Hello everybody...

I purchased a used 2008 ES350 a little over two weeks ago, and since the test drive the TPMS light has been nagging me. The tire pressures are fine, including the spare.

I have went my whole driving life without a system to monitor my tire pressure, so I'm more than fine to just go without out it on this car as well.

I have tried to clear/reset the light, but no matter what I do I can't ge it to turn off. The closest Lexus dealer unfortunately is 20 miles away and they're never open on Saturday/Sunday, which means anytime I have to go there I would have to take time off work. So I really don't want to bother with the dealer unless it is totally necessary.

After reading up on this, I think what I want to do - if possible - is just yank the bulb/LED out and be done with it. I have seen where a few people have talked about just pulling out the bulb/LED, but I haven't been able to find any details.

Could someone tell me where I can find the bulb or LED to remove it? If it isn't overly complicated I'd like to get it a shot. A couple of pictures would be fantastic.

Would this thread be more appropriate in the Maintenance forum?

Thanks!

 

If you're referring to the TPMS bulb in the dash, just sit how you would normally sit and place a piece of electrical tape over the plastic cover

A potential issue might be a broken TPMS sensor. It happens from time to time

 

So do we assume you verified tire pressure in all 5 tires and then reset the light by following the procedure in the owners manual. If you did the light will go out. This is not rocket science . If you want to remove the light then you need to remove the instrument panel. Those instructions are not in the owners manual.

 

I think you will find removing the TPMS bulb quite a project. Putting tape over it would work if you want to do that. Or better yet take it to your Lexus dealer and they can probably resolve the problem. It could be a defective or broken or even a missing sensor or maybe they just need to register the sensors with the system.

Dave Mac

 

I would not recommend removing the light bulb. OP, u mentioned resetting/clearing the light but u didn't go into detail how u did that. Here is my recommendation:

1) go to a gas station with an air pump. Unless u have an inflator/compressor at home with the tire attachment

2) lower all 5 air pressures including the spare in the trunk to maybe about 28 PSI

3) now reset the TPMS (on the 07 there is a button to "calibrate" the TPMS and it is located under the dash. I presume it is the same on the 08.)

4) now bring the pressue back up to 30/32 or whatever it says on the door area


If this doesn't work, it is possible u have a defective TPMS
but my bet right now would be that someone "calibrated" the TPMS to the current tire pressure so the light is constantly on. It happened to me before when my daughter was messing around and hit that button.

HTH!

 

take out the fuse for the tpms..if not try read the manual on how to reset the tpms..there are sets that the tpms reads from..meaning...

for tpms there is a button that let's you pick from a and b...
a could mean the set that you have on the car now..
b could mean the alternative set of wheels you have...

so if your tpms button is set on B and you have on set A....it would come out wiht an error like u have now...(that's what happened to me)..you just need to set it to the A and reset the light and it'll go away....(that's what happened to mines too)...OR you could just have a bad sensor and you have to replace it..

 

Does the light flash for about 30 seconds when first cranking up and then stays on solid after that? Mine did, and the reset button refused to reset the system because one of the sensors turned out to be unresponsive. I took it (CPO) to the dealer, they replaced the bad sensor for me without batting an eye. I would seriously consider getting it fixed properly.

 

Yes, is that not normal? I just assumed that was part of the normal warning.

 

The manual says flashing indicates a TPMS system malfunction. I haven't had actual low pressure in a tire yet, but I believe that will give you a solid yellow light with no flashing.

 

Must have glanced over that in the manual. Thanks.

I guess I'll just make an appointment with the dealer soon then. I hate having to take off work for this. Why can't they be open on Saturdays? Is that the norm for Lexus dealers? I owned a Ford and Nissan before this car, and both dealers were open for at least half a day on Saturday.

 

My dealer is 50 miles away and if I need to get something checked or fixed they will come and pick up my car and leave me with a loaner. Give them a call.

 

I'll check into that, thank you.

 

That's crazy that they're not open on weekends. I've never heard of that!

 

You should first try to reset the TPMS yourself. Pulling that indicator light would be a nightmare, and you could possibly damage something else while you have the dash torn apart. Follow these easy steps:

1. Set the air pressure in all the tires, including the spare, to your desired PSI. The factory recommends 30 PSI, I like to run mine at 32.

2. locate the TPMS reset button on the bottom of the dash, to the right of the steering column. You can't see it unless you get way down and look up at the bottom edge of the dash.

3. Set the ignition to the "Ignition On Mode" by pressing the start button twice. Do Not push the brake pedal, and Do Not start the car. All the dash lights should now be on.

4. Depress the TPMS button until the TPMS indicator light slowly blinks three times, then release the button.

5. Walk away for about five minutes while it resets. Leave the ignition on.

6. After the five minutes, turn the ignition off. Then, start the car as you would normally do. The TPMS light should now be off.

I read somewhere that the TPMS indicates a low pressure if the reading gets below 4-5 PSI from where the TPMS was set at.

If this doesn't work, take it to Lexus for repair.
Good Luck!

 

I have tried that, but it doesn't work.

Since the light blinks for about one minute and stays solid afterwards, I'm going to get Lexus to look at it because the manual says this could indicate a malfunction with the TPMS.