Tire Pressure System CEL

[TeCKis300]

So on a recent trip, to really cold weather, my tire pressure system started throwing a CEL intermittently. Message on screen was a generic "Check Tire Pressure System". Helpful eh? This would occur and restore every 30 minutes or so (long road trip). No actual issue with tire pressures, as they are all ~42PSI as I was towing my travel trailer.

2 weeks later, the CEL is constantly on.

I assume, with my LX570 being an '09, that it means the TPMS sensor batteries or going and need to be replaced. Anyone experience the CEL and replace these before?

I've tried playing with the tire pressure "set" button under the dash with no change.

Called Discount Tires, and they want $60/wheel to replace the TPMS sensors.

I'm really looking for confirmation that this is likely the TPMS sensors going, and not something else.

 

[TexAZ]

If the light is on constantly, it is almost certainly a bad sensor.
discount tire should be able to scan them individually and let you know which one is bad.
$60 a wheel is better than at the dealership, last quote I got was $60 per wheel +100 in labor to program.

I've just dealt with the light as the last two times I went in they couldn't tell which ones were bad.

2008 Toyota Land Cruiser Parts - Camelback Toyota Parts - Genuine OEM Parts - Free Shipping

 

[Malleus]

I have had intermittent problems with the sensor array (been waiting 20 years to say that) in cold weather. I'd check the sensors before I replaced them. They're not cheap.

 

[Phrog]

Yes, as TexAZ notes, a handheld scanner should be able to pinpoint the offending sensor.
Might be worth cycling that sensor (taking tire pressure down to ~10 PSI and back up to 40). Probably won't work, but free and will only take a minute. So worth a try.
-Phrog

 

[TeCKis300]

Thank you gents.

It's curious that the tire pressure system error is so nebulous. A visit to Discount Tires cleared it all up.

Like was mentioned, they took a handheld sensor to each wheel, including spare. It quickly identified the offending, non-reporting sensor. Along with battery status of the working sensors.

20 minutes of later, a $60 flat rate charge for sensor and labor to install and program. That was that, no more CEL.

They stated that you could swap all sensors from all wheels in one go, but since the handheld scanner was able to glean good battery status from the rest of the wheels, I opted to only address the one wheel.

Hope this helps the next person that gets a TPS CEL.

 

[NLScooby]

Glad I ran across this post as the exact same error message has started to appear on my dash. Funny thing is my sensors were all replaced 3 years ago.

 

[NDizzle]

Hey, I'm in the same boat today. I had noticed that one of the sensors, two actually, have been taking a looonnngg time to start registering the tire pressure. I was wondering if that meant the signal was getting weak. I noticed that one wasn't reporting after driving around for about 10 minutes.. Sure enough, after about 15 minutes it threw the CEL.

I'm going to go see if the local tire guy has the right tool. The only big tire shop here is Les Schwab, and I'm still mad at them over what they quoted to mount and balance 5 KO2s. ($350!)

 

[TeCKis300]

Since this thread has floated back up, I'll update my TPM adventures.

Nov 2018, just over a year after the initial sensor failed, another one has died. Off to Discount Tire again. A pole shows 1 sensor dead, 2 low batt, 1 battery good, and the fresh one I changed last year.

So did the whole shebang this go around. Discount tried to charge me $60/tire, plus a labor fee of $20/tire. I mentioned they did it for $60 flat last year, and they honored the previous price. Not sure why they tried to charge me more, perhaps it's my >100 lb wheelset with 33x12.5 tires. I was the last job of the day (I'm sure the lucky tech hates me for it!).

Hope these new sensors last as long as the original 2009 sensors. I'm in TPS happy land again.

 

[grinchy]

For those willing to walk on the diy side a tpms programmer is $100, and sensors $30.
Breaking bead with a floor jack and compressing tire to pull the sensor with a large clamp is not hard, can do a set in an hour with some practice.

No need to rebalance as the tire location with respect to rim doesn't change.

 

[Cruisin911]

Threads on TPMS come up every winter. Im sure the tire shops love these systems. Usually, when I replace my tires ever 3 or so years, I just pay to have the TPMS sensors all rebuilt. Discount does them regularly and its only like 10 bucks more a tire. Never had a failure. The in tire sensors are far superior to what I have in my new VW Alltrack. They use the ABS sensor to register a rotational difference and throw a tire pressure light that way. I drove 3 or 4 miles on a nearly flat tire before it told me it was low. By that point i was at 5-6 psi. The LC will throw a tpms light with a few psi difference. Point is, i feel like the in-tire sensors are a MUCH better system, it just requires some maintenance every few years.

 

[TeCKis300]

Threads on TPMS come up every winter. Im sure the tire shops love these systems. Usually, when I replace my tires ever 3 or so years, I just pay to have the TPMS sensors all rebuilt. Discount does them regularly and its only like 10 bucks more a tire. Never had a failure. The in tire sensors are far superior to what I have in my new VW Alltrack. They use the ABS sensor to register a rotational difference and throw a tire pressure light that way. I drove 3 or 4 miles on a nearly flat tire before it told me it was low. By that point i was at 5-6 psi. The LC will throw a tpms light with a few psi difference. Point is, i feel like the in-tire sensors are a MUCH better system, it just requires some maintenance every few years.

Hrmm. Correct me if I'm wrong, but rebuilding a TPMS sensor is generally required when servicing a tire, but it only address the valve stem portion of the sensor.

The battery is potted into the actual sensor, and I don't believe one can change the battery without changing the whole sensor?

Most sensors will last 7-10 years, and approx. ~100k miles, so if one is getting near that when replacing tires, may want to pencil in new TPMS sensors to avoid duplicating labor later on. I probably should have did that when I changed over to AT tires at 80k miles in 2016 (7 yrs old).

 

[grinchy]

Yep, 'rebuild' kit is a rubber washer to make sure the seal is solid at the rim/wheel. THere are no user replaceable batteries.

 

[Cruisin911]

Hrmm. Correct me if I'm wrong, but rebuilding a TPMS sensor is generally required when servicing a tire, but it only address the valve stem portion of the sensor.

The battery is potted into the actual sensor, and I don't believe one can change the battery without changing the whole sensor?

Most sensors will last 7-10 years, and approx. ~100k miles, so if one is getting near that when replacing tires, may want to pencil in new TPMS sensors to avoid duplicating labor later on. I probably should have did that when I changed over to AT tires at 80k miles in 2016 (7 yrs old).

This is all correct. I have had bad sensor seals that cause tire leaks before. The rebuild kit is a rubber washer and a metal collar. I replaced my sensors when I swapped the rims over from my tundra. The Land Cruiser had a hard time recognizing the old sensors that were on the tundra.