lzzhang

I was on my way back from Lake Tahoe in California on Christmas Day. After driving about 30 miles on I-80 from Tahoe to San Francisco, my tire pressure light started flashing, then stayed on. It was snowing, I was sick and we were still in the middle of mountain. It was big scary.

I took the next exit. However, as soon as I got off the highway, the tire pressure light went off. I checked the tire pressure, all around 33psi. I then drove back home safely.

I got my car service from the dealer before I drove to the mountain to ski (tires were rotated and pressure was adjusted). There was no problem when I drove there and when I was there. This occurred when I was driving back home. The temperature was around 15 degree low and 28 degree high.

Was this just false alarm of the TPMS which occurs some time.

Droid13

The light will come on for any TPMS issue, could be: low pressure, failure to read a sensor, issue with the system itself. If the light flashes, first thing would be to check the display on the dash to see the pressure readings. See if one is low, or just missing. Could be in your case of the the sensor batteries is low and not consistently sending a signal. It can take minutes or hours in the event of a sensor signal not being received before the warning light comes on.

Clutchless

I just went through this on my Lexus HS250h and it was a TPMS battery dying. It does take a while to register as not working, then I would get a check TPMS system warning. Then they will come back to life and it reads okay. The 2011 HS250h has individual tire readings, so I could identify which sensor was bad as that tire had no reading. I think it is temperature-dependent so the colder it gets the more likely the battery will not work.

The car manufacturers, tire companies etc all advise that the average TPMS battery life is about 7 or 8 years. Considering the average of the 3G RX. we are all entering the time frame for these things to fail.

I had all 4 replaced at Costco for about $246.00
I suspect if I keep my 2010 RX350 longer, it will also have to get the TPMS sensors replaced.
I think next time, if I have a 7 year old or older car and am replacing the tires, I will replace the TPMS at the same time.

F250

Clutchless... did Costco use aftermarket sensors?

Clutchless

Yes, they used Schrader at the Costco I went to, and I read another thread where Costco used Dill sensors. Either are the equal of OEM. All use similar batteries and have the same life expectancy. Who knows, one of them may be an OEM supplier.
You cannot find a better price elsewhere. I paid Costco $246. A local independent repair shop wanted $500.

F250

Thanks. I'm torn with how to best take care of the ones in my wife's Rx450h. Before we moved from Alabama to NC, the Costco was 10 minutes from the house, right outside our neighborhood. Now, it's almost half an hour away. I also need to replace the two front tires, too. I guess I need to call them and just schedule a time to spend one upcoming Saturday morning over there and get it all done at one time.

Clutchless

I made an appointment at Costco and they had to check that the TPMS sensors were in stock.
Since you are getting 2 new tires they have to remount and balance your tire anyway, maybe it will lower the cost.

F250

I'm going to have to plan it out ahead of time to make sure that they have both the sensors AND the tires on hand when I go for the appointment. I, too, was thinking that the install cost on two of the sensors should be lower than normal due to the tire change effort.

Clutchless

I think the lesson is if your vehicle is over 8 years old and you need tires, get the TPMS sensors replaced at that time to save on labor as they are going to fail in the next couple of years.

lexuspleus

Is it actually a sign of the batteries dying out?

This happened to me when it was -22 C in the middle of the night in the middle of an inter-city highway, in the middle of nowhere, and it freaked me out. I pulled over to inspect tires and just waited for a while to see if the TPMS light would go off. The light went off after 10 minutes. Weirdly it happened the summer before.

I think these were just the odd times the TPMS is confused. Life goes on.

Clutchless

Yes, your symptoms are a sign the TPMS batteries are wearing out.

RX10

Thought I’d bump this thread with a TPMS sensor update and what I experienced.
The low pressure dash indicator began blinking upon vehicle start up and went solid in about a minute. Classic TPMS low battery alert.

Called my reliable independent shop and was quoted $130 per tire. Well, it beat the hell out of the dealership price (who I didn’t even bother calling for price). I informed my Indy of the Costco price and that I’d rather give them the business even if I paid and extra $50-100. He just couldn’t do it and encouraged me to have it done at Costco. BTW, he couldn’t believe the Costco price. “How can they do it for that price”?

I had recalled reading on Club Lexus months ago about TPMS replacement at Costco. I gave Costco a call, got a quote, made the appointment and just had all four TPMS sensors replaced for $253 out the door with the job being completed in about one hour. They used Dill TPMS sensors #7007HP.

I was going to have the spare TPMS replaced also but, I came to find out that the pneumatic spare does not have a sensor and that my 2010 RX sensor program only supports 4 tire sensors.

Yet another example of how informative and helpful this great forum community is. Thanks again Club Lexus friends!

HSGS

Thanks for the update.
I just finally replace mine as well, when I got new tires.
The 4 of them at Discount Tire were $244 before local sales tax.