TPMS Replacement & Programming Guidance

[Fraser J44]

 

Hi guys. Thanks for taking the time to read and hopefully respond. 

I got a low tyre pressure warning. Tried to put some air in. Frozen metal cap prevented that. Got home tried a pair of pliers. No joy. I turned my back for a few seconds, my builder tried and took the whole thing off.  

Spoke to Lexus Edgware. The service guy said the TPMS sensor  would need reprogramming from a Lexus technician. (Mmmm) They quoted £238 for fitting and reprogramming.  I’m wondering what my options are because I’d rather not pay that much for a silly error with a pair of pliers. 

Appreciate any guidance. 

BTW Lessoned learned. Plastic caps from now on.

thanks again for any guidance you can offer.

[Herbie]

This happens quite a lot with metal caps so don't be too hard on the builder

I know that the programming can be done with Techstream and plenty videos on how to do it can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lexus+tpms+programming

[Fraser J44]

Hi Herbie, thanks for replying. I’m getting on now and not that great with tech. Wondering if I can get done what Lexus main dealer will do cheaper?  If so where might I go. Has anyone here had to replace these somewhere other than Lexus? I realise I’ll take a hit on this one. I’d just rather it wasn’t a £238 hit. Thanks again.

[LenT]

10 hours ago, Fraser J44 said:

 

Hi guys. Thanks for taking the time to read and hopefully respond. 

I got a low tyre pressure warning. Tried to put some air in. Frozen metal cap prevented that. Got home tried a pair of pliers. No joy. I turned my back for a few seconds, my builder tried and took the whole thing off.  

Spoke to Lexus Edgware. The service guy said the TPMS sensor  would need reprogramming from a Lexus technician. (Mmmm) They quoted £238 for fitting and reprogramming.  I’m wondering what my options are because I’d rather not pay that much for a silly error with a pair of pliers. 

Appreciate any guidance. 

BTW Lessoned learned. Plastic caps from now on.

thanks again for any guidance you can offer.

I had an almost identical experience when a helpful passerby, having witnessed this elderly codger trying to get a dust cap off at a BP station, waded in with a spanner - and snapped the valve straight off!

Fortunately, in recompense, they then put my SpaceSaver on so that I could drive round the corner to a large tyre company.

They fitted and set up a new TPMS valve for £75 and its worked perfectly since.  So I’d be inclined to ring around and try this alternative first.

But consider this a valuable lesson.  You’ve now discovered why Lexus dust caps are now plastic.  And why a SpaceSaver tyre is a better bet than the liquid glop kit - which would have been useless in these circumstances.

BTW: I guess you’ve checked the other dust caps?

Just a thought….if another cap is also stuck, then I would suggest:

1.  Make sure you have a spare wheel handy.

2.  Use a mole grip, for example, to hold the valve while applying pressure to the cap.  A prior squirt of WD-40 might help matters along too.

[Bob99]

Hi Fraser Lexus parts direct have the sensor for £75 you could buy one and take it to your local tyre centre and have them fit it the issue then is programming it I’m sure some tyre places could programme it. The other option is try Toyota for programming. I know you said you are not tech minded but if you have a family member who is you could try the Carista OBD that along with the app can reprogramme tpms sensors they are £25 with 30 days free full use of the app. I am in the same boat soon, my wheels were refurbed at a Lexus body shop years ago and a year or so later when I changed tyres the fitter found the sensor stuck to the inside of the wheel. They are now due for changing again and I want a new sensor fitted so I am looking at my options as well. I will see what my Lexus dealer quotes and also Toyota. I’ve put a link below for the sensor

 

 

lexus-rx-phase-4-tyre-pressure-monitoring-sensor.html

[Fraser J44]

Thanks guys. That’s great feedback. I’ll get on this today and reports back. Very much appreciated. 

[LenT]

58 minutes ago, Fraser J44 said:

Thanks guys. That’s great feedback. I’ll get on this today and reports back. Very much appreciated. 

