Trac off & check engine both lights on and why? On a 2000 Lexus ES300 Platinum series

Lights are at the very least meant to be checked out as to what caused them to light up in the first. Please ask a friend to read your Owner's Manual to you and/or find a good shop. (get estimates and quotes)

I am NOT a mechanic but have learned a little with my '99 Lexus ES 300. Your same issue was happening to me for awhile. Eventually my car would feel a hesitation (almost like it temp. lost power then kicked back in) and after 1 year, 5 different mechanics (and a lot of money) I found a mechanic who actually knew what he was doing. Based on the codes that came up the 5 diff. mechanics were trying to fix the specific codes, it was not the problem! (they were trying to fix the symptoms NOT the actual problem) The problem was the VVT (variable valve timing), due to that it sent several different codes of things malfunctioning, which leads to a big bill. NO OFFENSE to anyone but as a female going into an auto shop there is usually a neon sign on my head thats says "I'm a girl and therefore stupid about cars". Self admittedly for the most part thats true...but I do my homework, ask questions and research BEFORE doing any work on my car. In defense to "those" mechanics...tech. in cars has changed a lot and not all local mechanics have updated their current knowledge on the newer, more computerized cars. ( I would rather them be straight forward & tell me then milk every dime but...) Doesn't mean they are bad mechanics but their knowledge is more "old school". With all of that being said RESEARCH! I know understand why cars are labled as girls...Lexus' tend to be tempermental at times, there are some parts that need to be specific brands or "she" will act-out, LOL! While other parts can be generic. I hope this can potentially help. Also, to save money, some mechanics have NO issues with you buying the part elsewhere and installing it with just labor fees (for me it has always been cheaper!)

The one thing you may want to check before spending a lot of money is your gas cap. If it has become worn it could be letting air through. This is usually evident by the check engine light, VSC light and traction control lights all coming on without warning. If that doesn't fix the problem there may be a vacuum leak elsewhere. Mine just happened to be in the neck of the fuel tank. I'm not sure what the technical term for it is but it's the part the cap screws onto. After trying the gas cap fix, my mechanic did a second smoke test and found the leak. It will be around $500 buck to fix and is not covered by my extended warranty.

Just some additional info: I have a 2008 Lexus RX350 with 56k miles.

We just had this same problem pop up tonight. Check Engine flashes and Trac Off steady on. More confusing, the car will not go into Overdrive anymore either. The switch works and dash lights respond as before, it's just that the trans does not shift. 2000 Lexus ES 300 with only 60,000 miles (was my mom's car). Glad to read tips above about diagnostics not necessarity pointing to the correct issue. Good to have that knowledge before going to AutoZone.

i have the same problem, car was running fine last night. when i started it this morning it gave me check engine sign and track off sign. i took off the 15amp fuse both lights cleared. after about 30 mins, check engine light flashing and track off light came on again.

Could be a battery issue. Trac On and Check Engine light on dashboard for two months since I purchased the vehicle used. Overall brilliance of lighting system was dull. Car battery died. Had AAA replace battery. Trac On and Check Engine lights are now off. Perhaps the two indicators are Lexus way of showing electrical/battery issues.Who knows?

The problem my dealer found was faulty bank 2vvt valve.changing That resolved the problem it cost me $285 I could save lot of money if bought on line this Bank 1 & bank 2 on line (less than $100 for both)

Had and oil change at Jiffy Lube yesterday. on my 2013 RX350. When they finished, the battery was dead. I'm guessing they left the ignition (and therefore a/c) on while doing their thing and ran it dead, but they of course deny it. They junped the car, and I had the Trac off, check awd system, and engine light on for the drive home. VERY upsetting! when I got home, I turned the engine off, then started it again to make sure the battery had re-charged. Lo, all lights were off. Haven't used the car since, but my guess is that the lights are indeed a battery issue, as suggested by ramtrane.

I'm the second owner of a 2000 Lexus ES 300. The mileage was 67,000 when I purchased it. It did not have a gas cap and the engine light came on along with the track off light. I purchased a gas cap from Auto Zone and disconnected the battery. The lights went off, however came back on two weeks later. Now I have to take it and have the codes pulled to see what comes back. I'll give an update once the problem has been diagnosed and the lights are off for at least a month.

Had the same issue. Replaced the gas cap and reset the code. Lights came back on a few days later. Code kept showing an issue with the filler neck for the gas tank, which is what prompted me to start with a new gas cap. Removed cap and cleaned as much of the filler neck area as I could with a rag and cleaned the threads of the cap. Problem solved. Several months with no issues. I also suggest turning the car off when fueling. This can also trigger the warning lights.

