2020 Lexus ES300h Owner's Manual

3276-3. Do-it-yourself maintenance
6
Maintenance and care
switch mode to the status it was in before
the 12-volt battery was disconnected.
Make sure to turn off the power switch
before disconnect the 12-volt battery.
Take extra care when connecting the 12-
volt battery if the power switch mode
prior to discharge is unknown.
If the hybrid system will not start even after
multiple attempts at all methods above,
contact your Lexus dealer.
Lift the luggage mat up.
WARNING
■Chemicals in the 12-volt battery
The 12-volt battery contains poisonous
and corrosive sulfuric acid and may pro-
duce hydrogen gas which is flammable
and explosive. To reduce the risk of death
or serious injury, take the following pre-
cautions while working on or near the 12-
volt battery:
●Do not cause sparks by touching the
12-volt battery terminals with tools.
●Do not smoke or light a match near the
12-volt battery.
●Avoid contact with eyes, skin and
clothes.
●Never inhale or swallow electrolyte.
●Wear protective safety glasses when
working near the 12-volt battery.
●Keep children away from the 12-volt
battery.
■Where to safely charge the 12-volt
battery
Always charge the 12-volt battery in an
open area. Do not charge the 12-volt bat-
tery in a garage or closed room where
there is insufficient ventilation.
■How to recharge the 12-volt battery
Recharge at a current of 5 A or less and
make sure that the recharging period
does not exceed a total of 12 hours.
■Emergency measures regarding
electrolyte
●If electrolyte gets in your eyes
Flush your eyes with clean water for at
least 15 minutes and get immediate
medical attention. If possible, continue
to apply water with a sponge or cloth
while traveling to the nearest medical
facility.
●If electrolyte gets on your skin
Wash the affected area thoroughly. If
you feel pain or burning, get medical
attention immediately.
●If electrolyte gets on your clothes
It can soak through clothing on to your
skin. Immediately take off the clothing
and follow the procedure above if nec-
essary.
●If you accidentally swallow electrolyte
Drink a large quantity of water or milk.
Get emergency medical attention
immediately.
■When replacing the 12-volt battery
Use a 12-volt battery designed for this
vehicle. Failure to do so may cause gas
(hydrogen) to enter the passenger com-
partment, causing a fire or explosion.
For replacement of the 12-volt battery,
contact your Lexus dealer.
NOTICE
■When recharging the 12-volt battery
Never recharge the 12-volt battery while
the hybrid system is operating. Also, be
sure all accessories are turned off.
Removing the 12-volt battery
cover

3286-3. Do-it-yourself maintenance
Make sure that the 12-volt battery ter-
minals are not corroded and that there
are no loose connections, cracks, or
loose clamps.Terminals
Hold-down clamp
Check the 12-volt battery condition by
indicator color. Blue: Good condition
Red: Charging is necessary.Have the vehicle inspected by your Lexus
dealer.
Clear: Replacement is necessary.
Have the 12-volt battery checked by your
Lexus dealer.
Exterior
Checking 12-volt battery condi-
tion
A
B
A
B
C

3296-3. Do-it-yourself maintenance
6
Maintenance and care
Check if the treadwear indicators are
showing on the tires. Also check the
tires for uneven wear, such as excessive
wear on one side of the tread.
Check the spare tire condition and
pressure if not rotated.New tread
Worn tread
Treadwear indicator
The location of treadwear indicators is
shown by a “TWI” or “ ” mark, etc.,
molded into the sidewall of each tire.
Replace the tires if the treadwear indica- tors are showing on a tire.
■When to replace your vehicle’s tires
●Tires should be replaced if:
• The treadwear indicators are showing on
a tire.
• You have tire damage such as cuts, splits,
cracks deep enough to expose the fabric,
and bulges indicating internal damage
• A tire goes flat repeatedly or cannot be properly repaired due to the size or loca-
tion of a cut or other damage
If you are not sure, consult your Lexus
dealer.
●Vehicles with 17-inch tires:
The wheel angle differs from vehicles
equipped with 18-inch tires. Therefore, 18-
inch tires cannot be installed, as sufficient
gaps with surrounding parts cannot be
ensured.
■Tire life
Any tire over 6 years old must be checked
by a qualified technician even if it has sel-
dom or never been used or damage is not
obvious.
■Low profile tires (18-inch tires)
Generally, low profile tires will wear more
rapidly and tire grip performance will be
reduced on snowy and/or icy roads when
compared to standard tires. Be sure to use
snow tires on snowy and/or icy roads and
drive carefully at a speed appropriate for
road and weather conditions.
■Maximum load of tire
Check that the maximum load of the
replacement tire is greater than 1/2 of the
Gross Axle Weight Ratings (GAWR) of
either the front axle or the rear axle, which-
ever is greater.
For the GAWR, see the Certification Label.
For the maximum load of the tire, see the
load limit at maximum cold tire inflation
pressure mentioned on the sidewall of the
tire. ( P.409)
Tires
Replace or rotate tires in accor-
dance with maintenance schedules
and treadwear.
Checking tires
A
B
C

