2002 Toyota Sequoia vehicle speed control problems

“While driving on a highway at about 60 mph, my vehicle made a loud grinding noise while the steering felt very difficult to control and then the VSC TRAC and TRAC OFF lights both came on. I got off the highway and pulled over to a parking lot to inspect the vehicle, but I did not see anything that would cause the vehicle to do that. After a few minutes, I restarted the vehicle and while driving on local roads to get home, the same thing happened again. I was extremely worried for the safety of my wife and children in the vehicle. After reading a few Toyota owners threads online, this seems to be a very familiar pattern with these Toyota Sequoias, and I strongly believe that this will result in very serious injuries or possible deaths if Toyota does not issue a recall to fix the problem causing such dangers for drivers. Please investigate the matter to save lives. Thank you!”

“TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA SEQUOIA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT AFTER STARTING THE VEHICLE, THE VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL AND TRACTION CONTROL WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED INTERMITTENTLY. IN ADDITION, THE VEHICLE WAS SHAKING VIOLENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE THEY INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THE VEHICLE NEEDED TO BE REPROGRAMMED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE AND INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THERE WERE NO RECALLS UNDER THE VIN. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 220,000.”

“TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA SEQUOIA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING, THE TRACTION CONTROL WARNING LIGHT, VSC TRACK AND AN UNKNOWN WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE BRAKES STARTED TO GRIND INDEPENDENTLY WITH AN ABNORMAL SOUND. ADDITIONALLY, THE STEERING WHEEL BECAME DIFFICULT TO STEER WITH AN ALARM SOUNDING INSIDE THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WILL LOSS POWER. THE VEHICLE ALSO JERKED AND PULLED WHILE ACCELERATING. THE CONTACT TURNED OFF AND RESTARTED THE VEHICLE AND WAS ABLE TO DRIVE NORMAL HOWEVER AFTER DRIVING FOR A WHILE THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER OR AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING. THE CONTACT REFERENCED NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 10V176000 (ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL, TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM). THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 99,860.”

“I DIDN'T REALIZE WHAT THE LIGHTS MEANT BEING ON WHEN I BOUGHT IT UNTIL I WAS ATTEMPTING TO DRIVE 4HRS AWAY AND SUDDENLY THE STEERING STARTED VEERING OFF TO THE OTHER LANE AND SWERVING. I COULD NOT DRIVE PAST 40MPH ON THE INTERSTATE THE REST OF THE WAY AND ALMOST CRASHED INTO OTHER VEHICLES AND OFF THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. WHEN YOU SWITCH LANES THE VEHICLE PULLS YOU TOO FAR AND IT IS VERY UNSAFE TO DRIVE ESPECIALLY WITH KIDS. I HAD TO BREAK THE ABS FUSE TO GET BACK HOME AND EVEN THEN IT STILL VEERS OFF WHEN TRYING TO SWITCH LANES AND I CAN'T GO PAST 60 OR SO. I DON'T SEE HOW THERE ARE THIS MANY COMPLAINTS AND MANY ACCIDENTS AND ALMOST ACCIDENTS TO NOT HAVE EVERYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH THIS MALFUNCTION TO BE CONSIDERED NOT DANGEROUS ENOUGH FOR A RECALL. I'M THANKFUL MY KIDS WERE NOT WITH ME DURING THAT TRIP.”

“AFTER DRIVING ROUGHLY 40 MINUTES ON A STRAIGHT DRY HIGHWAY AT A CONSTANT 70 MPH, MY VSC OFF AND TRAC OFF LIGHTS SUDDENLY CAME ON FOR NO REASON, ACCOMPANIED BY A LOUD HIGH-PITCHED ALARM. THE STEERING FELT LIKE IT WAS DRAGGING, WAS GRINDING, AND PULLED TO THE RIGHT. FELT LIKE SOMETHING WAS BREAKING APART. VERY SCARY SINCE I WAS IN THE LEFT LANE WITH NO SHOULDER. I DECREASED MY SPEED TO ABOUT 60 AND MOVED TO THE RIGHT HAND LANE. AFTER SEVERAL SECONDS, THE ALARM AND GRINDING/DRAGGING STOPPED JUST AS MYSTERIOUSLY AS IT STARTED BEFORE I'D EVEN GOTTEN TO AN EXIT. THE LIGHTS STAYED LIT. BEFORE I USED THE VEHICLE AGAIN, I INFLATED THE TIRES FROM 32.5 TO 35 PSIA, JUST IN CASE THAT MIGHT HAVE CONTRIBUTED. THE NEXT DAY, I DROVE ON THE HIGHWAY FOR 40 MINUTES WITH NO PROBLEM, BUT ON THE WAY BACK HOME, THE SAME THING RECURRED AFTER ABOUT 20 MINUTES, AGAIN AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS ON A STRAIGHT SECTION OF DRY ROAD. THIS TIME THE DRAGGING AND GRINDING WAS WORSE AND THE ALARM LASTED MUCH LONGER. AGAIN, IT MYSTERIOUSLY STOPPED AS I WAS PREPARING TO EXIT THE HIGHWAY. SEARCHING SIMILAR ANECDOTES SEEMS TO IMPLY A KNOWN FAILURE OF THE YAW SENSOR. THAT SENSOR HAS TRIGGERED THE LIGHTS TO COME…”

“THE VSC TRAC, VSC OFF, BRAKE LIGHT AND ABS LIGHT ARE ALL ON ON THE DASH. THIS IS KNOWN PROBLEM WITH 1ST GENERATION TOYOTA SEQUOIA'S. TOYOTA ISSUED A RECALL ON THE 03 MODELS FOR THIS ISSUE AND PROVIDED A FIX AT THEIR EXPENSE. THE SAME ISSUE OCCURS IN OTHER MODEL YEARS BUT THERE IS NO OPEN RECALL FOR IT. DEALERSHIP WANTS APPROXIMATELY $2,000 TO REPLACE THE SKID CONTROL ECU.”