ok had my xb now for a little over 2 years.
about 6 months after getting it, the VSC TC check engine lights came on
took it to my local dealer. was told was a rvl code(rapid vapor loss)
replaced my fuel cap. was good for a while then bang! all the lights are on again.
take it back to dealer. oh there was water in some charcoal filter in the fuel system.
im like water????? oh probbly from a car wash...they replaced the filter.
was good for a while, bang! lights on again same thing reaplaced same filter
been in about 4 or 5 times since then and have been told several diffrent things it was.
and each time the lights are coming on sooner and sooner.this time it lasted a whole 2 days and was told thats gotta be the problem...is it the dealer?
or the car? checked into the lemon law for oregon and i am coming up on the cutoff of like 32 months after buying the car just wondering what i should do here?????
the lights dont really bother me but i need my traction control and stability control.
hmmmmmmmmmm!!
the codes are always fuel system related it seems too
wich is kinda wierd i guess.

 

hmmm - i'm not sure. both of those lights plus the check engine light come on for me all the time, but mine is for a rear o2 sensor due to turbo install (whcih I still need to fix) - i'm not sure what to for ya. Post this same post up in the scion xb side & i'm sure you'll get a lot of responses there plus maybe downhillspec can offer some insight since he knows a lot about cars

 

What I tell ya about getting gas from the fuel truck!

Don - If you have gone to the same dealer try a couple of different places. Have them check the entire fuel system out and check the O2 sensor. Maybe there is water in the tank.

The VSC/TC I would bet is a separate issue.

Try Clarke's Discount Inc in Aloha next to Intel's Aloha campus. (www.clarkesdiscount.com)

 

Don:

What dealership are you taking it to if you don't mind me asking? I am assuming Beaverton?

If not Beaverton....please call Ricky Fernandez at 503.626.7200. They have some of the regions most tenured techs (Most teams atleast). Sounds like it could be a number of issues.

I do feel your pain though. I just purchased a new car and had to bring it in several times (3) for the same issue. It ended up being a small valve, but hard to diagnose.

 

seams stragne with the vsc light coming on to have something to do with the fuel system. I will ask a couple of my techs and see what they have to say, andIwill try and do some checking into that for you

 

not beaverton...
i have always used royal moore.
thats what i was thinking of doing is just trying a diffrent dealer to see what they come up with.
i guess what the problem is that when it "throws" the codes its always more than one....
well i have an appt. at royal moore in the morning. so i will give them one more chance if not im will give ricky a call.
thanx doug!!

 

yea what they are telling me is when it throws these codes the vsc trac and check engine lights come on.

i know wierd...lol

thanx victor!!

 

you can always go to autozone and they will do a free reading and give you the codes as well.

are the traction control, check engine and VSC lights coming on at the same time?

If so, it could be the o2 sensor too 'cause that's happening to me now!

 

Are you using Arco gas..........we did tests at Sears to check gas for lawnmowers and Arco regularly.........and I meen regularly......came back at 25-33%water in the gas,this testing was done over a 6 month period.........that is like a quart of water per gallon,10 gallon tank you got 2.5 gallons water in the tank at all times........it will trash the charcoal cannister fast,and the fuel pump and the filter and the injectors and fuel lines will get gummy too...........

76 or Chevron came in with the lowest at 10-12%
Texaco which is now shell came in at 12-13%

both of those are normal amounts for the ethanol they put in the summer blends and for precipitation as alcohol makes water in gas tanks.......not sure how but it draws it in.

 

yay i buy good gas!!!!!! i only do 76 or chevron

 

the one thing we did find about Texaco.........was their 92 octane was actually 93-94......which if you had a turbo or high compression car it was like really nice to put in the tank........pretty sure parts of the US use 93 at the pumps still.......we in washington get the old 92 at best.......

I still miss the old 89 octane leaded from Texaco.........when I put that in the Goat it was always so much more responsive,then mixed in some of the 92 and it was a beast.......

 

i can barely even find a texaco around anymore

 

they are all Shells now but the gas still seems about the same.......they have great cleaners in their gas,chevron seems to keep the motor cleaner though.......I use 76 cause it is on the corner and the Shell on the corner is 40c a gallon more.....

 

Now I'm confused. I have a Chevron/Texaco card if texaco is part of chevron how can they be shell now? Am I missing something?

 

I will say after driving the R32 in SoCal on 91, then dumping octane boost in.. wow night and day with how the car ran.

Oh and going to Jack in the Box with 98 in the car... Oh yea...

 

arco???whats that???lol
heck no!!!! either chevron or shell and on occasion texaco......
arco???straight up gack!
well like i said im going to give these guys one more shot at it and then off to another dealer. the only reason i havent done that already is the fact that this dealer already knows whats going on with my car.
and dont want to start from sqaure one again....lol
well off to the dealer....

 

good luck

 

it is possible.........now hear me out.........that there is a maurading group of squirrels in the neighbor hood who like to pee in the tank......that would raise the water table in the tank..........it oculd happen........good luck with it man.......and glad to hear no Arco......it is fine in a pinch but other than that ick.......

and yes Will cali gas sucks........I noticed that too when I drove to Disney land and back,car was not as peppy........but I remember back in the day it was junk there in San Diego too.......we always had to add octane boost to get good milage out of the cars.

 

Yeah.. It was funny rolling into a gas station with 3 turbo R32's all going in to get octane boost. Oh the joys of road trips with fast cars.

 

i would see if you can find a shop that has a gremlin... it sounds stupid but its a little box that plugs into your obd port and all it is is a portable data logger. essentially what it will do is take a snap shot of either:

all the sensors and inputs that the ECU is recieving anytime the car is on and running

or you can set it to take a snap shot of all the sensors anytime the check engine light sets...

this is helpful cause if its like an 02 sensor with a bad heater wire it will show a rapid drop in 02 voltage at the moment the code sets... pretty cool huh? also these things are great for racing... set it to read everything all at once and you can see what your time gaps are between throttle off and brake on and vice versa... plus you can use it to double check yourself that you were at 100 tps at all times while driving... and if you have something with AYC (evos and stis have it and i think the speed 3 has it too) it will tell you lateral g forces too!

but that was off topic... so yeah i would see about doing that... and if you have money to burn i think you can buy em from like snap on for 150 bones or something like that.