It appears that one or more of my TPMS sensors has given up the ghost. The indicator on the dash flashes every time I start the vehicle then remains on. All pressures have been checked repeatedly and are where they should be. As this is the first vehicle I've had TPMS on, I'm uncertain as to what I should do next. Ignoring it seems a poor choice long-term. Is this an item one can self-repair, does it require a mechanic or must it be the dealership? I await your replies.
You can replace it yourself, and there's a ton of YouTube videos to show you how if you're handy and have access to a TPMS sensor programmer... Example Autel TS501... Or, Take it to a tire shop and have them scan TPMS sensor, and they will offer you an estimate of replacement cost... Normally one or two sensor are bad... Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
The Vehicle Settings in gen 4 have the same purpose as the pushbutton in gen 3: if you ever change your mind about what tire pressures you prefer, air up all the tires to your new preferred pressure, then use this feature to tell the car "the pressures you see now are what I prefer, set the warning for whatever% lower than these." If you have not changed your mind about what the right pressures should be, then there is no reason to do this, and the only thing you might accomplish is replacing the actual right pressures stored in memory with whatever your four tire pressures happen to be at the moment. When the system warns you about a tire whose pressure is off, just fix the pressure in the tire and drive the car. The light eventually goes out. The car does not forget what the right pressures were set to be; you don't need to set them again.
Kind of early for Gen 4 failures? Our ‘10, with build date august 2009, still ok. Did get a light for a few days, about a year back, but it “went away”.
If you don't already have a OBD2 adapter, get one. I recommend the vLinker MC+. Then you can use the free version of the Carista app to see which sensor has failed. It won't tell you the location but by knowing the tires pressure through the app and your own gauge, you can easily figure it out. Have that TPMS sensor replaced and if the shop can't assign it to the car, the Carista app (through a subscription that you cancel anytime you want) can assign it.
My (Gen2) first tire TPMS died at 9 years...most of the others lasted almost 12 years. I figured out which tire, by Techstream in those days, and made a fake reading to monitor 3 of 4 tires (advanced topic). Usually I purchased OEM TPMS from Amazon and asked tire place to install in a tire and I could use Techstream to assign codes. Not hearing much about Techstream these days.
That is the first thing I tried. It would not let me reset with the sensor indicator on. Would the amount of miles have more bearing than age? I'm over 285,000 now, adding 900-1,000 every week. The car is still 9 years old from manufacturing date (approx). I do not own a OBD II. Have considered the purchase but never followed through.
As mentioned in #7, it's not some magical reset, it is strictly for changing the settings for what pressures the car expects as normal. It didn't make the light turn off because it had nothing to do with the reason the light was on. But unless the display actually said it was refusing the operation because the light was on, it might still have done what it's there for, and changed your expected tire pressures to the pressures it saw at the time. So, once you have the rest squared away, you might want to use a scan tool and check what your normal pressures are set to. Or just make sure to air all the tires to the pressures you normally want, and repeat that operation.
Not sure about the one in the Prius (since they connected to the TPMS sensors in tires laying in my garage) but some TPMS are centrifugal force activated. The TPMS sensor is on a swivel and when driving, the centrifugal forces force the TPMS sensor to tilt and it turns on. When stopped, they swivel back and break contact. So the mileage do effect those.