Considering the age of your car, Fraser, it may be worth noting that the lithium ion batteries- which for all practical purposes are not replaceable - have a life of anywhere between 5 - 10 years.  The average is about six  - it depends on the usage of the car.

It seems the sensors only transmit when the wheel is in motion - and then only intermittently, so I’ve read.  The point of this is that if you come to replace all your tyres, it might be worth replacing all the TPMS sensors at the same and negotiating an all-price for the job.

This means the tyre only comes off once, rather than having to maybe do it again later on.  But of course that also depends on how long you plan to keep the car.

Decisions, decisions!

[Bob99]

Hi Fraser,

Just an update on my situation. I’ve been in touch with my Lexus dealer and he has given me a quote of around £140 for replacement and programming of the sensor which I don’t find too excessive relative to Lexus normal prices, they’ve also quoted about £280 for two rear tyres again a little more than I can get locally but not too bad. As I want to get them changed at the service I’ll probably go with their quote.

[Bob99]

Hi Fraser, have you managed to sort your sensor problem. I have sorted mine out. I contacted my local Toyota dealer to change the tyres and sensor and they told me they could change the sensor but could not code it as it has to be done by Lexus which I find ridiculous. So I ordered a new sensor from lexuspartsdirect for £62 plus postage. I also ordered a fitting kit just in case the nut was seized but the original was fine. I then bought  a Carista OBD11 from amazon for £25 which comes with a month subscription. 
 Before ordering tyres I thought I would try the dongle.

Plugged it in the socket under the steering column and turned the ignition on.

Connected to Carista via my phone with Bluetooth 

Went into the services menu and selected TPMS

This showed the 4 sensor IDs and tyre pressure.

I let some air out of the tyre to identify the correct sensor then selected that sensor 

I deleted the old sensor ID and typed the new sensor ID in its place and saved.

Turned the ignition off then on again, went back into TPMS to confirm the sensor ID hadn’t changed and it hadn’t.

Obviously the tyre warning light was on because it wasn’t seeing pressure.

I have just had my tyres and new sensor fitted and the warning light is out and in TPMS the sensor is showing pressure.

So all good. 
 

As my car only has the warning light I downloaded Tyre Assistant to my phone which connects via Bluetooth to the dongle and gives me the tyre pressures without going in to Carista. All I need to do now is arrange the tyres in Tyre Assistant to where they are on the car.

Hope this is of some use to you.

Regards

Bob

 

 

[Fraser J44]

Hi Bob. You’re a legend. TBH. I’ve had so much on, I haven’t had a minute to resolve the issue. That being said I have ordered and received the sensor and Carista device. I just haven’t had time to put it all together.  Your feedback will now prove invaluable. I’ll travelling this weekend but I’ll get on it beginning of next week and feedback. Thanks again. Really appreciate you keeping in touch. 

[Bob99]

Hi Fraser, glad your getting it sorted. The hardest part of the job for me was when saving the new sensor id it sends you to the subscription site Google Playstore to pay for it. I had to find my login details and password which I never remember haha. After trying to attach my PayPal account it finally worked and I received my free one month subscription. I have until 19th September to cancel or it will be £43 for the year. I contacted Carista support before buying it just to confirm the TPMS can be read for my car and they replied within a couple of hours from the US which was very good.

Regards 

Bob

 

 

 

[Fraser J44]

Hi Bob, I'm getting on this tomorrow morning. Wondering if you can clarify a couple of things.  Firstly where did you get the sensor fitted in the end? Did your local Toyota garage fit it in the end? If so... how much did it set you back?

Also in great post outlining all the stages. I didn't quite follow what was happening in the last paragraph re the tyre assistant.  Where does that come in the process?  