Just bought a 1997 lexus es300. Got new tired on it and the traction off light indicator came on as well as the check engine light before the tire change. Mechanix said that when he ran for codes there were none due to maybe the computer not working or there is an electrical connection issue. Please help. Don't want to have to put any more money than necessary into this car after what I paid for.

I have this answer from John BurkeAugust and it works for me. The easiest and fastest way to solve this problem is under the hood in the fuse panel.....with the car off, pull out the "efi" fuse, try to start the engine for 1 second with the fuse out.....turn the key to off position, put the fuse back in and then start the car....you'll be pleasantly surprised.....takes 10 seconds of total work!!!! Email thanks to pvoots007@ gmail.com Fuse #18. Remove & replace. Start the car. It works.

Tried fuse #18 tip, no luck. Pulled efi fuse while running (killed the car), no luck. Cleaned gas cap and filler neck, nope. Finally disconnected and wire brushed both battery posts and leads and tightly reconnected. The lights are off now. will have to see if it lasts....

I got this message "TRAC OFF" this morning and about half year ago. The message went away when I had a new battery replaced half year ago. This morning I read above info, and drove car for a little , then shut down, found my light was on "DRL OFF", not "AUTO", I then start again my car, the message disappear. I think it was the light DRL OFF drained most battery power. Luckily it still had some , so I can start it without jumping charge.

Nuklhed nailed it! The check engine light and TRAC OFF lights came on without warning on our 2012 RX350. Lexus service told us that the car was safe to drive as long as the check engine light was not blinking. It wasn't and we drove home over 200 miles without a problem. The approx $70 "diagnostic" found that the gas cap was no longer sealing, causing the check engine light to come on and throwing out other extraneous warnings, "TRAC off" for example. A new gas cap turned the lights off. Go figure

2012 IS250 - serviced, they pulled battery terminal off neg. side, didn’t clean or tighten after hocking it back up! I cleaned both Neg. and Pos. Terminals and posts with wirebrush, applied silicone, pulled all fuses, cleaned fuse posts as they were corroded as well. Cleaned gas cap, threads and filler neck. No more check engin, and fixed “No Track” displayed.

I had the same problem.. The engine and trak light came on. My mechanic changed the Variable Vale Timing (vvt) sensor and it hasn't came back on since... car is driving great.. Thanks

I put new battery on my Lexus es 300. Now the trac off and check light is on. Why?

Had Check Engine light and Trac light on for awhile. I tried the reset with the scan tool. I tried the disconnect the EFI fuse (and try to start for 3-4 seconds) and I looked at a bunch of other ideas. Each time after less then a week the lights would come back on and they came on at the same time. So, I left it and started to work on another issue. The next issue I had was I had a small oil leak. After investigation I saw it was coming from the Crankshaft Pulley seal. Not wanting to deal with that, I bought a quart of Lucas Oil Stop Leak. This is designed to clean/harden/etc. the seals in the oil system. For $12 it was worth trying. Well low and behold not only it fixed the oil leak (not real shocking) but within 2 miles of driving it the check engine light went off on it's own. It took about 5 more miles for the Trac light to turn off! While I do have a theory of why this worked for me, I have no idea if it makes sense or not. So, not only did it stop the small oil leak, it also solved this problem! My theory, if the issue is with the VVT as mentioned above, then it could be just a seal in the VVT that was bad and not the entire VVT. Makes sense a bit since they are bathed in engine oil. Let's hope it holds for a few more months and then my daughter graduates and will get rid of the car.

I put new battery on my Lexus ES300, now both lights off. so the weak of battery can cause those lights on. Thanks for people posting solution here!!!

update- nope, lights back on after drive couple of hours. :-( I need check VVT then

I had same problem tracking light on check engine light on .....VVT( variable valve timing actuator ).....car is now running like a champ...

We have owned a used 2001 ES300 for 12 years. Great car, 175,000 trouble free miles so far. Our check engine light and track off comes on in the summer time here in Ohio. No performance difference. You can pull negative battery conection for a few seconds to turn them back off. They will stay off till next time you fuel or so. Once fall comes the lights stay off during the cold season. We have learned to not pay any attention to them.

After cleaning the gas cap, and lightly greasing, then cleaning battery posts, and reseating & cleaning EFI fuse,, diagnostic check & reset, it’s been resolved for Over 30,000 miles. Thanks for all the great suggestions!