How to tell which TPMS sensor is bad?

I think the tire store will wave a wand at ea wheel to determine which sensor is not broadcasting . That sensor gets a battery or replaced . Most all toyoda TPMS sensors are made by Pacific they make you're wheel center caps too . Avail on e bay or Amazon set of four 36 buc or similar just ordered 4 a few weeks ago same mfgr as original Pacific logo on old and new.

 

The tires should be 35 PSI on the front and 33 PSI on the rear. Try that then do a reset. If one or more of the sensors are bad then you could read the codes to see how many sensors are not transmitting, but I don't think it will identify in which corner the sensor is located, though. You would likely need to go to a tire shop as Tom says.

 

Please post a link, as four sensors for 36 seems like a deal

 

do you have techstream?

 

I do but by the time I connect it and play all the hullabaloo. I drive by my friend's tire shop and he waves this wand across all four tires and hits the button it turns off my light registers the sensors with something I don't know what or care All I know the lights off and that's it didn't cost me a cent I didn't even have to drag the tough book out to the car nothing I think most tire places now have this wand you can even buy the wand I think on eBay I want to say they're like $39 I haven't really looked into it too tough.

 

What I'd like is to just be able to disable the TPMS system and its light but I'm sure that's not available in the tec stream . menu

 

That is what black tape is for. Cheap and easy and effective, and quick and free to reverse when needed for sale or vehicle inspection.

 

Make sure you know what that button is for. It is for memorizing whatever pressure is currently in your four tires, and saying "this is the pressure I want." The warning light is then set for when any tire's pressure drops more than a certain % below the pressure it had when that button was used.

Of course, sometimes there is an actual sensor issue that can interfere with the system working as designed. The trouble codes will tell you if that's so.

If the system gets made functional again, but that pressure-set button has been used as a "reset button", you will need to inflate all tires to the proper pressures and use the button again, so that the proper target pressures are memorized again.

 

I've had 'black tape' over my TPMS warning light since 2013...

 

Meh, bask in its baleful glow.

 

The problem with having it on is that when I happen to notice it while driving it is in my peripheral rather than foveal vision so I have to look down to verify that it is only the TPMS and not say the TPMS and some other warning. It probably takes about 0.3-0.4 seconds for the whole "looking forward, looking down to check light, looking forward" cycle. Not long in general, but possibly too long if something bad occurs right in front of you while it is going on. Taping it over is safer. Admittedly, not by much.

 

That's pretty normal eBay price if you just Google I'm sorry if you just search on eBay for Prius tire pressure sensors and look in the list that pops up you'll see the Pacific logo on about the second or third set that you look at and they'll be between 36 and $41 or so unless something has changed pretty recently I mean I can go look but the Pacific logo was right there in the picture with the sensors and they'll look exactly like your sensor in the close-up pictures. Logo and all of it

 

Just go buy any tire store in the hood you know the ones that sell 4,000 different types of rims and will set any car you want on 24's and they will come out with this little wand like a little fairy and wave it over your four tires and they can tell you which sensor is not broadcasting and communicating with the car and all that in a matter of seconds and they usually do it for free and then they'll tell you if you get the sensors and come back we'll put them on for you $8 a piece.

 

Do you really want to replace one only to have to replace another one next week

 

I replaced one back in April, and am still waiting for the next one.

If being the same age meant they all pooped out together, that would be a reason to fuss with all of them together. But of course even parts of the same age fail in a distribution, and the distribution can be pretty broad. My local Discount Tire charged me nada to install the one, and whenever it's time to change the next one, they'll probably charge me nada to install that. I couldn't really gain much over that with a quantity discount.

Wheel bearings are another example where some might say if one has gone they're all going soon. I only ever replaced two of those in my Gen 1, and those went three years and 50,000 miles apart.

 

What kinda mileage was on Gen2 wen done just curious . I'm at 267 or so now front struts are making rackett but WB seem great . But at this mileage . Wen struts come out WB ..ball joints. And rack ends.end links will get replaced at once so no more take apart front end .

 

Admittedly, also describes checking your rear view mirror, side mirrors, gas gauge etc. Not sure about taping over any of these.

 

Normal things to look at while driving vs. abnormal (or very infrequent). The mirrors are frequently referenced in normal driving. Nothing on the dash is, at least by me, unless special circumstances require it. A warning light is a special circumstance, picked up in my peripheral vision. I don't normally look at the speedometer, for instance, but will if moving with traffic seems to be too fast. (Ie, going up I5 in the CA central valley, where one can easily get pulled into a pack of cars all going 85, which is faster than I want to drive there. Also when I'm the only car around and have no other cars nearby to provide speed hints.) I never look at the gas gauge except when starting up the car, or maybe on a very long trip, when approaching a "next gas in 50 miles" sort of situation. On older cars I never looked at the climate controls either, but on the Prius if it needs to be adjusted there isn't much choice but to look at the MFD, since one cannot read the settings by touch, as was possible with older dial controls. On older cars I did occasionally check the engine temperature and battery, if those were displayed, but the Prius doesn't show the driver that information.

Anyway, this seems to work for me: I have never run out of gas nor had a moving violation.

It would be nice to have a heads up control for the stereo, climate, warning lights, and the like, but I suspect instead we will get fully autonomous cars.

 

Fortunately, you're not as funny as Sheldon.