Requesting TPMS help, dealership advice

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T

Thegodmachine

Joined
Jul 1, 2018
Threads
3
Messages
16
Location
California
Hi Al! I have a 2017 LX 570. While I was driving in the rain last week the TPSM monitor reported a flaw and all tire pressures stopped displaying. Upon restarting the car, this system showed pressures briefly and then drew another fault and showed no pressures.
I brought the car into Lexus today. They say they can see the fault and the system isn’t initializing. They believe it is because a single tire sensor is not working and they’ve given me a $600 bid too replace and program.
I don’t understand the system to work this way and want to confirm with everyone here. If a single sensor goes bad would not the other three sensors still report their pressures? I’m worried they’re leading me down the wrong and rather expensive path.
I appreciate the help
 
This is specifically what they said:

Concern​

Critical

Customer States That The Tire Pressure Readings Does Not Show Up On Dash

Cause​

VERIFIED CUSTOMER CONCERN TPMS LIGHT FLASHING CONNECTED SCAN TOOL AND RETRIEVED DTC C2177 INITIALIZATION NOT COMPLETED AND C2124 TRANSMITTER ID4 NOT RECEIVED FOUND TSB BUT UNABLE TO PERFORM SUSPECT DUE TO ID 4 NOT COMMUNICATING RECOMMEND REPLACE TPMS AND PROGRAM SENSOR AND RECHECK

Correction​

REPLACE AND RECHECK

Estimate​

$ 591.44
 
Hmmm….the original sensors last a long time, but it’s certainly possible to have one give up after 8 years. If the quote you got is to replace one sensor, that doesn’t pass the laugh test. A tire shop like Discount Tire can install and program a sensor and remount/balance the tire for a tiny fraction of that price.

Something to consider is the fact you said the problem showed up in the rain and the entire TPMS didn’t work. Do you have any water leaks or other electrical issues? Water in the door sills can corrode connections. It’s likely just a bad sensor battery, but double check for water leaks.
 
Sandroad said:
Hmmm….the original sensors last a long time, but it’s certainly possible to have one give up after 8 years. If the quote you got is to replace one sensor, that doesn’t pass the laugh test. A tire shop like Discount Tire can install and program a sensor and remount/balance the tire for a tiny fraction of that price.

Something to consider is the fact you said the problem showed up in the rain and the entire TPMS didn’t work. Do you have any water leaks or other electrical issues? Water in the door sills can corrode connections. It’s likely just a bad sensor battery, but double check for water leaks.
Click to expand...
I really appreciate the help. The cost for that amount of work really seemed off to me. I went ahead and called Costco after you suggested an alternative shop and they will replace ALL of them for $260. I am going to call Lexus in the morning and make sure I am understanding the charge right, but as you said, it appears to me that they want $591 for one vs Costco at $260 for 4, which is pretty wild.

Re water, I don’t see any whatsoever. No other electrical issues, no damp carpets. It did strike me as interesting that it happened during the rain. I presumed there was a correlation, but maybe not. I only have 21,000 miles on her and she is garaged when I am not driving.

I will update here either way regarding whether replacing the sensors, corrects the issue
 
Just understand the costco sensors are not the same level of quality as the originals... and it can be a significant difference.

A number of things changed about the TPMS implementation on the 16+ and maybe even more changes in 2018, which means feedback about my 2013 doesn't help much. Perhaps others with late model 200s can speak up about whether the whole system goes down with one sensor bad.. I do seem to remember people reporting that in the past.
 
If the batteries are starting to fail just go ahead and replace all 5 and be done with it (don’t forget there’s one in the spare). Beware of aftermarket sensors—they’re s***. All of them. Use Toyota sensors.

But, don’t get them though the dealership. The TPMS sensors themselves are painfully expensive and they usually pay around 0.5 hours labor each sensor, so cost does add up quickly.

I’ve replaced countless sensors for friends with genuine Toyota sensors from eBay.
THEY ARE LESS THAN $50 FOR FOUR!
There ARE counterfeits out there, but if you find a reputable seller you’ll be OK.

As for installing and programming your new sensors…. Gather a few $100 bills and quietly proposition a Toyota tech outside the shop around lunch time. Or, call around and find a tire shop that can program customer-provided factory sensors.
 
I can't speak to your TPMS sensor if it is failing and that's your root issue, but can say I've reprogrammed my TPMS system after I added a fifth HE wheel to my stable and had to re-initialize them myself after replacing the silver wheeled spare.

I bought an Autel TS508WF from AZ and it worked with all of my OEM toyota sensors without issue. It MAY have also saved my Honda OEM replacements from having to be "replaced" with DT trash, but that's another matter and I didn't have the right tool at the time. To echo what's been said, use ONLY OEM toyota TPMS sensors (bought from a dealership IMO to avoid counterfeits from ebay/AZ) and your light should be eliminated once they're swapped out and reprogrammed.

This is assuming you don't have water ingress in your passenger footwell causing all sorts of electrical gremlin havoc. HTH.
 
I’ve used whatever sensors Costco has when they have installed tires on my family’s Hondas and Subarus (not yet on a Toyota). No problems over the years and I wonder why others on here don’t like what Costco has? Also, Discount tire must install thousands of sensors daily across the country and I can’t see why they would use bad sensors? I can definitely understand not risking counterfeit through EBay/Amazon.
 
