gas tank and tightening the gas cap and no improvement.

I've also done the whole battery disconnect thing in hopes of restting the ecu, also with no effect.

So it goes back to the dealer. I'll post the results and the level of hassle. My dealer has no reviews on here... they control their reputation at this point!

Had that same wxact problem with an xA. Bad MAP sensor. Did you put on an intake? If there is too much oil on the filter the oil will pass throught the MAP sensor and dirt will collect on the sensor. This can toast the sensor.

Go immediately back to stock. Remove the injen CAI and put the stock back on. The MAF sensor will cost you a lot of $$$. Once stock have the box brought in to the dealer. Do NOT tell them about any mods. If you placed an injen sticker on your car take that out too. :D What the dealer doesnt know wont hurt you. :lol:

I would've thought the longer run of the CAI would've prevented any oil transfer...

Can I put it back on after the MAF is replaced?

Good luck with your box...

Mine had the same problem and I've been without a box for over a almost a month now...My problem was the exact same thing and it turned out my "Knoc" sensor was bad...

Take it in and get it on a diagnostic right away...If this sensor failed on your box your looking at a very long wait for the part because they are still on backorder from Japan until Sept. 13th, possible longer...I've since filed a complaint and have a formal claim started with Scion Corp regarding my long wait...

Again, not trying to insinuate this is the problem with yours, but mine sputtered too, and all three lights lit up as well...The reason your box is sputtering is because the Knoc sensor controls the valve timing and your valve timing is way off...I was told by the service techs that my box is undrivable in this condition because the engine is mis-firing and as a precaution for nothing else to go wrong, the VSC and TRAC are turned off by the computer making the ride unpredictable...

I've had a rental car the whole time and the dealership is picking up the tab for everything...You should check into it if you already haven't figured out what's wrong...

Best of luck to you and your box, and please post what the cause of this was if and when you find out :D

DAN

Thanks for sharing... Any answer as to why the sensor went bad? Any "performance" mods to your box?

I couldn't have worse timing - I am scheduled to have a leather interior installed on the Wednesday after Labor Day. It is supposed to be finished by that Friday, which is cool because we are having a "meet" in Madison the next day (Saturday.)

As you know, I can't drive the thing at expressway speeds since I can't get the rpms over 3000 and Madison is 150 miles away.

My dealer can't make a diagnosis appointment for over a week (so much for customer preference.)

I ended up telling the dealer coordinating the leather install (they recently sponsored the first meet I ever went to) about my problem. The leather installer they use is a good 35 miles away and unless they fix it first, they aren't going to be able to drive it on the expressway either.

They told me to bring it in on Tuesday and that they would extend the loaner car I was getting for an additional day :D Now, I'm sorry I didn't buy my xB from them, but with the pure-pricing, I bought at my local dealer on a spur of the moment thing.

I don't know what they will do if they can't fix it on Tuesday to take to the leather guy by Wednesday... is a knock sensor tough to remove? Why can't our dealers pull it off a new xB on the lot and send us on our way and install it on their car when the part finally comes in?

If the dealer fixes it and has the leather in by Friday, I am going to be literally gushing props about this dealer ad nauseum!!!

I'm not sure why the sensor went bad on mine...I can say they told me that it wasn't caused by anything, just purely a sensor malfunction and burnout for some reason...My Lava is bone stock for now, it's only four months old with under 3,000 miles on it...Heh, I haven't had the chance to do anything to it yet...In fact, there was another guy with a Lava in our club that had the same sensor go bad on him, and his box had under 200 miles on it when it happened...He's now got well over 20,000 miles on it with no further problems...

I feel your pain on the timing too...Trying to get my box to the dealership to get it repaired was a horrible ordeal I'll never forget...

If I was you I'd have the leather installed after you ge the engine problem fixed, this way theres no unnecessary driving done on the motor in transit to get it done...The dealership should give you the rental car as long as you need one so the good thing is you'll have transportation in the meantime :)

I asked if they could pull the sensor off of another xB too, but the dealership told me it was against their policy to do that, and they could get in trouble for it...I guess thats feasable, so I didn't argue it much...The Knoc sensor isn't a tough part to remove...From what I was told, it's a plug in sensor and takes only minutes to remove and replace, the ECU is reset, and your good to go :)

Again best of luck to you, and I hope they can get your box fixed and that leather installed on time for your meet...

I called Scion Corp and filed a claim about my waiting period, and my new sensor was shipped Friday from Japan and will arrive on Tuesday morning...I was told my box will be ready by Wednesday morning :)

Hang in there, and be sure to keep us posted on what's going on!!!

DAN

the same thing happen to me .............it happen as i was changing the steering wheel though. there was a small black circle piece behind the stock steering wheel that seneses the VSC it wasnt centered and thats what made the engine sheudder like you mentioned. it sensed that the car was at an angle but it wasnt.....dont know if you were messing around with the steering wheel or what not like hanging on to it when you were installing stuff. but let me know whats up peace.

Nope, no steering wheel mods... unless you count the Wheelskin I put on :shock:

UPDATE: After a major cluster f*ck at the dealer, their initial diagnosis is a bad MAF. According to the service writer, they can't pinpoint it "for sure" until I return the intake to the stock airbox set up (Yes, I was too lazy to follow the advice posted and took it in with the Injen CAI still installed).

I thought this dealership would be cool since they are a SL sponsor but I guess "cool" and "dealership" can never be used in the same sentence, especially when it comes to service...

Codes thrown are P0101 and P0103, both which are air flow related...

My question is this: How can Injen sell a product that will eventually kill the MAF? Is it for the same reason they still sell cigarettes - it's up to the user to decide if they want to f*ck up their own system?

Seriously, the service writer gave me some BS about AEM intakes being the only compatable intake that won't toast the MAF - should we be warning everybody not to try other intakes??? I have less than 1,000 miles on my box and the Injen was on for not even 200 miles...

Comments?

Well the good news is at least you don't have to wait a month for you box to get back to you...Even though you do ahve intake problems, I'm hopeful they can get the new sensor you need for your MAF :D I'm still waiting to get my box back :(


Sad to hear that the Injen intake is killing systems though...Funny though I know a lot of people with intakes that aren't the AEM brand too, and they've never had problems that I know of...The service writer giving you grief for having the Injen intake was all standard practice I think...They're supposed to tell these things so you'll spend more money and buy the AEM stuff straight from them :twisted:

I hope you get your box up and running soon :D

DAN

this just happend to my car. im taking it to the dealer tomorrow.
i happend to install some strobe lights right before this happend, so im not even sure if this is the actual cause. i do have an ingen cai but its been installed for over 6 months already. i took the cai out and put the stock one in so the dealer wont blame me, hopefully they will fix it for free.

How sad, this is my first post
 

Well, at least I know I'm not alone.
I bought a "Certified" '08 XB with 10,000 miles on it,
and suffered the same symptoms 10 min's into driving home.
I convinced my girl to buy this, (She wanted a Honda Fit)
We have an appointment for first thing Tuesday morning
with the Dealership, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed
that they can fix this quickly.
I'd rather not spend the next week sleeping in the car.

O.K. the dealer just called and said "One of the Ignition Coils"
was bad. They are going to replace it today, and "see if that works"
We'll see what happens ....

B.T.W. how many coils does this thing have ?

Found out the answer is 4....$ Ignition Coils ah, ha, ha,ha,ha
and I needed one replaced.
That being done she runs like a champ....
Woot,
and I didn't even have to headbutt anyone.

yea my friend had the same problem was coil.. if you put anything other than ngk ur coils will go out