Vehicle: 2013 Lexus ES350 122,500 miles
While driving my car on the highway at about 70mph, I hit several small holes. My TPMS went on, so at the next stop I had my tires checked at a tire shop. The tire pressures were ok. After the check, the TPMS lights were off. Again, on the return trip, I had the same thing happen - the TPMS went on. I had the tire pressure checked and they were fine. What is happening? How do I fix this problem?
I took my car to Tire Discount and they verified that one of the sensors is not working. Thank you everyone for your advice.
The batteries in your TPMS sensors may be getting weak after a decade of use.
The trouble with most of them is, you can't see where or what the issue is.
I suggest getting one off of amazon that will show you pressure in all tires, as well as some other info like temperature. They cost as little as $25 and work well.
Then if you want to fix the tpms a small piece of black electrical tape will remove the troublesome light.
What is the name of this product that shows pressure in all tires as well as temperature? How do you install it? Am I bypassing the car's TPMS by doing this? Thank you for your help.
It is a stand alone product that does nothing to the original tpms. It has sensors that just screw into the valve stem on each tire, it couldn't be easier. Go to amazon under automotive and just type tpms. I have the tymate for my Lexus GX470 which is nicer than the $25 one, but is a bit harder to read as the number for the tire pressure are a bit smaller. Many companies sell the one that is about $25 and it works well, and is easy to see the tire pressure. The one I bought doesn't even list a name, just called tire pressure monitoring system. They are small and just stick on the dash somewhere, and will alert you if the tire pressure starts going down. I had to replace one because it died after a year, but for $25 I am fine with that.
It's possible the TPMS (tire pressure monitor system) sender in the wheel has a dislodged battery or the sender itself is cracked/broke due to the pot holes the wheel went in and out causing sudden and severe shock. The antenna to detect the sender signal could also be damaged because it's affixed to the suspension attached to the wheel. You could pay a Lexus or Toyota dealer to give you a diagnosis and quote to get it fixed since it's out of warranty, or you could ask an independent garage to troubleshoot it and you may be able to get it fixed for less.
Does your vehicle’s TPMS system indicate the tire pressure (psi) of all 4 tires on your instrument gauge cluster (or user display)? On some vehicles like my truck (2009) it just says “Low Tire” but doesn’t state which tire or any of the psi numbers - I have to manually check them myself, so the TPMS system is useless . In your case, it could be the battery in the sensor or perhaps the BCM module.
If you are very curious, you would have to hook up a fancier scan tool (basically an “all system” scan tool) that can scan the BCM module and see what it is “seeing” with respect to the tire pressures at all 4 wheels. On my truck, I have the TPMS light always on and confirmed all 4 of my sensors work, that they are programmed correctly to communicate with the BCM, that the BCM TPMS system recognizes them (with correct IDs and tire pressures - confirmed against my analog tire gauge measurements). For my truck, if the tire pressures are off by +/- 0.5 psi with respect to each it can set off the TPMS light - so that’s what it was in my case. On my truck it doesn’t display the individual tire sensor readings on the user display in front of me (I have to use my fancy scan tool for that) - so I just live with it.