3306-3. Do-it-yourself maintenance
■Tire types
●Summer tires
Summer tires are high-speed perfor-
mance tires best suited to highway driv-
ing under dry conditions. Since summer
tires do not have the same traction per-
formance as snow tires, summer tires are
inadequate for driving on snow-covered
or icy roads. For driving on snow-covered
roads or icy roads, the use of snow tires is
recommended. When installing snow
tires, be sure to replace all four tires.
●All season tires
All season tires are designed to provide
better traction in snow and to be ade-
quate for driving in most winter condi-
tions as well as for use year-round. All
season tires, however, do not have ade-
quate traction performance compared
with snow tires in heavy or loose snow.
Also, all season tires fall short in accelera-
tion and handling performance com-
pared with summer tires in highway
driving.
●Snow tires
For driving on snow-covered roads or icy
roads, we recommend using snow tires. If
you need snow tires, select tires of the
same size, construction and load capacity
as the originally installed tires. Since your
vehicle has radial tires as original equip-
ment, make sure your snow tires also
have radial construction. Do not install
studded tires without first checking local
regulations for possible restrictions.
Snow tires should be installed on all
wheels. ( P.253)
■If the tread on snow tires wears down
below 0.16 in. (4 mm)
The effectiveness of the tires as snow tires is
lost.
WARNING
■When inspecting or replacing tires
Observe the following precautions to
prevent accidents.
Failure to do so may cause damage to
parts of the drivetrain as well as danger-
ous handling characteristics, which may
lead to an accident resulting in death or
serious injury.
●Do not mix tires of different makes,
models or tread patterns.
Also, do not mix tires of remarkably
different treadwear.
●Do not use tire sizes other than those
recommended by Lexus.
●Do not mix differently constructed
tires (radial, bias-belted or bias-ply
tires).
●Do not tow if your vehicle has a com-
pact spare tire installed.
●Do not mix summer, all season and
snow tires.
●Do not use tires that have been used
on another vehicle.
Do not use tires if you do not know
how they were used previously.
NOTICE
■Driving on rough roads
Take particular care when driving on
roads with loose surfaces or potholes.
These conditions may cause losses in tire
inflation pressure, reducing the cushion-
ing ability of the tires. In addition, driving
on rough roads may cause damage to
the tires themselves, as well as the vehi-
cle’s wheels and body.
■Low profile tires (18-inch tires)
Low profile tires may cause greater dam-
age than usual to the tire wheel when
sustaining impact from the road surface.
Therefore, pay attention to the following:

3316-3. Do-it-yourself maintenance
6
Maintenance and care
Rotate the tires in the order shown.
To equalize tire wear and extend tire life,
Lexus recommends that tire rotation is car-
ried out at the same interval as tire inspec-
tion.
Do not fail to initialize the tire pressure
warning system after tire rotation.
■When rotating the tires
Make sure that the power switch is off. If the
tires are rotated while the power switch is in
ON mode, the tire position information will
not be updated.
If this accidentally oc curs, either turn the
power switch to off and then to ON mode,
or initialize the system after checking that
the tire pressure is properly adjusted.
Your vehicle is equipped with a tire
pressure warning system that uses tire
pressure warning valves and transmit-
ters to detect low ti re inflation pressure
before serious problems arise.
 If the tire pressure drops below a
predetermined level, the driver is
warned by a screen display and a
warning light. ( P.368)
 The tire pressure detected by the
tire pressure warning system can be
displayed on the multi-information
display. ( P.79)
The illustration used is intended as an
example, and may differ from the image
that is actually displayed on the multi-infor-
mation display.
■Routine tire inflation pressure checks
The tire pressure warning system does not
replace routine tire inflation pressure
checks. Make sure to check tire inflation
pressure as part of your routine of daily
vehicle checks.
■Tire inflation pressure
●It may take a few minutes to display the
tire inflation pressure after the power
switch is turned to ON mode.
It may also take a few minutes to display
the tire inflation pre ssure after inflation
pressure has been adjusted.
NOTICE
●Be sure to use proper tire inflation
pressure. If tires are under-inflated,
they may be damaged more severely.
●Avoid potholes, uneven pavement,
curbs and other road hazards. Failure
to do so may lead to severe tire and
wheel damage.
■If tire inflation pres
sure of each tire
becomes low while driving
Do not continue driving, or your tires
and/or wheels may be ruined.
Tire rotation
Tire pressure warning system