Thanks in advance mate and no worries if you don't have time to respond. I'll work it out 🙂

Fraser

[Bob99]

Hi Fraser, 

I had the sensor fitted at my local tyre centre that I’ve always used, I just gave them the sensor to fit when I renewed the tyres, as I had already recoded it it just needed to see pressure. You might need to turn ignition off and on. if yours is just a sensor change they should just break the bead and fit the sensor. 
 

Tyre assistant is an app for your phone that lets you see the pressures without using the calista app so you don’t need a subscription, it just uses the calista dongle to read the sensors. For me it’s just a quicker way to see the pressures as my car doesn’t display the individual sensors it just has the TPMS light. I might have confused you in the last paragraph of my procedure, in both Carista and tyre assistant the tyre sequence is tyre 1,2,3 and 4 it doesn’t tell you where they actually are. So now I’ve replaced my sensor I know that is the left rear tyre. In tyre assistant you can move them to the actual positions when you know them which would make it easier to check for punctures.

Hope this helps, if you’ve got any other questions feel free to ask.

Bob

 

[Fraser J44]

Thanks for clarification Bob. I’ve searched my App Store but can’t find the tyre assistant app. I don’t suppose you could take a screen shot of it. Thanks for the continued support mate. 

[Bob99]

It is in google play store as I have an android phone Fraser, if you have an Iphone I can’t see it in the App Store.

[Fraser J44]

On 8/20/2021 at 10:22 AM, Bob99 said:

Hi Fraser, have you managed to sort your sensor problem. I have sorted mine out. I contacted my local Toyota dealer to change the tyres and sensor and they told me they could change the sensor but could not code it as it has to be done by Lexus which I find ridiculous. So I ordered a new sensor from lexuspartsdirect for £62 plus postage. I also ordered a fitting kit just in case the nut was seized but the original was fine. I then bought  a Carista OBD11 from Amazon for £25 which comes with a month subscription. 
 Before ordering tyres I thought I would try the dongle.

Plugged it in the socket under the steering column and turned the ignition on.

Connected to Carista via my phone with Bluetooth 

Went into the services menu and selected TPMS

This showed the 4 sensor IDs and tyre pressure.

I let some air out of the tyre to identify the correct sensor then selected that sensor 

I deleted the old sensor ID and typed the new sensor ID in its place and saved.

Turned the ignition off then on again, went back into TPMS to confirm the sensor ID hadn’t changed and it hadn’t.

Obviously the tyre warning light was on because it wasn’t seeing pressure.

I have just had my tyres and new sensor fitted and the warning light is out and in TPMS the sensor is showing pressure.

So all good. 
 

As my car only has the warning light I downloaded Tyre Assistant to my phone which connects via Bluetooth to the dongle and gives me the tyre pressures without going in to Carista. All I need to do now is arrange the tyres in Tyre Assistant to where they are on the car.

Hope this is of some use to you.

Regards

Bob

 

 

Hi Bob, apologies for not coming back before now. I’ve been working in Prague. Absolutely beautiful City. I’m back now and really need to get this sorted as I have an mot next week.  I replaced the sensor today and then following your instructions tried earlier. I wasn’t able to rid myself of the yellow light. I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing wrong. Ive attached the screenshots from the Carista app. I think the issue seems to be the name of the sensor?  If you have any ideas I’d really appreciate it. All the best. 

[Bob99]

Hi Fraser,

Is that the number of the new sensor as it looks similar to the others. Did you write down the new ID before it was fitted if you did you need to delete the old number and type in the new one and save as in your second screen shot. If you didn’t write the new ID down then I would think you would have to break the seal on the tyre to get it, or try ATS or Kwikfit to see if they have a TPMS reader to identify each sensor.

Prague must have been a lovely place to work, haven’t been there yet but maybe in the future. Good luck with sorting your tyre.

[Fraser J44]

Good morning Bob. Alas I did not take note of the new sensor.  I can pop back to my local place where I had it fitted. Ask them to take the tyre off again. Any idea where I might find the id? Is it blatantly obvious where to find it? For example is it on the housing of the sensor? 
 

