Solid ABS Light, Solid Traction Light, Blinking VSC OFF Light

I recently purchased a 2008 Toyota Tundra 4x4 with a 4.7L and 133k miles. I bought it from private party but paid for an inspection from the Toyota dealership in Anchorage before buying. They gave me the green light besides needing some fluids changed.

About 10 minutes into driving away with the vehicle I hit the brakes coming off the highway. I got some front end vibration that felt like rotor warp. I also noticed funky lights on the dash. I went back to the dealership to have them diagnose it and sure enough it was rotor warp. I had them replace the rotors and pads, which solved the vibration. When the dealership did the full inspection they did not take the truck to highway speeds so they didnt detect this issue. Ask me how pissed I was to hear that. JK don't

My concern now is the funky lights. They come up on occasion and usually after driving after at least 10 minutes. More testing to be done. I am getting a Solid ABS light, Solid Traction control Light(swerving tire marks), and a Blinking VSC OFF Light. The manual said contact the dealer but as soon as I shut the vehicle off it went away and they were unable to find anything.

I also might have noticed what felt like a 2 second loss of power while going down a hill. Maybe Limp mode but I'm not sure. I havent owned the truck long enough to know what is normal.

I have a hunch and I hope someone here will help confirm this or point me In the right direction. Is it possible that because a front rotor or rotors were warped that an ABS speed sensor was damaged and is throwing the whole computer system out of whack?

Thanks in Advance!

 

I had something similar happened to my first GEN Sequoia. But my brake pedal would fade to the floor and less I pumped it. No amount of bleeding would make it better. All those lights came on. I would start the truck all the lights would be out, but the first time I hit the brakes all the lights would come back on.

But I noticed that they would not appear if I pump the brakes each time before coming to a stop. I decided to change the master cylinder and it fixed my problem. When the brakes are bled they should not push the pedal all the way to the floor as it is out of it’s common stroke. I put a 2 x 4 under the brake pedal when doing so now.

It’s also possible when they opened up the Pistons on the calipers to except new brake pads, that they didn’t crack open the bleeder and just pushed the fluid back into the reservoir. I wonder if this could mess ABS sensor up?

Just some thoughts thrown your way I’m not sure if this is your problem or not.

Dealer told me it might be my ABS module or brake booster, but couldn’t tell me for sure even though I paid them to diagnose it. They doubted it would be the master cylinder. I got one from Napa for a decent price. And it’s working like a champ right now.

 

I just picked up the codes this morning
P0724
C1201
C1249
C1340

 

Yeah mine threw a bunch of codes that were pretty much nonsense. Once I changed a single part they all went away.

 

P0724 and C1249 relate to the brake switch circuit. I’m assuming the brake lights work and you can shift out of park without difficulty? If they do work, make sure the brake lights come on before you are applying any amount of force to the pedal, otherwise the brake pedal swich may need adjustment.

 

I remember in the vehicle inspection report they noted a bad third brake light bulb. I did get a code for that and maybe I will get extremely lucky and find success by changing that bulb.

As for now the truck seems to run good and I have no trouble shifting out of park. I did notice that I could not use cruise control while all the flashing was going on. The only "issue" seems to be the blinking dash lights.

I'll replace the brake light and start looking at wiring harnesses.

Does anyone have a copy of the dealership repair manual? The really big book with trouble shooting guides, usually at least 500 pages or so.

 

I found a bare wire spliced into the brake pedal wire harness that connects to an Auto page alarm system.

I wish I would have started here before cleaning and dielectric greasing every connection related to the ABS system under the truck.

Anyways I touched that exposed wire to ground and I was able get the dash lights to come on . I am now on the hunt for detailed wiring diagrams. I don't just want to pull the alarm just in case it is wired into the ignition and locks me out .

 

I have the same lights flashing but I put a leveling kit on. The VAC is located under the center console. Today I'm going to place some washers under the back screw and attempt to recalibrated using 2 paper clip and the #4 and #13 pin on the OBD sensor I'll let you know how it goes if it doesn't work I'm taking it to Toyota dealer to recalibrated

 

If the alarm isn't giving any trouble, I would tape that exposed wire up and call it fixed. Good job finding the issue!

 

I, too have a 2008 Tundra with the same light issues. It seems to come on when the engine compartment is very hot, and not on cooler days when cool air is blowing around the engine, but even that is not a given. Lately, the lights have been coming on anytime I drive the truck. The vehicle runs and operates fine, except I have not tried the cruise (as mentioned above) nor have I tried the 4X4 (the 4hi4lo light is flashing too).
Several years ago, a family of squirrels took up residence in my engine compartment, and thought the insulation on the wires tasted good, and chewed some of them. That's when I first started seeing warning lights, lots of them. I had that repaired (soldered and insulated) and all was good for a long time. Then, very intermittently, the lights mentioned above started to show up. Then they would go away, only to come back on months later. My research seems to indicate the ABS module is the culprit but I have not had it replaced yet. I don't think it is the harness damage, primarily due to the comments above. You have experienced these lights even though you have not had harness damage. I'm considering having the ABS module replaced with a used one (due to the expense), and see if there is any change. Toyota has no idea what the problem is.

 

Fwiw- I dont think it effects dash lights at all but' there is a Load Sensing Proportioning valve on the frame just over the rearend.
It has a long rod on it that connects to the rearend housing on Toyota Truck/SUV's so fallow the rod you'll find it or (click below link).
Valve redirects fluid/pressure to front/rear brakes to equal stopping power when your truck is loaded vs unloaded. As the vehicle squats with a heavy load of rock or people the long rod simply adjusts your valves pressure.
Like usual Toyota did this decades before others did it..

But the proportioning valves tend to go bad and need replaced over time.
My old 91 Toy pickup was my first one with this problem, bad when I bought it in 1998, so I replaced it. Well after finding it I did.
The original owner of the truck went through front brakes every couple yrs because the rear brakes never worked after the valve failed. With hardly any brake fluid going to its rear brakes the fronts did almost all the work. Took me a week to learn what was happening? He had 2 dealers & several brake shops doing all the brake work but nobody ever fixed the root cause of the problem, only the problems it caused. They fixed front pads, rotors and Calipers a dozen times over but it's rear brakes were never replaced once in 115k miles? Because they weren't working they were still new and thats when I found it. So much for dealers doing great work. Pee U to U guys!..No offense..lol


No 'just kidding folks, even our main brake shops who been around 4 decades didn't figure out why that old trucks peddle stayed soft no matter what.
He said " Sorry' If you ever learn why its stays spongy please let us know why so we can help the next customer".... So I did go show him that D@#n valve..grrrrr!
"Never saw a truck with one of those on it, its a great idea"...he said.

Well' lastly I disconnected my rod from the rearend and tied it up with zip ties as high as possible towards the bottom of my bed until I got my part on it & my 2005 Tundra. Brakes felt new on both after new valve! As for the new Valve $$$? Prepare yourself!

I've had this valve fail on 3 of my 6 Toy Truck/SUVs. Each made it feel like air or a master cylinder failing everytime. Sorry such a long post, just hope this helps someone...

Youtube:
Proportioning valve & cheap easy bypass if you choose too!
https://youtu.be/Cs56YzyP3mc

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