3326-3. Do-it-yourself maintenance
●Tire inflation pressure changes with tem-
perature. The displayed values may also
be different from the values measured
using a tire pressure gauge.
■Situations in which the tire pressure
warning system may not operate prop-
erly
●In the following cases, the tire pressure
warning system may not operate prop-
erly.
• If non-genuine Lexus wheels are used.
• A tire has been replaced with a tire that is
not an OE (Original Equipment) tire.
• A tire has been replaced with a tire that is
not of the specified size.
• Tire chains etc. are equipped.
• An auxiliary-supported run-flat tire is
equipped.
• If a window tint that affects the radio wave
signals is installed.
• If there is a lot of snow or ice on the vehi- cle, particularly around the wheels or
wheel housings.
• If the tire inflation pressure is extremely higher than the specified level.
• If wheel without tire pressure warning
valves and transmitters are used.
• If the ID code on the tire pressure warn- ing valves and transmitters is not regis-
tered in the tire pressure warning
computer.
●Performance may be af fected in the fol-
lowing situations.
• Near a TV tower, electric power plant, gas station, radio stat ion, large display,
airport or other fac ility that generates
strong radio waves or electrical noise
• When carrying a portable radio, cellular
phone, cordless phone or other wireless
communication device
If tire position information is not correctly
displayed due to the radio wave conditions,
the display may be corrected by driving and
changing the radio wave conditions.
●When the vehicle is parked, the time
taken for the warning to start or go off
could be extended.
●When tire inflation pr essure declines rap-
idly for example when a tire has burst, the
warning may not function.
■Warning performance of the tire pres-
sure warning system
The warning of the tire pressure warning
system will change in accordance with driv-
ing conditions. For this reason, the system
may give a warning even if the tire pressure
does not reach a low enough level, or if the
pressure is higher than the pressure that
was adjusted to when the system was initial-
ized.
■Tire pressure warning system certification
For vehicles sold in the U.S.A. , Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico

3336-3. Do-it-yourself maintenance
6
Maintenance and care
For vehicles sold in Canada
When replacing tires or wheels, tire
pressure warning valves and transmit-
ters must also be installed.
When new tire pressure warning
valves and transmitters are installed, new ID codes must be registered in the
tire pressure warning computer and
the tire pressure warning system must
be initialized. (
P.336)
■When replacing the tires and wheels
If the ID code of the tire pressure warning
valve and transmitter is not registered, the
tire pressure warning system will not work
Installing tire pressure warning
valves and transmitters

3346-3. Do-it-yourself maintenance
properly. After driving for about 20 min-
utes, the tire pressure warning light blinks
for 1 minute and stays on to indicate a sys-
tem malfunction.
■The tire pressure warning system
must be initialized in the following
circumstances:
 When rotating the tires.
 When the tire inflation pressure is
changed when changing traveling
speed.
 When the tire inflation pressure is
changed such as when changing tire
size. (When there are multiple spec-
ified pressures)
 After registering the ID codes.
( P.336)
When the tire pressure warning system
is initialized, the current tire inflation pressure is set as the benchmark pres-
sure.
■How to initialize the tire pressure
warning system
1
Park the vehicle in a safe place and
stop the hybrid system for 20 min-
utes or more.
Initialization cannot be performed while
the vehicle is moving.
2Adjust the tire inflation pressure to
the specified cold tire inflation pres-
sure level.
Make sure to adjust the tire pressure to the
specified cold tire inflation pressure level.
The tire pressure warning system will oper-
ate based on this pressure level.
3Start the hybrid system ( P.143)
4
Press or of the meter con-
trol switches and select .
5
Press or of the meter con-
trol switches and select “Vehicle
Settings”, then press “OK”.
6
Press or of the meter con-
trol switches and select “TPWS”,
then press “OK”.
7
Press or of the meter con-
trol switches and select “Set Pres-
sure”. Then press and hold “OK”
until the tire pressure warning light
starts blinking.
A message is displayed on the multi-infor-
mation display. Also, “--” is displayed for
inflation pressure of each tire on the multi-
information display while the tire pressure
NOTICE
■Repairing or replacing tires, wheels,
tire pressure warning valves, trans-
mitters and tire valve caps
●When removing or fitting the wheels,
tires or the tire pressure warning
valves and transmitters, contact your
Lexus dealer as the tire pressure warn-
ing valves and transmitters may be
damaged if not handled correctly.
●Make sure to install the tire valve caps.
If the tire valve caps are not installed,
water could enter the tire pressure
warning valves and the tire pressure
warning valves could be bound.
●When replacing tire valve caps, do not
use tire valve caps other than those
specified. The cap may become stuck.
Initializing the tire pressure
warning system