So I'm driving along and and my girl fried says "are those two lights supposed to be on"? F**k no there not I thinking. Anyway. Both the VSC and TRAC OFF lights went on. They would stay on for a minute or so and then come on again. Here is the thing. I have been having major problems with a Pioneer head unit that I just got (P5000). It was sent in for repairs and the day after the "repaired" unit was put back in these lights came on. Needless to say things were worse with the Pioneer after the repair then before it was sent out. There are all sorts of power problems with the unit etc.. They are going to replace it with a new one on Monday. Anyway, I noticed that when I didn't have the unit on the VSC/TRAC lights didn't come on so I figures that this was just an electrical problem that would go away after the new Pioneer was put in. But, this mourning they popped on again. It was only for like five or ten seconds, but the radio was not on.

My question is this. Is this most likely an electrical problem that was the result of a head unit with a bad power source running in my xB? I mean when the radio was on there was all sorts of humming noise. When I put on the turn blinker you could hear an electrical feed back over the speakers.

When I get a new head unit will the problem go away? What else should I do?

I would bring it in to the dealer, but wanted to arm myself with a little information before I do this. I guess I'm a little cynical about dealer repair departments. My experience has been the they can make mountains out of mole hills. Could this be something I can just reset after the new head unit is installed?

Thanks for any help!

 

I actually had this same problem, I had an injen style intake on and removed it when I took it back to the dealer and they said that the air mass sensor was dirty. I asked how this would trigger the VSC sensors and they said that the sensors are connected in a way. :? Wierd so I said whatever and the light never came back on, the intake that I had did not seal completly so the sensor got dirty causing the lights to come on. Do you have an intake on? if so take it off and put on your stock one. then go to the dealer.

 

I actually had these lights come on after replacing tail light bulbs (if you dont twist the center bulbs in tightly, the contacts dont line up and it wacks out the electrical system) Long story short, after I fixed the tail lights, the vcs/traction lights remained on. All I did to fix it was disconnect and reconnect the battery. It causes the CPU to self test and if the trigger to the problem (your faulty radio) has been fixed, the lights should stay off. Note: I learned this after the dealer told me I would need to bring the car in to have the system debugged "not covered under warranty." Hope this helps

 

I actually have the Injen intake on my xb as well. If after I get the new Pioneer and disconnect the battery to reset the CPU the problem still persists then I'll check that out. Unfortunately and stupidly I don't have my stock air filter. So I'll just have to figure out a way to clean the sensor and tighten the seal on the intake. Hopefully this isn't the problem.

 

I also have the injen intake. I put it on about a month and a half ago and had no problems. I guess its good to check all possibilities though.

 

Hi I have just put on the injen cold air also and the check engine light,VSC,& trac off light is on. I have no idea?

 

Hey Minsk99, I was wondering if the check engine light was on as well as the vsc and trac? The trac and vsc systems turn off (and the dash lights come on) whenever the check engine light comes on. This is normal. Many CAI systems have the filter quite close to the MAF or overoiled filters and this coats the wire in the MAF and this makes the MAF tell the computer that there is less airflow than there actually is so the computer shortens the injecter duty-cycle, leaning out the mixture. Then the O2 sensor senses a lean condition and raises the fuel trim to compensate. If long term fuel trim stays above about 12% for a while, PO171 (fuel trim lean) trouble code will set, turning on the check engine light (along with vsc and trac). The easy fix is to remove the MAF sensor and if you look up into the business end you will see 2 wires in there. A shot of contact-cleaner will clean off the wires without leaving a residue and you will be back in business. Disconnect the battery for a minute or two and the light will go off. Actually, after about 15 consecutive drive cycles, while no fault was recorded, the light will turn itself out. Make sure the air filter is not over-oiled too.~~~~~~~~~~~scott

 

Funny that this post was scrounged up from the past because I have been on a three week quest to get those freakin lights off. In the two months or so since I initially posted this I have replaced the Pioneer unit with a Kenwood and my noise related issues with the stereo have gone away.

