PCS warning & No Cruise Control

[mcbrue]

Last days of Sept I had the right front radar sensor going off by
itself and in intersections. Took it in and they said it needed to be
replaced. It started doing that a year after I hit the bumper into a
wall. I hit the wall becaue I was relying on the radar system and that
caused me to stop using it. I did not hit the wall hard enough to do
any damage beyond scratching some paint flecks off the rubber bumper.
Lexus said it would not be covered by warranty so I decided not to
replace it and just shut the system down as that $530 cost would have
cost me too much in hatred of a company that will not honor its
warranty on its new cars! But when I drove it out, it worked fine and
has been working fine since, and still is even tonight.

Driving home from out of town, I pulled off the freeway and the red
triangle warning sign popped on with the warning "CHECK PCS" which the
book identifies as Pre Collision System. I spent about $12,000 extra
to get that and now it goes out at 20,220 miles. The cruise control
system also does not come on now.

What is this PCS and Cruise Control fault likely caused by?

I am going to have to cancel appointments tommorrow to get the $#
%^&*( thing in to Lexus so I can sit there and wait for the most
expensive service in town - even more than the Mercedes stealership.
And since they don't honor the new car warranty, I am calling one of
my lawyers before I take it in.

[kitzler]

Is this for real? I cannot believe a bump would upset your radar
sensor. Of course if you have that intuitive cruise control, it won't
work without the radar being functional, unless you switch to standard
cruise control. Have you tried that yet?

As far as the radar, it could be something as simple as it was not
properly tied down and your slight jar might have it looking sideways
and getting a reflection from the car as opposed to something
outside.

I am personally disappointed with these intuitive cruise controls, a
heavy rain gives the radar fits, because the beam is reflected off the
rain droplets and the radar thinks it has spotted a car. Also the car
will speed up to a slow moving vehicle and suddenly hit the brakes
when the radar realizes there might be a collision.

I stopped using cruise control long time ago, don't know what mine
cost, but I suggest you do the same. Drive your own car and don't let
the car drive itself!

/Nick

[old man]

There was a wonderfull video clip shown of Mercedes demonstarting their
cruise / radar control to motor magazine reporters - the S class crashed
into the back of a vehicle; priceless!
You need to take control of your driving and not rely on 'aids'

Post by mcbrue
Last days of Sept I had the right front radar sensor going off by
itself and in intersections. Took it in and they said it needed to be
replaced. It started doing that a year after I hit the bumper into a
wall. I hit the wall becaue I was relying on the radar system and that
caused me to stop using it. I did not hit the wall hard enough to do
any damage beyond scratching some paint flecks off the rubber bumper.
Lexus said it would not be covered by warranty so I decided not to
replace it and just shut the system down as that $530 cost would have
cost me too much in hatred of a company that will not honor its
warranty on its new cars! But when I drove it out, it worked fine and
has been working fine since, and still is even tonight.
Driving home from out of town, I pulled off the freeway and the red
triangle warning sign popped on with the warning "CHECK PCS" which the
book identifies as Pre Collision System. I spent about $12,000 extra
to get that and now it goes out at 20,220 miles. The cruise control
system also does not come on now.
What is this PCS and Cruise Control fault likely caused by?
I am going to have to cancel appointments tommorrow to get the $#
%^&*( thing in to Lexus so I can sit there and wait for the most
expensive service in town - even more than the Mercedes stealership.
And since they don't honor the new car warranty, I am calling one of
my lawyers before I take it in.

[mcbrue]

AH HA ! The error code thrown by the radar thingy is not known to the
stealership. So they have to call California or Tokoyo. Half the head
guys (the ones who know how to use a phone?) are off to a meeting or
school this week, so they have to hold the car over till Monday. I
could drive it, but I am not sure what the PreCollisionSystem might do
if it is kinda kinky with that warning sign. And yes, the cruise does
have the radar control option. Radar cruise can be turned off once you
turn cruise on. But what was happening was that when I turned on the
cruise, I could not get the radar turned off so it would not work. As
soon as I drove it into the stealership, the cruise came on when I
punched it on!!!!! They took it and looked the car over and found the
brand new error code. They also found the car had run over something
underneath it up by the front of it. The only thing I can think of is
that they are trying to avoid warranty coverage on this also. I
haven't run over anything, so it must have been done by the guy who
test drove it for 500 miles before they sold it to me as a new car. I
fear it looks more and more like lawsuits are in the future - hate
that! The service writer did tell me that stones thrown up can put the
little distronic sensors out of commission.

[Elmo P. Shagnasty]

Post by mcbrue
AH HA !

So, who cares?

Is there a beginning to this story?

[satmech]

Last days of Sept I had the right front radar sensor going off by itself
and in intersections. Took it in and they said it needed to be replaced.
It started doing that a year after I hit the bumper into a wall. I hit
the wall becaue I was relying on the radar system and that caused me to
stop using it. I did not hit the wall hard enough to do any damage
beyond scratching some paint flecks off the rubber bumper. Lexus said it
would not be covered by warranty so I decided not to replace it and just
shut the system down as that $530 cost would have cost me too much in
hatred of a company that will not honor its warranty on its new cars!
But when I drove it out, it worked fine and has been working fine since,
and still is even tonight.
Driving home from out of town, I pulled off the freeway and the red
triangle warning sign popped on with the warning "CHECK PCS" which the
book identifies as Pre Collision System. I spent about $12,000 extra to
get that and now it goes out at 20,220 miles. The cruise control system
also does not come on now.
What is this PCS and Cruise Control fault likely caused by?
I am going to have to cancel appointments tommorrow to get the $# %^&*(
thing in to Lexus so I can sit there and wait for the most expensive
service in town - even more than the Mercedes stealership. And since
they don't honor the new car warranty, I am calling one of my lawyers
before I take it in.

I bet TSIB cruise/radar controller plus re-initialize system.

[mcbrue]

Hey satmech! Thanks for the idea. See my later thread on the
resolution - turned out to be new and unknown error codes. Needed new
computer and new radar unit. Total cost was $6700US, picked up by
warranty. Not sure if that is the TSIB controller you mention above,
but they did need to re-initalize a computer for the radar pre
collision unit and another one for the cruise control. In fact I drove
out of the shop, tried the cruise, and had the warning pop up again so
went back to the shop where they figured out the re-initalize the
other computer trick.

Do these things allways cost roughly 10% of the car cost to repair?