Hi all, I just bought a 2013 Prius C this summer and its been great! I live in a snowy winter area (central NY state) and am going to get a set of studded snow tires with rims. But I just realized while shopping for them that I will need a set of TPMS sensors for the spare set of rims as well. So a few questions: 1. Is it possible for the Prius C to have 8 TPMS sensors in memory, so I don't have to re-sync them each spring and fall? 2. If I don't get TPMS sensors, will the ECU freak out? Beyond the light flashing (which electrical tape can solve), I am wondering if how the ECU manages performance is affected by the sensors at all. 3. If I do get them and have to reset each spring and fall, is there a way I can do this myself? If I have to go the dealer, about how much do they typically charge? Thanks for your thoughts!
i think the easiest and cheapest way will be to just get snow tires and some electrical tape to cover the light. no harm done to the ecu.
You will be fine without them, but really it is only $8 at my tire shop to move them from rim to rim. I take my wheel+ tires there in bags they mount them for free (since I purchased the tires there), but then I pay the $8 to swap the TPMS from summer wheels to winter wheels. Easy peasy. As for pairing 8 wheels, I know the Prius ECU cannot store 8 wheels, I think it is 5 or something non-obvious like that. I don't know why someone would pinch pennies, to save $8 on a vehicle that costs $30K and are probably paying a c-note a month to insure properly. $8 is the equivalent of 1/3rd of a pizza. It's not worth 2 slices of pizza???
Check with your tire shop. Some places my be, or feel, the law probits installing tires that would make the TPMS system fail. Also check with your state law on inspections...not an issue in CA, but those states that have inspections may have some gotcha's. Here's a helpful link with some scenarios.
8 sensors, no can do. no harm to ECU , neither the performance will be effected. can't do it yourself, need to communicate with ECU's thru DLC3 connector....dealer only. i have purchased mag wheels for summer (no TPMS) and OE wheels for winter.
Make sure it electrical tape not friction tape, as a young hockey player ('50's) friction tape was great for hockey sticks, electrical tape was to slick(I admit I used electrical, it was "faster"), but for turning off the blinking light on the dash when it's dark out, electrical tape.
In on the fence on whether or not to get winter tires, but if I do, they won't have TPMS. I'll order them mounted on steel wheels and just put them on myself. Knowing shops in my area there is no $8 solution to the TPMS. It's also not advised to move them a lot, as they can break. The fact you have to pay the dealer to pair them up makes getting a separate set of sensors much less appealing.
A shop should be able to provide you with cloneable sensors. The shop would get an id from each of the original sensors and program those IDs to the 4 winter sensors. You should be able to swap from summer to winter sets as long as you keep the wheels in the same positions. If you can check each individual tire for pressure, at a given location then you may have to keep track of the position. There are nifty valve cap sets available and you could swap the valve caps as you swap wheels each season to help keep track of position. It is nice to have the low tire pressure warning due to temperature swings. Hope this helps
Can someone explain this clonable sensor solution a bit more? I've been trying to research it but I keep running into conflicting answers. I just bought a set of snow tires and steel wheels, but the shop I bought from (America's Tires) refuses to do anything unless I buy TPMS sensors.
the real problem is not to find the clonable sensor (standard cie.) but to alo find the tool that will write your existing tpms code in the clonable sensors! I suggest that you contact a Standard sales rep, ask for a local dist. in you area, That guys will know if the seller has the tpms and the tool (T55000 tool)
many shops today carry TPMS sensors that can be cloned, meaning they can program the id's of the new sensors to match the current ones you have on the car & thus eliminate the need for a reset. If you really feel you don't need them during the winter then why not just completely remove them & put some ugly tape over the light all year round. Until you get a flat & kill the tire it won't matter. It's not like you bought a Prius for it's mileage, and proper tire pressure would help with that.
Just because someone may not want to setup a second set of sensors for their winter tire/wheel setup doesnt mean they may want to disable a working oem system in the summer.
1. thats not the case. the sensor on the hub reads the signal from the tpms unit on its wheel after caklibration by dealer or ... 2. no' the ECU merely turns on the TPMS light on the dash. Every hybrid here has tires/wheels other than OEM and the ECU only turns the light on, nothing negative happens. 3. Don't waste your $240; just check your tire pressures at least weekly. If the light bothers you cover it with a 1/2 inch square piece of black electrical tape. PS when you pit your OEM tires back on you may find you have to go to the ealer and have them re-calibrated. You can do it by buying your cal circuit but the cost id prohibitive