However, my Track Off VSC lights continue in their quest to drive me completely insane. They now have actually gotten this down to a science. Coming on for a while and then going off. Staying off for a few days and just when I think that they are gone for good, they flicker on for a few seconds and then go away, only to rear their devilish glow later in the day and then stay on till I turn off the car. One fix I have considered is to take a hammer and bash in the lights, rip them out of the car and stomp on them till they are in little pieces. I think that would work.

Anyway, I have taken the xB to two dealerships to have a diagnostic and they both tell me that the problem has something to do with some sort of aftermarket thing I have done. They wont say what, but apparently they will not have anything to do with trying to fix the problem. The guys who did my initial install of my stereo suck (I have had to redo everything they did myself) and they have no clue. This has left me to solve this on my own.

So, to answer your question Scott17, the Track Off and VSC lights come on, but NOT the check engine. They only come on intermittently. This makes it hard to fix the problem because I will not know if I have fixed the problem when I do something. The lights only come on when I first start the car every once in a while. In fact, they lights have not been on for the past two days. So I'm not sure if I try the contact cleaner fix to the Injen intake if it will have worked.

Here are some questions I have:

Could the problem be the result of cheap wheel spacers in the front? While I wait for my H&R spacers that have been on backorder for over three months, I have non-hubcentric ones on there now. This seems unlikely because the lights have come on after I have reset the computer and before the car has been put in gear or moved.

Could the problem be the result of something to do with audio/video? I have spent considerable amount of time checking this out and making sure that I redo any sloppy work that was done by the installers.

Are there any wire connections that I should check the integrity of? When I installed my springs could I have loosened a connection that had to do with skid control? I have checked this, but not sure if I looked everyplace.

I'm thinking that things could have something to do with the Injen intake because others have reported similar problems with it. However, my check engine lights are not on and only the Track Off and VSC. I have replaced all of the clamps with high quality ones along the vacuum.

Thanks for all the past suggestions and if anyone has any further thoughts on this that would be great. Thanks.

 

Finally took my box in because of my battery draining. I also asked them to check out why the Vcs and Track lights come on. Well--I needed a new alternator. This was replaced and when I picked up the car they told me that the vcs and track off light problem was related. Mind you that never did a alternator light come on or other warning light. Well--at least on the drive home the lights did not come back on.

 

What you're going to need to do is wait till the light is on and use a jumper wire at DLC3 (under the dash on the drivers side) and retrieve the code. This will give you a plan of attack and see what the computer is seeing that it doesn't like. PM me your E-mail address and I will send you a PDF file of the repair manual so you can see how to retrieve the code.

 

ok my car is not modded and I was driving it today turning on and off making short stops......my vsc and traction light came on a few times and the xb hesitated(sputtered) now that was weird.....

 

none has an idea?

 

I had to work on my air intake modification last night and when I re-installed it this morning those same idiot lights plus the check engine light came on and wont shut off I was soo mad about that as I have had no issues at all until i had to fix something last night

 

Yeah, it was pretty frustrating for me too. Those lights can come on for a number of reasons. Good luck.

 

I am having the same problem but I don't have any after market mods on my xBox. I am going to try to disconnect the battery. I am very angry. I finally broke down and bought myself a new car at 40 so I wouldn't have to go to the shop. I will be really angry if they tell me the warranty doesn't cover it and the battery idea doesn't work.

I had to hit the brakes hard in traffic when they came on and they have been on for 3 days. My check engine light is also on. Did anyone get this trifecta?

 

This is obviously a catch all warning system. Which is very poor engineering. I own a 2004 XB with 163,438 miles. It has an INJEN cold air intake system that I have cleaned the filter twice since it was installed at 18,000 miles. I use synthetic oil and change it when it gets dirty at about 10,000 to 15,000 miles. My overall mpg is 32, this is city/highway 30-80 mph up and down mountains and desert flats. I got these lights yesterday and thanks to this forum I isolated my problem to the fact that when my stepson borrowed my car and put gas in it he failed to tighten the gas cap. I tightened the cap, disconnected the negative terminal for 60 seconds and viola, no fault lights. Thank you all for your input.