Tire Pressure Monitoring System

[cehe4ka]

Just got an 04 Solara with the Tire Pressure light ON.

Are there supposed to be valve-stem sensors in the tires? Every OEM system that I saw had those, but this car has rubber valve-stems.

Thank you.

[toyomoho]

Toyota does have a system that is inside the tire mounted on the rim. Have you checked the spark tire for air pressure?

[cehe4ka]

No did not check that one yet.

Is there any way to find out specific system used in my Solara?

[toyomoho]

The owners manual should say something about the system. Tire monitoring appears standard on this year thus would assume it has the rim mounted system.

Recall the system compares tire pressure against a standard set in the computer (including full size spare tire if equipped). The standard can be reset if the tires require a higher or lower pressure.

[Gadgetjq]

Originally Posted by cehe4ka

Just got an 04 Solara with the Tire Pressure light ON. Are there supposed to be valve-stem sensors in the tires? Every OEM system that I saw had those, but this car has rubber valve-stems.

Solara doesn't have the valve mounted sensors until the '07 model year.

The '04-'06 Solara uses the anti lock brake sensors to determine whether one wheel (on the same axle) is turning at a lower rate than the wheel on the other side. If so the light will come on notifying you that at least one tire is low on air. It's up to you to figure out which one.

The later (active) system actually tells you which tire has low pressure including the spare. Spiffy except eventually the sensors have to be replaced, batteries can fail so there's some maintenance involved.

If your pressure light is on (this info is in your owners manual)
1. Check each corner to be certain you have the pressure you want in each tire.
2. Turn the key on (no need to start the engine) and press the calibration button (lower left side of dashboard) holding the button several seconds until the light blinks.
3. Release the button. Note, if you just stab the button you'll turn the light off but it'll come on again after you've driven a couple of miles.

Anytime you rotate your tires there's some chance the light will come on depending on your method of rotation and whether you keep the same pressure front/rear or not. Just don't be surprised when the light comes on anytime you rotate and especially when you get new tires mounted.

Cheers