AJ@TireRack.com

As for a cost, I have heard everything from shops will do it at no charge with an oil change/winter prep, to a 1 hour labor rate.

-AJ

Kansas

Retrieving the existing TPMS ID's from the ECU and uploading the TPMS ID's for winter wheels was pretty easy using an ATEQ Quickset tool that I bought on Amazon.com for just less than $150 including shipping by FedEx. I did this on a 2014 Sienna and a 2012 Prius but the Quickset supports all Lexus vehicles that come with TPMS. Since the Toyota dealer wanted over $100 per vehicle to program in the winter wheel TPMS codes for each vehicle, the Quickset tool paid for itself the first day I used it.

The TPM sensors I bought for the Prius winter wheels are from Pacific which, according to a table I found online, is what Toyota uses on most of the vehicles it makes. The TPM sensors I bought for the Sienna winter wheels are "Redi-Sensor" from Dill Air Controls and they work exactly like the Pacific sensors.

Toyota-compatible TPM sensors do not have to be activated by a tool. Both the Pacific and Dill sensors "woke up" after driving a few hundred yards. You can tell when that happens by the instrument cluster warning light going out. If you buy a wheel/tire package with installed TPMS sensors, it is important to have the seller provide you with the TPMS ID's so that you don't have to pay somebody to use a tool to retrieve them for you.

First time setup and use of the Quickset tool and its PC software might seem a little complicated but once you have installed the Quickset PC software (download the current software and drivers from the ATEQ website!) and have the TPMS ID's registered in the PC software, switching a vehicle's ECU from summer to winter TPMS or from winter to summer TPMS should take no more than a ten minutes per vehicle. The Quickset software supports two sets of TPMS for up to four vehicles.

One more thing ... after you retrieve the original TPMS ID's from your vehicle's ECU's, upload them from the Quickset tool to the Quickset PC software, and enter the TPMS ID's for your new wheels into the Quickset PC software, be sure to print a list of all the TPMS ID's and store them in a safe place ("the Cloud"?) in case your PC ever crashes.

bc6152

Whew! Sounds like a lot of time, money, and effort to determine tire pressure. I bought a digital tire pressure gauge for $8.99 on Amazon. Takes less than 6 minutes to check every tire and some additional time to correct any underinflated tire.

Kansas

TPMS does not replace using a tire gauge on a regular basis. TPMS tells the driver when a tire has lost pressure.

According to the NHTSA, tires lose on average between 3 and 9 psi per year due to leakage.

Tire pressures also change approximately 1 psi for each degree of outdoor temperature change. So ... a tire that is properly inflated at 90 degrees Fahrenheit on a warm summer day would be about 9 psi low on a zero degree winter day.

It has become a running joke with people I work with that I remind them to adjust their tire pressures as the outdoor temperature declines in the fall - but at least some of them have learned to pay attention to their tire pressures so I don't mind the kidding.

The day after I adjusted the front tire pressures in my wife's Prius to the recommended 33 psi a month or two ago, she called me to tell me that the TPMS warning light in the instrument cluster. By the time she drove a short distance to the Toyota dealer, the tire pressure in one front tire was down to 21 psi and that was even with the tire being "hot" - the cold psi reading would have been substantially lower than 21 psi. She could not tell by the way her Prius handled that the pressure in one tire was. At a minimum, having TPMS prevented her from continuing to drive and perhaps ruining an expensive low profile tire and calling AAA to get the tire changed.

tolick

Hello! Last spring I bought new Rims for my 2013 Lexus ES300H + new TMPS sensors on them. When I placed on my car new rims with new tires, the Tire Pressure light turned on on dash, I went to dealer, they configured my car and I was able to see right pressure from each tire. Yesterday I placed my old rims with old sensors on my card and Tire Pressure light did not turn on, but I don't see pressure on dashboard anyway. It shows me only 3lines on each tire. Do you have any idea why? When I placed new sensors in spring, the light was on on the dash like my car didn't recognize sensors but now light is off but pressure is not shown on display. How tmps sensors works? They have batteries? Because they was staying for all summer and autumn in my garage I may have issues with them now? Please advice! Thanks!

tagor

I don't think this is true with the 2013 model ES, I had to get the TPMS sensors reprogramed summer and winter as the vehicle could only hold one set at a time.
But I am getting conflicting reports on this.
I have just purchased a 2017 ES, and am wondering if anyone knows if the newer models were updated to hold two sets???
It would be nice to not have to make a trip to the dealer spring and fall.

lesz

I believe that that is correct for, at least, the 2013 ES. With some Lexus vehicles, including my GX, the TPMS can be programmed for 2 sets of tires and their separate TPMS sensors, and there is a switch the position of which determines which set of tires and sensors is currently being used, but the 2013 ES does not have that capability. I have no idea whether this would also apply to other years of the ES, including the 2017 ES, but my guess would be that they also can only be programmed for one set at a time.

Brent1944

Toyota dealer can service it,, cheaper too.