the low tire pressure light keeps lighting up on my dash, then after driving for a bit it will turn off, then turn back on a little later. None of the tires appear to be punctured, is it possible that one of my TPMS are going bad, the car is an 02, and the rims were changed in 04 by the lexus dealer. Is there a way to tell which of the TPMS are bad? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks
Jace

 

I see you are in FL. This happened to me on my car recently here in Texas with a sudden change of pressure and temperature...we went from 80's and humid to cold and windy 50 degrees. My sensors were going off like crazy and for some reason my tires were extremely low after they sat at the airport for three days.

I would definitely check all your tire pressure and ensure they are good. Check them cold...might be your change of weather down in FL recently too? Not sure if you have had the same cold front that came through Texas but it dropped us by 30 degrees.

 

I have an '02 as well, and recently had my warning light come on and stay on. You are at the end of the battery life for the sensors, which may be causing the coming and going of the alarm, if it's not actually doing its job and warning you of low tire pressure.
Rather than spend the coin on figuring out which one it was, and knowing the other 3 can't be far behind, I disabled the entire system. It's a 10 minute job, and there are great instructions in a sticky at the top of the page.

 

Unfortunately, with the '02 there is no way to determine which one is indicating a low tire. (I don't know if the later models allow you to determine which one has the low pressure.) With the Lexus sensors, you have to have special equipment to deal with them, though according to industry officials, that is supposed to change in the near future. They thought that service centers other than the deal or specialized centers (who specialize in Lexus service) should be able to handle it either currently or in the near future. He was referring to places like Costco and Discount Tire (maybe Firestone or Goodyear or Sears?). I don't know if either of these ever gained that capability.

If you have a warranty, they are still covered. I'd get them looked at while the warranty covers them. They are indeed expensive both to buy and have installed/hooked up.

However, after saying all that, make sure that your tires are all inflated above the recommended level by a couple of psi and if the light still comes on, you have a problem child there somewhere. Batteries are weaker when they are cold, so it could start working as they warm up and quick when they cool down, even so, it is time to get them serviced if you intend on using them.

 

no warranty, but I am going to be changing to some non runlets soon anyways, so there wont really be a need to the TMPS, so I may just have them removed, and then disable the system. Thanks for the advice

 

I've come to depend on those sensors and kind of miss having them in my wife's Camry. It means I don't have to get out and check the tire pressure to ensure that they are inflated properly. I never remember to check them until after I'm already on the road. That is even more important on these low profile tires where it will be difficult to be able to determine that it is low by looking at it.