TPMS questions for this Prius

Not familiar with the Honda change.
Haven't heard anything about Toyota's being different now.
Not really clear on why-whatever-TPMS system in place- would affect your ability to buy whatever tires you want?

 

The spare does not have a TPMS.

 

The 2016 continues to use TPMS per 3rd gen, explained in the manual:



As another responder mentioned, no TPMS on the temp spare, maybe on full size spare if equipped.

 

If the "indirect" (wheel speed differential) method is still legal, I can't imagine why they'd stick with the sensors, which have gotta be more expensive to manufacture and maintain, as well as harder to understand.

 

One weakness is Toyota does not allow reading the pressures (at least Gen2/3) unless you use a tool such as Techstream with miniVCI to access the data (also you get tire temp).

We rented a Cruze recently and the data was displayed front and center. Very convenient.

From my research, Toyota used the indirect method in cars such as Highlander early 2000's before they switched over to the direct TPMS. Someone here was saying their old Highlander TPMS batts never went bad, and I was trying to point out that was a different system for that model year.

 

A clarification: the TPMS sensor is not 'in the [rubber] tire'. It is in the valve stem assembly attached to the (metal) wheel rim. You can change rubber tires mounted on the original wheel rims at will, keeping the original TPMS sensors.

 

When I picked up my Gen 4 with full-size spare, I was told that all five tires had TPMS.

 

That makes sense. The manual also shows rotation of full size spare, albeit restricted to one side. If doing that I'd be inclined to ignore that, do cross rotation, for uniform wear.

 

Your comment appears to answer my question, but just in case... I bought a matching OEM wheel for my 2016 Prius Three so I could keep the best original tire/wheel as a spare when I replace tires at 40K or so miles. A full size wheel/tire appears to fit where the stock donut spare is, simply by removing the foam. May I buy a matching TPMS unit for the new wheel and have the car monitor all five tires for pressures?

 

I am a little unsure about Gen4, but Gen2 and 3 Prius only monitored 4 tires via TPMS.
It could still be good idea to have TPMS in a spare tire, so if you ever put it on, you could enter the new code and your TPMS system would work. One of our members was smart enough to reprogram/hack his car to accept 5 tires, but that would not be for the faint of heart average DIYer..not sure if the dealers could make that change for you.

Keep in mind, the system is looking for the tire to be on the car. So if it's in your garage, you could set off the TPMS light if you are away. also some new tech programmable TPMS not sure if that helps.

 

Although fairly pricey a ScanGauge with the newest firmware can report individual tire pressures and temperatures. I'm using one of mine to display my 2017 Prius 2s. Works well.

 

I was too busy to get the free ScanGauge beta test...does it cost money to get the newest firmware? I am not heavy user of ScanGauge but the TPMS readings would help. I have trouble believing 3 of my orig TPMS are still working...it'll be 12 years in July as far as July_2006 build date for mine.

 

On my Sept 2006 model, 2 of the sensors still work

 

FWIW.......i just use this in my Gen. 4 ........

 

They honored the free offer a couple of weeks ago. They still might. You can send them a message through their web site. If the beta test is over, it is not clear whether they would make the new version generally available right away. Their normal charge for updating firmware is $25.

All of my 8 1/2 year old sensors still work, who knows about 12.

 

TPMS screwed up implementation in the Prius. Not only does the system not present the tire pressures and temperatures, but the software only permits four tires to be registered.
In Canada where I live, we are required to install winter tires in winter, and in the summer we use all-season tires. So most Canadians have eight tires - 4 for summer, and 4 for winter.
But if the summer tires have the TPMS sensors, and you switch to winter tires, you either have to demount and then remount all four summer and all four winter tires, and move the sensors from the one set to the other set, or you have to install TPMS sensors in all eight tires. However, the Prius software can only accommodate four registration codes. So you would have to re-register the new TPMS sensors every time you change seasons, and my Toyota dealer charges $50 for this service. So all winter I am seeing the TPMS sensor light on my dashboard, as I elected not to have TPMS sensors put on my winter tires.
Clearly, the solution would have been a very minor software update to allow the Prius software to store eight codes. I suspect the programmers, who live in Japan, don't need to install winter tires every winter.

 

Yeah, same here.

At least it's not a legal requirement in Canada to have functional TPMS. But yeah, your proposal to allow up to 8 sensors to be registered, would be good. It'd also be good if:

1. The tpms sensors were a lot cheaper.
2. Sensor detection/registration was possible by owners, without the expense of dealership help.

Actually, if #2 was possible, maybe that would be a reasonable solution too.

 

I found something similar on amazon.com which I started using back in the fall (see threads passim), and so far the system has worked perfectly!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N2TSELY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1