Hi all,

Had the TPMS warning light come on recently. Took it to my normal tire shop and they’ve determined the left front sensor is going bad.

They said they don’t program Lexus sensors, and their third party sensors don’t work. They also said if I bought sensors they would install them for me.

This is all new to me. What would they need to do to “program” a new sensor?

I was looking at some ORM ones in EBAY. But, if they need to be programmed are they pretty much useless for me?

I called Costco and he said they wouldn’t install anything a customer brought in; and they couldn’t program them as well. (I’m detecting a common thread). The local Toyota deslership service dept wants $200+ to I stalk a single sensor (part included). :-(

 

On your vehicle, after installation into the wheel, a TPMS needs its Electronic Serial Number programmed into the vehicle's ECU through the OBD-2 Ports. The Ebay sensors are generally of poor quality and tend to give issues when being programmed through the OBD-2 Port. Avoid these sensors. The sensors Costco sells are manufactured by Dill. Dill is the OEM Sensor for many manufactures. The Dill sensors will probably last the life of your vehicle. Costco normally uses a hand held tool to program the sensors, the Dill Sensors work quite well. Discount Tire/America's Tire also use a similar tool and sell both Dill and Continental Sensors. Both sensors can be programmed by them at their shop.

 

By program they most likely meant to enter the new sensor ids into the vehicles ECU. The computer needs that info to function. However, some aftermarket sensors need to be programmed so that they send out the correct signal your vehicle is looking for.

 

Thanks for the response. The sensors I was looking at on EBAY, claim to be OEM Toyota brand, so the quality “should” be there. But, I’ll give America Tire a call. I think there’s one out in Concord, CA; if not closer.

 

Made some calls today.

Big O wants $80/sensor, and $35 labor
America's Tire wants $60/sensor, and $35 labor

Tire rotation and balancing is another charge. All in all, looking at $450ish with tax and fees to do all four tires; which they're advocating since the car is just shy of 100,000 miles and I have no idea whether the sensors have ever been replaced.

 

$65 each installed at Costco.

 

I was told once by a mechanic TPMS sensor light being on will not hurt anything, it's just annoying. But you should check tire pressure once in a while. He also said replacement can get expensive and non OEM won't last the normal 8 to 10 years He said that putting the money towards fluid changes and maintenance is more important. No plans to ever sell my car so if it bothers me to much, I'll cover it up with black electrical tape. Buy a $3.00 tire gauge.

 

unrelated to topic but still has some significance to the discussion here:
If you take your supplied part to a mechanic, you loose labor warranty. Some mechanics will not accept owner supplied parts. Please discuss pros/cons with mechanic before purchasing part(s).

You can postpone the sensor installation till you need to replace the tire(s).

TPSM was mandated to be installed in vehicles in USA.

Salim

 

I knew that already. Guess it just annoys me enough just knowing it's there. Always roll with a tire gauge from the good ol' days before cars had computers of any type in them. :-)

Ended up getting it done by Big-O today. But, just the one that went bad. Figured there's no reason to replace the rest of them right now.

 

Apparently not at the one I go to. He said they could't program them. Wonder if they have an issue, or whether he just wanted to get rid of me sine I wasn't plunking down $1000 on a set of tires?

 

You definitely called the wrong one. Should have been a simple process. As for installing sensors supplied by a customer, there is too much of a liability if they don’t work properly. End up spending too much time trying to troubleshoot parts that were thought to be oem or good quality.

 

This is just the answer I was looking for!