How can I disable VSC?

It causes more problems than it solves. I can be going a safe speed (30 mph) off a freeway offramp and it'll freak out and slam my brakes. It's also come on when I'm turning into a parking spot, practically disabling the brake pedal until I'm inches away from the car in front (or the wall). It's very annoying and I'd like to disable it, or at least adjust it so it's not so damn sensitive. Is there any way I can do this?

 

Read your owners manual. The answer is in there! In short, with the vehicle stopped completely, press and hold the VSC off switch for at least 5 seconds.

 

^^ It automatically reactivates itself at 30 mph or something. I want to disable it entirely.

 

You have some other kind of problem then, or you're doing something. My VSC ('09) rarely comes on unless the truck is off-axis - sliding, or pointing in a direction that the front wheels are not pointed.

 

I would bet the lift is partly if not completely the culprit. It needs to be recalibrated by a Toyota dealer.

 

Take it to the dealer, your truck has issues. I have to try very hard to get my VSC to activate on my 09.

 

It only comes back on if you press and release the button.... if you press and hold it, at a complete stop, for five seconds it will disable it completely.

But I do agree with you, the VSC and ABS are WAY WAY WAY too sensitive on these trucks (though mine isn't THAT sensitive unless i'm on icy roads).

 

One point...

I love this kind of stuff in the rain - I have 2 other cars with good power and I love to punch them in the rain - they keep me in check! I know I wrapped one around a pole when I took it off while 'rcing' a friend on dry pavement - ever since then, I typically keep it engaged unless I am wheeling.

 

Gota be a fuse you can pull under the hood somewhere.

 

Yes.

For anyone that may be interested. If you alter the geometry of your suspension such that you require a front end alignment adjustment, then you should have the VSC recalibrated. The dealer can do this service for you, or I believe you can do it yourself. There are two steps to complete the process:

1. Clearing zero point calibration data.
2. Yaw rate sensor and deceleration sensor zero point calibration

Here is the procedure.

​

 

OP , I feel your pain , my truck had an over active VSC issue WITHOUT any lift . I had it reset at the dealership and the occurences of it engaging dropped way down , but recently it has engaged twice on dry pavement at 35 MPH twice while cornering . I agree with Okkine that the system while great in an emergency can be a tad too sensitive under normal conditions at least for some .

 

Hi Oz.

Question for you... When you have VSC recalibrated by the dealer was there a charge or do they do it under warranty? About how long did it take them to do it? I know they use techstream (computer) but just curious.

Thanks.

 

Crom ,

no charge for the recalibration , they covered it under warranty . The actual doing of it only took the tech about 15 mins , the rest of the time was me trying to convince them it was happening as we couldn't get it to occur on our test drive together ( as is usually the case )

 

OZ, Right on. Thanks. Glad you didn't have to wait too long. When I took my truck in for the TSB transmission reflash, I had to wait 4 hours! They were very busy. LOL It wasn't funny then but I can laugh about it now.

This is what I did for four hours:

 

There's a couple of posts on TTora where a guy mad a switch that essentially made the 4 low position switch appear (electronically) to be engaged. If I have time later, I will look for it.

 

Crom ,

FWIW my VSC problem didn't start until right AFTER my tranny tsb reflash , like the next day .

 

That's quite interesting. After my TSB tranny reflash I could not disable VSC in 4WD. I wrote a thread about it here. I took it to the dealer and they swear they did nothing, but it worked after I got my truck back.

It's not surprising really. I have several years experience working with software and it is common knowledge that anytime new code is introduced the probability of unwanted side effects increase. Otherwise known as software bugs.

I would love to get my hands on the VSC code to analyze it. I learned from BOSCH that VSC uses the active wheel sensors which are magnets to sample wheel speed 24 times a second.

 

Crom ,

I read your thread when I was trying to diagnose my problem . When I took my truck back for the VSC issue post tranny reflash , the tech did a scan on the truck and the skid control ecu had odd values for my steering wheel input and yaw sensor .

 

I have to agree man. Lift is causing it. Take it to the dealer, as much as some guys talk shit about Toyota "stealerships" they do have descent customer services.

Let me know what information you get. I, honestly, love when my VSC starts ringing...it knows that I'm pushing the truck...but pulling into a parking space is pretty ridiculous...post your knowledge so I know what to do when I incorporate my lift....

 

The VSC ringing tone and the VSC engaging by applying brake to one of your wheels are 2 different things . When it actually engages it can be quite startling when you aren't expecting it .