Sandroad said:
I’ve used whatever sensors Costco has when they have installed tires on my family’s Hondas and Subarus (not yet on a Toyota). No problems over the years and I wonder why others on here don’t like what Costco has? Also, Discount tire must install thousands of sensors daily across the country and I can’t see why they would use bad sensors? I can definitely understand not risking counterfeit through EBay/Amazon.
Click to expand...
My only problem with DT is that they warranty for 7 yrs - admittedly a good long stretch which hopefully they exceed. With that said, I was replacing sensors that were 11 years old at that point and were still operating without issue (insert Waddington effect example here) with another set of supposed OEM Honda's I ultimately could not use. I didn't want to have to replace TPMS sensors without concurrent replacement of tires likely shortly after tire purchase. Anyways, my $0.02.
 
There is no way $12.50 sensors off eBay are genuine. Not reliably so anyway.
Autel sensors are getting me 7 years. They cost about $25 each.
Programming can be done with various tools, but usually between bead breaking the tire and programming the sensor it just makes sense to have a shop do it for most folks.

Not for $600, but $200 to $300 seems about right for generics. Then OEM sensors are a bit more for the sensors, like $50+, so 5 of those plus and hour of labor could be pushing $400.

I bought an Autel programmer and use the stock jack pushing down on the bead under the hitch to open the tire. It takes around 45 min to do a tire (remove, put the spare in its place, break bead, clone sensor, air it up, put it back in, rehang the spare). Just cloning the existing sensor to the new using the programmer is the easiest way.
 
Denso reboxes Pacific Industry sensors, which are what Toyota sticks their part number onto and sells as OEM. Amazon has been selling fakes, but Genuine denso/PI are available reliably and affordably at rock auto.

Carista is a Bluetooth OBD diagnostic tool that is very affordable and can program Toyotas for new sensors.. but also does all the diagnostic stuff like pull DTCs and reset the CEL. You’ll need a temp pro subscription (~$10) to program TPMS but this is all much cheaper and far more versatile than a dedicated TPMS programming tool. Plus you can use the dongle with other apps to do things like display engine/drivetrain info on your phone or iPad as an extra set of gauges when towing, for instance.

All assuming there isn’t water in the door sill as others have mentioned. It is very very easy to pull the trim and look.
 
grinchy said:
There is no way $12.50 sensors off eBay are genuine. Not reliably so anyway.
Autel sensors are getting me 7 years. They cost about $25 each.
Programming can be done with various tools, but usually between bead breaking the tire and programming the sensor it just makes sense to have a shop do it for most folks.

Not for $600, but $200 to $300 seems about right for generics. Then OEM sensors are a bit more for the sensors, like $50+, so 5 of those plus and hour of labor could be pushing $400.

I bought an Autel programmer and use the stock jack pushing down on the bead under the hitch to open the tire. It takes around 45 min to do a tire (remove, put the spare in its place, break bead, clone sensor, air it up, put it back in, rehang the spare). Just cloning the existing sensor to the new using the programmer is the easiest way.
Click to expand...
It’s definitely possible they’re not genuine, but 3 years ago I (painstakingly) cut an eBay 4Runner sensor open to compare with the innards of a factory sensor of the same part number and they were identical in every way. I haven’t had anyone give me a call about the sensors I installed for them, so I assume they’re still working well, too.
 
GrouchyTech said:
If the batteries are starting to fail just go ahead and replace all 5 and be done with it (don’t forget there’s one in the spare). Beware of aftermarket sensors—they’re s***. All of them. Use Toyota sensors.

But, don’t get them though the dealership. The TPMS sensors themselves are painfully expensive and they usually pay around 0.5 hours labor each sensor, so cost does add up quickly.

I’ve replaced countless sensors for friends with genuine Toyota sensors from eBay.
THEY ARE LESS THAN $50 FOR FOUR!
There ARE counterfeits out there, but if you find a reputable seller you’ll be OK.

As for installing and programming your new sensors…. Gather a few $100 bills and quietly proposition a Toyota tech outside the shop around lunch time. Or, call around and find a tire shop that can program customer-provided factory sensors.
Click to expand...
You should take your own advice about "reputable" sellers on EBAY. If you paid $50 for 4 "genuine" Toyota sensors you bought counterfeits.

The after market sensors are fine, I got a set from Discount Tire for my winter set, 4 years and no issues, discount cloned them for me and resets them every tire change. No need to "gather a few $100 bills" and bribe some Toyota mechanic.
 
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GrouchyTech said:
It’s definitely possible they’re not genuine, but 3 years ago I (painstakingly) cut an eBay 4Runner sensor open to compare with the innards of a factory sensor of the same part number and they were identical in every way. I haven’t had anyone give me a call about the sensors I installed for them, so I assume they’re still working well, too.
Click to expand...
It could happen. But not reliably so. Most of the too good to be true stuff in the world isn’t, and o2 sensors, coils, and tpms sensors from ebay are almost certainly fakes.

For a while I had 12 mounted tires, three sets! Managing all those tpms was a hassle, and that’s why I got into a reputable generic brand. Never mind the mounting, unmounting, and balancing challenges. There is a lot one can do at home with simple stuff, but unmounting an LT (not P metric)tire is probably not one of them.

But for most, replacing with OEM or branded Paciic sensors and having a shop manage it is the way.

I’m done with tpms entirely now. Any future sensor failures are going to get replaced into a pressurised pvc canister.
 
Any updates on this issue? I’m experiencing the same problem on my 2021 LX570, but without any water leaks. I suspect the TPMS ECU/receiver might be the cause, since I can’t read tire pressures from any of the sensors—rather than just one or two not reading, which would point to weak sensor batteries.
 
If either of you guys have access to Techstream, it would be worth checking the TPMS system to see if any pressures are available in the live data.
 
My 2009 doesn’t show the individual pressures when there is a tpms issue.
It is incredibly dumb that the only time you care or could use the data it is blocked from use.
 
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