Hi. I have an ES 350 with 7000 miles on it (18 months old). Two seasons the tire pressure light has gone off (change in weather); and two seasons I have driven around looking for air (almost impossible to find in NYC - and I am more than inept at testing the pressure myself). Both times the tires were fine.

I just made an appointment to bring the car in again. As a new and nervous car owner I am afraid that I do have a slow leak and I am anxious driving around with the indicator light on.

The person that I spoke to at Lexus just said: we're getting calls about the tire pressure light all day. While I am there I am having the car "serviced for winter". The cynic in me says that Lexus is profiting from people bringing in their cars for this issue.

I've read lots of posts about this issue on this board. I like the car and would get another next year (I was in a bad accident with only 2500 miles on the car when a stupid guy blew through a stop sign while he was texting - the car did fine - the front tore off taking the brunt of the force - and me and my four passengers were basically unharmed), but this problem is irritating.

If anyone has any patience for a newbie, I would appreciate some advice. Thanks very much.

 

Don't forget.....your spare tire has a TPMS sensor on it also. If the spare tire is low on air, it will activate the dash light as well. You will check all your tires and not find anything wrong with those giving an apparent "phantom light".

My dentist has an ES350 also and I told him this same advice. It solved his problem with the dash light TPMS.

GOOD LUCK !

 

I also read some place (can't remember where at the moment) that the spare may not communicate properly if installed with the valve stem near the rear of the car - fix is to rotate spare to get valve closer to front of the vehicle (the TPMS receiver is under the headliner near the center of the rear window).

Hope spare tire pressure and/or rotation correct your problem.

John

 

I have had more than my share of TPMS lights go on at almost 2 years and 20K miles. It has annoyed me more than any other issue. Once it was trully a nail and a slow leak but the rest was due to a difference in the tires - I think the Bridgestone tires are terrible and lose air quickly. I believe the TPMS light comes on when the difference is 5+ lbs (i.e. if one tire is 26 lbs and another is 31 lbs the light will come on).

Now I make it a point to check the tires and the spare every few weeks or once a month to make sure the readings are close, +/- 1 lb. Invest in a inflator (I believe they are under $40) from Sears or Walmart to top off any low tires. Once you inflate the tires in range the light will go out. I check the tires more frequently than the oil. Even my wife knows how to do it.

Amber Pearl

 

This is funny. I've had my steelies on with snow tires (no sensors) and I've yet to get any kind of warning. You've got to wonder how reliable the TPMS system is.

 

You guys don't understand life in NYC. If there is an air pump, it is hidden somewhere and only taxi drivers know where it is. People think that NYers don't have cars because parking is too expensive. The truth is - there are no air pumps!

But thanks very much for trying to help me. I am tempted to try the reset button under the dash. I drive so little that I can't believe it is from use of the tires - I think it is the change in temperature.

 

I spoke to Lexus service today. They said they will reset the gauge so that it isn't so sensitive - it won't go off when the tire pressure drops from 31 to 27. Whether that fixes the problem or not - or whether that sets me up for a tire failure that could have been prevented, I don't know. Thanks

 

If that were true, then how would you be able to explain how the front tires apparently have no problem communicating with the receiver, given that they are much further way from it than the spare tire is? Heck, even if thes spare tire valve stem is oriented more towards the rear of the car, it's still much closer to the receiver than the front tires are.

 

Lexus told me that the problem was that the spare was very low. Not sure how that could happen when I had them service the car at 5,000 miles - 2,000 miles ago - and I have not touched the spare since then. Bottom line - I don't believe them, but he had to tell me something and this is their story. I didn't expect them to say that there is a problem with the system when the weather changes.

In the meantime, $100 plus having the belts checked, anti-freeze flushed. And I got to look around at all the beautiful new cars.

 

Find someone who will inflate your tires with Nitrogen. Much less "air" loss and less response to temperature changes.
Steve

 

dont meant to hijack the thread, can anyone confirm if the TPMS light will stay on if I remove one of the tire ?
All five tires including the spare has the sensor, if I replace one of the flat tire with the full spare one, and just leave the flat tire in the garage (away from the car), will this tigger the sensor ?

I tried resetting the sensory, but the light still stays on,
and I wonder if it has anything to do with just detecthing 4 tires instead of total 5 tires ?

 

Also consider buying a small compressor (under $100) to keep in garage. Sure beats going to the crappy gas stations for air. Plus you can adjust/check pressures correctly when cold before driving the car in the morning.

 

can anyone confirm if the TPMS will stay one if one of the 5 tires is not within the detectable range by the vehicle ?
for example if I replaced the broken tire/wheel with the full size spare, should the light stay on even if after I reset it ?

 

I believe I have had both situations work. The first time I left the spare in the garage the TPMS light which was on stayed on. The second time when I left the spare in the garage because I needed the space to haul four new tires in my trunk the light did not come on. When I removed the spare from the trunk the TPMS was not on. This is a five tire/wheel system and when the spare is low the warning appears so I would think that any time the spare is not in place it would also light up and I don't know if resetting it would even help.

Also when I have had a tire go completely flat in the garage overnight the TPMS did not light but if the same would happen while driving it would light up. With the flat in the garage the light did not come on until I put 15 lbs. of air in the tire - no explanation for this behaviour.

This system is nice but maybe not perfect yet.

Dave Mac

 

Thank you Dave, I guess the system will react when something really went wrong and will only be turned off after you fix it, meaning now I better fix the flat tire in order for the light to be turned off, I cant just drive with the 4 good tires.

Unless all 5 tires were in good condition to begin with, then the light might not come on if I just happen to remove one of them out of the range......weird.....

what happened was I got a flat on the road while driving and the light came on, after I swapped the full size spare the light still stays on after I reset it, I even tried to hide the flat tire away from the vehicle by putting it in the back yard and resetting it again,
but the light still stays on !

!%$&...guess I have no choice but have to fix the flat tire right away if I want to get rid off the light.