Re Prague. Can’t recommend it highly enough. Beautiful city. Fantastic place to walk as it’s quite small, wonderful architecture and great food. 

 

[Bob99]

Hi Fraser

The code is on the sensor above the QR  code as in the photo this is mine the ID shown is 4C1A1F1. They won’t need to take the tyre off just break the seal to either get a photo of the ID or take the sensor out to read it and then put it back in. It should only take a few minutes. Hopefully once you’ve entered the ID into Carista you will be sorted.

[Fraser J44]

Bob! I can confirm mission success! I can’t thank you enough for your kindness and patience! You are the reason forums like these are a success. Especially on a day like today… I’ve just sat in the longest petrol queue of traffic heading to my tyre shop. Human beings are bit being kind to each other out there.
 

Managed to do it with one day left on the Carista subscription we’ve I’ve just cancelled. So once again many thanks to you. You’re a legend mate. Have a great day. 
 

fraser 

[Bob99]

Glad you are sorted Fraser, happy to help, can’t help with the petrol though haha

 

Bob

[Deep2024]

On 8/20/2021 at 10:22 AM, Bob99 said:

Hi Fraser, have you managed to sort your sensor problem. I have sorted mine out. I contacted my local Toyota dealer to change the tyres and sensor and they told me they could change the sensor but could not code it as it has to be done by Lexus which I find ridiculous. So I ordered a new sensor from lexuspartsdirect for £62 plus postage. I also ordered a fitting kit just in case the nut was seized but the original was fine. I then bought  a Carista OBD11 from Amazon for £25 which comes with a month subscription. 
 Before ordering tyres I thought I would try the dongle.

Plugged it in the socket under the steering column and turned the ignition on.

Connected to Carista via my phone with Bluetooth 

Went into the services menu and selected TPMS

This showed the 4 sensor IDs and tyre pressure.

I let some air out of the tyre to identify the correct sensor then selected that sensor 

I deleted the old sensor ID and typed the new sensor ID in its place and saved.

Turned the ignition off then on again, went back into TPMS to confirm the sensor ID hadn’t changed and it hadn’t.

Obviously the tyre warning light was on because it wasn’t seeing pressure.

I have just had my tyres and new sensor fitted and the warning light is out and in TPMS the sensor is showing pressure.

So all good. 
 

As my car only has the warning light I downloaded Tyre Assistant to my phone which connects via Bluetooth to the dongle and gives me the tyre pressures without going in to Carista. All I need to do now is arrange the tyres in Tyre Assistant to where they are on the car.

Hope this is of some use to you.

Regards

Bob

 

 

Hi BOB 

quick question the new TPMS are already programmed or we need to ? If we need to I already have Carista does knowing the ID on the new sensor enough to registered with Carista device ? 

[Bob99]

Hi Deep, you will need to write down the IDs of the new sensors so you have them before they are fitted and then edit the faulty IDs in Carista. I preprogrammed all 4 of mine to the car via Carista before they were fitted and asked the fitter to fit them to the wheel I wanted them fitting. This meant if a tyre pressure was low on one tyre I would know which one. 
hope this helps. 
I think I wrote a more detailed description in one of the previous comments

 

[Deep2024]

2 hours ago, Bob99 said:

Hi Deep, you will need to write down the IDs of the new sensors so you have them before they are fitted and then edit the faulty IDs in Carista. I preprogrammed all 4 of mine to the car via Carista before they were fitted and asked the fitter to fit them to the wheel I wanted them fitting. This meant if a tyre pressure was low on one tyre I would know which one. 
hope this helps. 
I think I wrote a more detailed description in one of the previous comments

 

Hi Bob thank you for reply , I am really sorry to ask again in case you mention before , My question is ? The programming means edit the old id and put the new one from the new tpms ? 
 

[Bob99]

Yes that’s right Deep