I have a 2006 prius (2nd owner). Recently the tire pressure light came on. It was my understanding that I DON'T have a TPMS system so that was a surprise. There is a reset button under the steering wheel, which adds to the confusion. am I crazy?
Apparantly, you DO! Try letting air out of another tire - see what happens. The reset switch is odd, seems like you would just need to add air. Did you have to add air AND reset the warning light?
Look under the steering column where it connects to the dash. If you see "two" (2) black buttons down there, then you definitely have the TPMS system on your car. If you have only one button, see if it says the word "key" by it. If you have two buttons, refer to the video below.
If the warnng light is troubling you, there is a very simple fix which is to take a piece of black "gaffer-tape" about 1cm x 1cm and place it over the warning light!
I could be the battery has failed in one of the wheel/tire sending units if you have checked the pressure in all tires. The battery is NOT replaceable and the entire transmitting unit needs to be replaced.
The TPMS reset button is only needed if you adjust tire pressures significantly, up or down, and want to set the TPMS to use those new pressures as a baseline. Considering the age of the car, it's very likely one or more TPMS batteries are starting to fail, and as mentioned above: the battery is not replacemable; the whole sensor needs to be replaced. The simplest/cheapest course is to do is nothing. Don't even bother with tape over the sensor, that'll just gum up the bezel. OTOH, if you want to replace them, do all four, since the rest may fail soon. Just from what I've read here, acquainting the car to new sensors does not always go smoothly, but can be done. Also, it's a good idea to record the serial numbers of the new sensors before installing them; this can facilitate the process I believe.
I'd be reluctant to put solvents on the bezel. We look at the tpms light every winter with our snow tires on. And there's other lights showing passenger seat air bag status, I mean, it's one of many.
Your understanding is wrong. If your dashboard has a warning light for tire pressure, then clearly your car has TPMS. The point of the reset is to allow you to adjust the point at which the warning light turns on. Have you checked the tire pressure at each of the 4 tires? Also, do not forget to check the spare tire which needs 60 psi.
Brand new vehicle, dealer prep signed-off and paid for, when I checked our temp spare, it was around 40 psi.
This is the first I've heard of TPMS - the previous owner didn't mention it and he was very meticulous about everything so I assumed it was not installed. I suppose I expected to see some sort of mechanical device or any indication of the system being there (except for the dashboard light) I reset the light simply by pushing the button but I will also check the tire pressure. Thanks all!
Pushing the button resets the TPMS system to "accept" the current tire pressures, however low they may be. And TPMS is not an add-on, it's a standard item, tightly integrated, nothing obvious to indicate its presence. Yes, check your tire pressures, get them to acceptable levels, then do the TPMS reset. It's outlined in Owners Manual I think.
