1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

VSC indicator on dry pavement

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by dipstick22, Nov 23, 2024 at 9:51 AM.

  1. dipstick22

    dipstick22 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2016
    6
    1
    0
    Location:
    Delaware
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    My 2008 Prius is a few hundred miles from 300,000. Last night, driving on dry pavement at about 55 mph, perfect driving conditions, the car started vibrating, VSC light came on for 2-3 seconds, then went off, but the vibration continued for another few seconds (maybe 10 at most). Then back to normal. My son-in-law had the car for a few months and reported that it had happened to him, but this is the first time I've seen it myself.
    1. What is causing this?
    2. What is the correction?
    3. Is it dangerous to continue driving the car?
    Thanks.
     
    #1 dipstick22, Nov 23, 2024 at 9:51 AM
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2020
    10,450
    1,813
    0
    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    He'd probably have to look at the freeze frame data and see what the skid control mechanism is reporting He probably have to have the scanner hooked up while this was happening or try to make the problem repeat itself a bad hub which would think would have a code. A bad wheel bearing vibrating enough causing the sensor inside the wheel to report poorly when it's vibrating something along those lines.
     
    #2 Tombukt2, Nov 23, 2024 at 7:36 PM
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    24,948
    16,247
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Freeze frames usually go with trouble codes; if the VSC just thought it was doing what it's built to do and didn't set a trouble code, there probably isn't a freeze frame in that sense.

    Gen 3, I know, has an "ABS History" screen you can look at in Techstream, shows what all the sensor inputs were the most recent 4 times either ABS or VSC was active. Kind of like freeze frames but for normal operation instead of a trouble code.

    But I don't remember if gen 2 had that.
     
    #3 ChapmanF, Nov 24, 2024 at 12:02 AM
  4. dipstick22

    dipstick22 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2016
    6
    1
    0
    Location:
    Delaware
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I forgot to mention that I did NOT get a check engine light. We have talked about giving this car to our daughter who drives 2 children in booster seats in the rear. I know that a 300,000 mile car is, by definition, a bit of a reliability risk. My biggest concern is safety. The car did not swerve or become unsteerable. The whole episode lasted about 10-15 seconds. I doubt that I can recreate it at will. Any suggestions? Frankly, I have low confidence that the Toyota dealer would be of any use.
     
    #4 dipstick22, Nov 24, 2024 at 7:31 PM
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)