Hey everyone!
After many years of driving an old school Tacoma, I finally landed a 2010 es350. It's my dream car! Even if I got it 13 years late

However on the way home from picking up the car, the tpms light started blinking for one minute and then going solid.

​​​​​​After reading online, this suggests an issue with the tpms system.

I put an obdII reader on the car and it's not pulling any codes. Should it?
Would a bad module trigger any codes?

I'm just starting my troubleshooting journey with this car so I thought I'd check in here first.

Thank you!
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Edit: I have some Toyota techstream software for my truck that I haven't tried yet, but if that will help point me in the correct direction I'll give that a go, if I can find my connector of course!

 

The most likely issue is that one or more of your TPMS units has a failing battery and needs to be replaced. You cannot replace the battery. It won't trigger a code, just the warning light. It blinking means one is getting weak, then going solid means it is weaker or dead. However they can fail very gradually. My 2016 Sienna had a blinking TPMS last year, then it stopped blinking for several months, began again then stopped again!
It is currently not on so I will wait for it to light up again and be on all the time before doing anything. I just check the tires with a gauge.

You are overthinking and looking for a complicated expensive issue when really it is a realtively inexpensive maintenance problem because TPMS units are only expected to last 7 to 10 years. So
Any tire store, indpendent repair shop or Costco (cheapest place) can scan your individual TPMS units on each tire to identify the problem unit. However if one failed, and it is 13 years old with original TPMS units, then the rest may fail soon so you may want to replace all of them. If you need new tires it is cheaper to replace the TPMS units at that time since the tires have to be removed or if lucky, just de-beaded enough to remove and replace the TPMS.
Do a search on this forum for TPMS to learn more.

 

Amazing! Didn't even think of the debeading idea!
Thanks for the details!

 

Yup, Clutchless is right on the money,

Up to you whether you want to get new senors or not, and if you do replace it, probably only worth doing it at your next tire swap, Costco will install compatible pressure sensors if you don't want to spend a lot as dealerships will absolutely shaft you.
I have ignored mine and just live with it since replacing all 5 is almost the cost of an entire new tire (don't forget the spare as well). I grew up with cars that didn't have TPMS and just check the tire pressure every month or if the temperature swings significantly,.

 

Don't want to start a new thread for this, but is the spare tire TPMS actively monitored while the spare is in the trunk? Or only when being used?

I just picked up my 08, and the TPMS was lit. All 5 tires were way off (the 4 on the car overinflated to 45, spare down to 15). It's off after setting all the tires to the correct pressure.

 

The spare tire is still monitored while in the trunk.

 

Yes the spare too. I think someone at Lexus told my mom for her car that a lot of the times it's the spare and people don't realize

 

Back to the original poster, tmps blinking then solid, it is indicative of sensor battery is dying like Cluthless said. You should replace all 5 sensors since they are gonna go bad soon after if one does.
As for sensors, i learned from my experience is Cheap sensors on eBay or amazon are working BUT required you have right equipment or Techstream software to Write all 5 new sensors IDs into car system for it to work.
this car don't care or can't tell which tire sensor location as long as 5 are installed. One risk of buying cheap sensors on ebay or amazon is you don't know if the sensor is working or not or how old the battery is. i bought 5 and one have bad battery so more trouble to order new one and go to tire place to install it again.