I have a 2007 TCH...
Keep it garaged. Of course the temperature in my garage was probably around 30-40 degrees. The temperature outside, here in Lex, Kentucky, was about 4 degrees when I got up this morning, and 7 degrees by the time I pulled out of the garage.

AS I was driving, I noticed the RED "BRAKE" light came on and stayed on, all the way to Louisville (60 miles). Every now and then, it would flash.

Once I got to my work office... the car completely flipped out...

P/S light came on,

The Red Exclaimation Point indicator came on

The Yellow Exclaimation Point indicator came on

The Engine Light came on...

The ABS light came on

and then Check VSC indicator came on in the DISPLAY

The car seemed to lose power slightly, and I could feel the steering wheel get extremely heavy...

I was able to coast into the parking lot on the EV mode...

And then I parked the car, and shut everything off.

I waiting a few seconds and then started the car back up, but only in "accessory mode (no engine)" same warnings came on.

I shut the car down, and there was a sort of loud shuddering at the tail end of this...

I then started the car back up... same errors...

Shut it off, no shuddering this time...

Started the car up a 3rd time, and the errors all went away...

Any suggestions?

 

call dealer

 

When the red brake light lit, I would have lifted and went to a coast to see if the car coasted normally. I would have pulled into a parking lot and made sure the emergency brake was off. With the car maybe on level asphalt parking area. With the car in neutral you may be able to roll the car forward and back just enough to see if any one brake is dragging.

If the red brake warning light continued to say on, I would have call the dealer. I have seen engines and other parts damaged by driving with warning lights lit.

The problem with all the warning lights lit is for sure, not normal. I hope the dealer can find a trouble code as to it's source.
Please keep us informed.

 

I am almost positive it had something to do with the extreme cold yesterday. It was 7-8 degrees at different points... There were some sections where it was 4 degrees. When I first bought the car, I drove it home in 28 degree weather, after it had been sitting out on the lot for a while. The brake light flashed on for a couple of minutes then. Ever since, when it gets really cold, it flashes on. It is sort of wierd.

Like I said, yesterday, it was extremely cold. I can't remember it being that cold before. I was driving, for 50 miles with the heat turned all the way up to 82 degrees, just to keep warm... with my coat, some fleece, and a shirt on. When I got just beyond Frankfurt, I noticed frost forming on the outside windows (even though I was driving 72mph with the heat up). My gas mileage was about 30mpg.

I always get off on the Blankenbaker (64-west) exit and take the little back roads to where I work off of Linn Station road. Along those back roads, I am able to get the car into EV mode or to just plain coast... By the time I got to my parking lot, the red line was still on, but as soon as I stopped to turn left into the lot, all of the warning lights came and the car became a lot less responsive... I was able to coast and then EV drive into the lot and park the car. While there, I turned it on and off, about 4 times... on the last two tries, all of the lights went out.

I called 2 different dealerships. One that was in Louisville, who told me that I could rent a car for $35.00 a day, and they would get my car in, to diagnose it. And another dealership in Lexington (where I live, 60 miles away) that would just take my car. I decided to wait and see. So at Lunch time me and a buddy went to lunch and everything was fine. Temperature was about 17-24 degrees then. And was the same when I got off of work at 4:00pm. Car drove fine in both cases.

This morning, Car drove fine as well.

I am going to chalk this up to the car being in extreme cold...

 

Perry, I would keep a log of the outside temperature if this happens again. A toyota tech may not be familiar with this type of trouble. Toyota has a tech hot line. This way they can contact a senior tech that can look up on a computer for this or a similar trouble. This helps the local tech find and repair the problem.

Although some intermittent problems may not happen on the techs test drive.

 

One thing to check, in regards to the brake light...is the brake fluid level. On previous Toyotas I have owned, as they age, and brake linings are worn down, the brake fluid level in the resevoir drops, causing the brake light to come on... referencing a low level of brake fluid. Perhaps in the cold the fluid contracts? or ??? Just a thought.

 

I did forget to mention that is car only has 5200 miles on it. When I bought it, it had 2300 miles on it. So it is virtually brand new.

 

Still a possibility that the brake fluid is low.

Why did the car have so many miles on it when you bought it? Was it "previously owned"? A 2007 with only 5200 miles...now?

 

The problem is unlikely due to your cool weather. For the last 2+ weeks its been -30 or so around here and I`ve had no issues with my TCH. Mileage has dropped from 40 to 22 (that`s what I get for living close to work ) but otherwise no issues at all.

 

Car has low miles on it, because it was previously owned...