Our winter tires on the 2010 prius have the pressure sensors insalled in the wheels. Yet, ever since they were installed, the tire pressure light has been on on the dash. I have checked the tire pressures numerous times, and they are okay. In fact I now have the tires slightly over inflated instead of at spec, and it's still on. Do the sensors go bad in the wheels? We've had no issues with the system with the summer tires and wheels. Any help is appreicated.
Are they the original sensors? Or are they new sensors installed with your winter tires. If they are new, you will have to get the sensors 'registered' with the ECU by the dealer.
I am the second owner, and according to my service records the steel wheels and tires were purchased from Toyota with the sensors when the car was new (it was purchased in Nov 2009). I am assuming Toyota would have calibrated the sensors when the wheels and tires were purchased. This is our first winter with the car, as we bought it last spring. Can I recalibrate the sensors, or is this something only the dealer can do?
Registering the sensors to the car is a dealer thing. When's the last time you reset the TPMS? You should do it each time you inflate your tires, so switch wheels (instructions in owners manual--there's a button under the dash near the steering column).
Your light probably blinks for a minute, then goes solid, right? What's the code stored in your TPWS ECU? You can use a jumper wire to find this; read this, if you're interested (yes, it's applicable to Gen 3 Priuses): http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~nash/TCH/TPMS.pdf Don't press that SET button without having the winter tires' TPMS sensor IDs registered, or else the initialization will not complete (C2177). Then, to clear this error, you will either need a vehicle interface and software, or will have to go to someone who does, or live with the light forever.
Do you have 2 sets of wheels all with sensors? That would make 8 sensors. Only 4 can be registered at a time. If you swap wheels each season, you will have to get the sensors registered each time.
I suspect this is the case. It's probably nothing more than someone switching wheels without registering the new sensors - an easy mistake for a new owner. Tom
Read this thread. It will provide all the details. http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii.../77254-idea-fool-tire-pressure-sensors-7.html The best solutions is to mod the ECU so the TMPS light never comes on. I only takes a couple of minutes.
If you want to be able to swap the tires and reprogram the TPMS IDs yourself there's a tool you can buy (ATEQ TPMS Quickset Tool ). A dealer may charge $75 to do this for you, so the tool pays for itself after 2 uses. The tool can read the 4 TPMS IDs that are currently in the system, you'd have to go to a tire shop to have them read the IDs from the other wheels (I went to an STS store and they actually read them out without charging!)
Note that with the ATEQ tool, you have to know the TPMS IDs to be able to program them in, or have your currently on-vehicle IDs registered in the TPMS ECU so the ATEQ tool can read them. Your TPMS ECU has 4 IDS in it now, so you'd have to figure out which 4 tires these sensors are in--propbably the summer wheels here. Also, be sure the ATEQ tool can clear your error code(s) in this situation (what were those codes again?). Do you love TPMS yet?
Thanks for all the advice. Yes, I have two sets of wheels, and sensors. The previous owner had the tires changed at a Toyota dealer so they must have reprogramed the TPMS at that time. I am not paying Toyota to change my wheels, so I might look into just disabling the system. I have never had a problem maintaining tire pressures. Thanks again for all the great info.
Do your regular tires with their sensors appease the car, ie: does the light go off with the regular tires? At this point, I'd just do not nothing further, live with lights as they come and go. My 2 cents, Toyota's TPMS is a finicky, overpriced (initially and ongoing), high maintenance solution to a non-problem.
You can't disable the system. If you don't want to use it, you have three options: 1) Ignore the indicator light. 2) Put black tape over the indicator light. 3) Place the TPMS sensors in a pressurized vessel that is kept inside the car. Tom
I thought there was a post that had a link to mod the system to fool the TPMS? That's what I meant by disabling. I guess I could ignore it too. Yes, the system works fine with the summer wheels and tires. It wasn't until I switched to the winter tires that I had a problem. My wife drives the car more than me, and it doesn't bother her. So I guess we could just ignore it too...
Just ignore it, then. Don't press the reset switch with the winter tires on, though, or your car will search for the summer tires' tpms signal. Next time you have your winter tires changed, get the tpms IDs written down, so you will have them if you need them. Of course, the rated tpms battery life is about 5 years, which is about the same as a tire lifetime, so it might be a moot point.
If you have aftermarket LED lights in the license plate area, try and replace them with the OEM bulbs to see if that fixes the problem. I had a TPMS issue due to a certain type of LED I used.
The OP clearly stated that the TPMS sensors are not mounted on his car, causing the problem. It's a good idea to read the posts on a thread before posting. Tom
You did not read the thread either. This is the link in this thread to disable the TPMS system. It takes less than 5 minutes. http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...g/102961-tire-pressure-light.html#post1462812
Tom, why do you have to be such a dick? I had a TPMS problem that took months of diagnose and figured I'd mention the LED's real quick just in case that could possibly be an issue. More input is better than less input.
