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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 exces-
sive 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.411)
Tires
Replace or rotate tires in accor-
dance with maintenance schedules
and treadwear.
Checking tires
A
B
C
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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-cov-
ered 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 insta lled 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.254)
■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:
Page 331 of 464

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.369)
The tire pressure detected by the
tire pressure warning system can be
displayed on the multi-information
display. ( P.81)
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 pressu re after the power
switch is turned to ON mode.
It may also take a few minutes to display
the tire inflation pressure after inflation
pressure has b een 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
Page 332 of 464

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
Page 333 of 464
3336-3. Do-it-yourself maintenance
6
Maintenance and care
Page 334 of 464
3346-3. Do-it-yourself maintenance
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
Installing tire pressure warning
valves and transmitters
Page 335 of 464

3356-3. Do-it-yourself maintenance
6
Maintenance and care
the tire pressure warning system must
be initialized. (P.337)
■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
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.337)
When the tire pressure warning sys-
tem is initialized, th e current tire infla-
tion pressure is set as the benchmark
pressure.
■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.
2 Adjust the tire inflation pressure to
the specified cold tire inflation
pressure level.
Make sure to adjust the tire pressure to the
specified cold tire infl ation pressure level.
The tire pressure warning system will oper-
ate based on this pressure level.
3 Start the hybrid system ( P.145)
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-
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
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3366-3. Do-it-yourself maintenance
mation display. Also, “--” is displayed for
inflation pressure of each tire on the multi-
information display while the tire pressure
warning system determines the position.
8Drive at approximately 25 mph
(40 km/h) or more for approxi-
mately 10 to 30 minutes.
When initialization is complete, the infla-
tion pressure of each tire will be displayed
on the multi-information display.
Even if the vehicle is not driven at approxi-
mately 25 mph (40 km /h) or more, initial-
ization can be completed by driving for a
long time. However, if initialization does
not complete after driving for 1 hour or
more, park the vehicle in a safe place for
approximately 20 minutes and then drive
the vehicle again.
■When initializing
●Initialization is perfor med while driving at
a vehicle speed of approximately 25 mph
(40 km/h) or more.
●Make sure to carry ou t initialization after
adjusting the tire inflation pressure.
Also, make sure the tires are cold before
carrying out initializat ion or tire inflation
pressure adjustment.
●The tire pressure warning system can be
initialized by yourse lf, but depending on
the driving conditions and driving envi-
ronment, initialization may take some
time to complete.
■The initialization operation
●If you have accidenta lly turned the power
switch off during initialization, it is not
necessary to manually restart the initial-
ization again, as initialization will restart automatically the next time the power
switch is turned to ON mode.
●If you accidentally perform initialization
when initialization is
not necessary, adjust
the tire inflation pressure to the specified
level when the tires are cold, and conduct
initialization again.
●While the position of each tire is being
determined and the inflation pressures
are not being displayed on the multi-
information display, if the inflation pres-
sure of a tire drops, the tire pressure
warning light will come on.
■If the tire pressure warning system is not
initialized properly
●In the following situations, initialization
may take longer than usual to be com-
pleted or may not be possible. Normally,
initialization comple tes within approxi-
mately 30 minutes.
• Vehicle is not driven at approximately 25 mph (40 km/h) or more
• Vehicle is driven on unpaved roads
• Vehicle is driven near other vehicles and system cannot recognize tire pressure
warning valve and transmitters of your
vehicle over those of other vehicles
If initialization does no t complete after driv-
ing for 1 hour or more, park the vehicle in a
safe place for approximately 20 minutes
and then drive the vehicle again.
●If the vehicle is reversed during initializa-
tion, the data up to that point is reset, so
perform the initiali zation procedure
again from the beginning.
●In the following situations, initialization
will not be started or was not completed
properly and the system will not operate
properly. Perform th e initialization pro-
cedure again.
• If, when attempting to start initialization,
the tire pressure warning light does not
blink 3 times.
• If, when the vehicle has been driven for about 20 minutes afte r performing initial-
ization, the tire pr essure warning light
blinks for approximately 1 minute and
then illuminates.
If initialization canno t be completed after
performing the above procedure, contact
your Lexus dealer.