ABS/TC/VSC/BRAKE LIGHTS!!! (again!)
 

So about a month ago I went out to my car in the morning and after starting it I noticed the ABS, BRAKE, TC, and VSC lights were all on. Since it was snowing and cold and I was in a parking lot, I did a little test and realized my traction control and ABS were both not working. My car had 37,000 miles on it. I took it to the dealership (Grand Blanc BMW/Mercedes/Toyota) who said this was basically a fault code in the wheel speed sensing system, so all of the features that use the wheel speed system are disabled as a precaution. They cleared the code, but the next day it came back. I took it in again and they replaced the right rear wheel speed sensor for free (luckily), and the car was fine.

Fast Forward to this week. Again I drove my car in the snow and the cold, and parked it at night with no problems. Next morning I start it and all the lights are back. Again all the systems are disabled. The car now has 39,000 miles on it, so I'm out of warranty by a bit. I haven't had a chance to take it to the dealership, but I can't imagine its going to be a cheap fix. The last time they quoted around 500 dollars for the work, which luckily I didn't have to pay. Has anyone else experienced these issues in cold weather? or in warm weather? The dealership offered no explanation for why it happened. I'm beginning to wonder if there's an issue with our sensors and freezing weather or salty weather because both times its happened it was in extremely cold weather (15 or so).

I'm already ____ed enough that I'm driving around in snow and ice with no traction control or ABS (big selling points for this car), and now I'll likely have to pay 500-1000 dollars to repair a car that's not even 1.5 years old and is only 3000 miles out of warranty. Toyota has severely dissapointed me, at this point I'm feeling like I should have spent the extra money on the element or waited for the cube. I'll keep you guys updated as I get it back in the dealership sometime this week.

i have not had this problem with the xB, but I've had the ABS do this on other vehicles... there are a few things that could be causing the problems you're having. one is, after your car sits for a while, snow that's melted from the brakes might be getting between the wheel speed sensors pickup and the trigger device (the part that spins) causing it to not read correctly. the other involves road dirt, salt and brake dust collecting at the same areas. my advice to you would be to pull the tires, then pull out the speed sensors (but don't remove the rear jam nut so that the factory distance is retained) and clean the face of them. then do the same thing to the trigger assy (I'm not sure if its the brake rotor or what). I know its cold and this isn't guaranteed, but if it works, it will save you money. if it doesn't, then you know you did your best and require the help of the service dept. hope this sheds some light and helps in some, way shape or form.

__________________

I had the same thing happen to me going 65mph down the freeway in warm weather. happened just that once, lasted for about 5 minutes, and i haven't seen it since. I took my car up to the snow, it was below freezing the entire day and traction/abs worked fine the whole time.

It would have to be something with the speed sensors pickup and or the trigger device, as it was last time. The connection may have come loose.
If its something related to the work that was done before, the dealer would still have to cover it even if the car is out of warranty.

had the same prob same conditions they ordered a rear speed sensor but wasnt in. so i am away for 3 months now and have to wait till i get home. if they are willing to work with you they can get it covered besides i would call up scion directly! This is total BS by the way im at the same mileage! I will not pay for it. like you car is only a year and a half old.... it was coming on every day at home i left ny sat. and am in virginia now since i got of PA it hasnt been back on.....

keep us posted as to what happens

This may sound goofy, but I had a similar problem with the lights coming on and it turned out to the the gas cap not sealing. Strange that it would cause the VSC and other lights, but it was the gas cap. I replaced it and haven't had the issue since.

the gas tank has a leak/pressure system to it that if the gas cap isnt on or isn't on correctly or isn't sealing right it will set off some light.
ive personaly only seen it set off the engine light in "other cars"

Okay guys I dropped the car off yesterday. No word yet on what the problem is. I've filled it up at least twice since the lights came on so I doubt its the gas cap, besides that usually sets of the engine light not the other ones.
I am concerned that this might be a more major and widespread problem since its happened twice and also to someone else at the same mileage.

bugtoxb, has it been snowy in NY where you are, or just cold? have you noticed any correlation with the weather?

Is anyone else who works for Toyota aware of a TSB for this issue on an xB or on other Toyota vehicles? If i get slapped with a big bill I will NOT be pleased.

um for the most part it was nasty snowy slushy weather however it did it a few days when it was just cold 20's. dry road etc....

Okay guys I heard from the service manager this morning. It turns out some connector or harness for the right rear ABS sensor corroded at the connector and went bad. It seemed to be due to water/salt/snow type of stuff getting into a 'weatherproof' connector.

Grand Blanc Motorcars is fixing it for me again for free. I can't stress enough how pleased I am with this dealership, and I didn't even buy my car from them! The service does a damn good job, and so do the techs. He told me Toyota has been made aware of this problem, and I felt like he was as dissapointed as I was about it. In the past I've been given a 'So what, it broke, pay us' type of attitude, here I experienced a 'You're right, this is bull____' type of attitude. Truly a great experience with this dealership. A new harness has been ordered and I should get the car back next week. Hopefully it all works out as planned!

thats great, i have found that the foreign dealers tend to be much more customer friendly!

glad to hear it worked out so well.
bump for Scion, FTW!

NOPR - When they fixed your sensor problem did they just remove and replace the sensor or did they do the whole hub.

I just recently had the same lights show up. My dealer wants to replace the hub, says the sensor is part of it, and the harness. They want $800 for the work.

It sounds like they are replacing wiring and not the sensor.

The rear sensor on our cars IS part of the rear hub assembly and is not cheap.

According to the shop manual the rear speed sensor can be removed and replaced without replacing the entire hub.

correct
ive taken mine apart several time
the entire hub consists of the axle and break assembly, well i guess it depends on what you can the "hub"
the speed sensor and bearing are assembled together & im not sure if it can be separated (ive never tried)

I'm new here. Just took my 08 xB in for the same problem. There is a TSB for this, it's the rear hub assemblies and wiring harness. Cost: $1200 plus $90 for diagnostics and $6 for materials to run diagnostics.

What a joke, Toyota needs to wake up. I do have a claim # in with Corporate. if you are having this issue you need to call or email Corporate.

_____

Sounds like the rear sensor harness "weatherproof" connectors need to be sealed with waterproof tape or the like to make them genuinely weatherproof. Maybe that should be my next project!

so mine was fixed back in december 09 january 10. It just came back on tonight. I am at 93,000 miles, but looks to be the same issue as before. Hoping they go off but doubt it......