I know there has been a lot of discussion on TPMS (TPWS?) in the past. My "new to me" 2020 ES 350 is having a difficult time getting my winter tires to register and to initialize. The problem seems to be with that silly "erase on reverse" feature...I am not in a position to park the vehicle for any length of time (days?) where I can avoid reversing so the "do it yourself" method shown in the instruction manual is just not working for me. Here is the question: if I go to a tire dealer (don't suggest a Lexus dealer, the nearest one is 120 miles away), to get the vehicle "programmed" with the correct TPMS id numbers (I have those for the winter wheels), is it still going to be necessary to do the "drive until it takes without ever reversing"? Or will it just "force" the ID's in and initialize as well? Anyone know from personal experience?

I am used to the older generation '14 where I had the tpms id numbers from the OEM wheels and had the tire dealer jam the same id numbers into programmable TPMS tire sensors on the aftermarket rims/tires. When I traded that car in on the newer one I kept my winter tires on the OEM Lexus rims (heavily curbed by a previous owner), as well as my set of aftermarket rims with summer tires and the cloned sensors so as to avoid the need to re-initialize at each seasonal switch. It did work great...just swap the tires around and drive off...everything registering properly and without any hassle.

(Yes, I got a set of Lexus center caps and stuck them on the aftermarket RTX "twist" rims)

 

Question: did you transfer those 4 original TPMS valves from the original/existing Lexus wheels to your winter wheels, or your winter set has it own new TPMS valves, sounds like the later to me.

I don't think Lexus can remember 2 sets of TPMS sensors, so either doing the re-learn process everytime you swapping, which seems like a big hassle, or your dashboard will just be showing the orange TPMS light during winter, which most folks are doing,

 

The codes from the OEM wheels (which ultimately became my winter rims) were cloned over the the aftermarket rims, which are my summer rims. The winter rims from my '14 are the ones now on my '20 ES while the aftermarket, summer rims, are sitting in my garage. I have been trying to get the registration (first) and then the initialization (haven't got that far yet) done outside the garage in the driveway and far away from the alternate rim set stored in the garage. So...two sets of rims with identical TPMS codes which has worked perfectly for the past 5 years on the '14. In essence, the car doesn't (didn't) know or care which set of rims were installed. The photograph is from the '14.

 

LOL, that’s smart! I can’t wait to hear what happens when you accidentally leave all 8 rims next to the car, should be fun to see how it reacts! 😂
I'd say go to YouTube and search, I'm pretty sure there will be a solution. Sorry can't help.

 

I haven't done it myself but the information on TPMS sensor location updating is pretty available. There's quite a wide range of TPMS tools that'll scan the sensor at each wheel location and then update the vehicle's TPMS through the vehicle's OBD-II port with the sensor ID codes and wheel locations. When the vehicle's TPMS has been updated that way there's no need to invoke system's discovery and learn feature.

It is going to depend upon the specific TPMS tool to know what capabilities it has. For speed and accuracy reasons, most likely all of them support getting the sensor ID from the sensor itself.

 

I saved this from the OEM sensors on the '14 before I had the second set cloned to match. The issue is that the '20 is looking for a different set of ID #s so I have to program the vehicle, not the sensors, and that is where I am having the problem.

 

The TPMS tools I mentioned above can do that. Obtain the sensor IDs along with the wheel position associated with that sensor ID and then upload that through the OBD-II port to the vehicle's TPMS's data store.

Some sort of TPMS tool is what a lot of people working with automobile wheels use whenever a vehicle's TPMS needs updating with new sensor IDs or sensor locations. That eliminates potential trouble with the vehicle's sensor learn function and avoids burning employee time driving vehicles to ensure the update vehicle's TPMS part of the job is satisfactorily completed.

 

What tool are you using?

Check out this video, this fella was using TS508: youtube.com/watch?v=iUjw49wnN9A

 

I’m not sure about the earlier years of this generation, but my 2025 relearns my two sets of wheels (one with winters and one with all seasons) when I swap them back and forth. Go into tools, choose TPWS, and then “change wheel set.” Drive at approximately 25mph for 10 to 30 minutes.

 

Hmm... How old are the TPMS sensors installed in your winter rims that you're having trouble getting recognized?

If they're the original 2014 era sensors installed in the 2014 OEM wheels you're using for your winter tires, your problem is most likely dead sensor batteries. Over 10 years is stretching it for the lifetime of the battery built into a TPMS wheel sensor. You'll have to replace the wheel sensors to fix that.

 

The sensors are original and were working fine on Friday when I drove to the dealership 250 miles away where the trade took place. As mentioned earlier, I had that set of wheels installed on the '20 as part of the trade deal...I have Michelin X-ice rubber on them and they're fantastic in the yuck. I only attempted to get the '20 to recognize them after I got home the next day. I know about the life of the sensor batteries...I have planned to replace them preemptively the next time I need to change the winter rubber if they haven't already failed by then. My Carista dongle/app will recognize them correctly on the '20 but the problem is in getting the complete registration/initialization completed even after considerable driving...that bloody "don't ever reverse" thing in the manual, I suspect. Going to visit my tire dealer tomorrow am to see what he can do...he has the full set of TPMS tools.

 

Problem solved: tire dealer confirmed that although the car could "see" the sensor ids, it could not work with them...different system or some such. So replaced the sensors, programmed and rebalanced. All is good now. With the potential for tariff affect on tires, have committed to replacing summer tires which currently have programmable TPMS installed. We'll see if they can be reprogrammed to work with the car and, if not, will replace them at the same time and with the same ids as what we just had installed. That for later in the month to catch the next billing cycle...this one has my credit card crying now. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the discussion.

ps: by the way, the handheld used to check the old TPMS indicated that the batteries in them (11 years old!) were just fine with lots of residual life in them.

 

You need to buy something like this Autel TS508WF for about $190; I have one - it is magic.

Theoretically, cloning the four OEM sensors should work fine, but you must store your OEM wheels with OEM TPMS sensors much much further away, and not in the same double garage, otherwise the short distance of all eight sensors to the vehicle's receiver - often inside the RHS C-pillar - will confuse the vehicle.
I have a quad garage and the OEM spares are in the 1st garage on the far left, while my car with clones are in the 3rd or 4th garage to the far right, and everything works fine.

 

Well, if you read the back story I posted, I've had either the winter tires or the summer tires in the same garage where the car is parked (the '14) and within no more than 10' of the rear receiver with zero issues for the past 5 years. I have heard that others have had the problem you mention but I have never experienced that myself...in fact I never even had to hit the reset button on the '14 when I made a seasonal switchover. As I posted above, the problem I had with the '20 is that it does not make friends with the sensors from the '14 due to a difference in software/hardware. No point in me buying the Autel because my tire dealer is the guy who would change the rubber and rebalance so he does the sensors at the same time: the Carista app simply confirms the sensor ids and pressures being transmitted via the OBD port. The Carista can reprogram the id numbers on programmable tps sensors; what it cannot do is program a vehicle sensor computer and display system (which the Autel...and that is what I had for my second set of tires...)can do. Now I just have to have the dealer check to see if the Autel sensors on my summer rims (I'm getting new rubber on those anyway) will be capable of working or if I'll have to buy the newer version of sensor to suit the '20.

This is the readout I got just this morning with Carista:

 

I have the Autel tool and it works great. I've used it with my Lexus TPMS sensors, my Infiniti OEM sensors and some sensors I purchased on Amazon and from Costco. None of them were Autel sensors and the tool worked great with all of them.