[scsiguru]

My wife works out of town a couple of days a week and the other day she called and said her low tire pressure light was on. The nights have been getting colder so I though maybe the air could have gone down due to the temperature change. I told her to take it to a tire shop and have them inspect and fill the tires (as well as the spare). The maint. person at her work took her car to Firestone and they said the pressures in two tires were down to 28 psi and the spare was fine. They reset the TPMS switch and everything was fine for the rest of the day. The next morning she calls and said the light was on again. Once again the maint. guy took the vehicle to Firestone and I asked that they thoroughly inspect the tires for any small nails etc. They said they checked everything and the pressures were fine. That same day she drove home and had no problems. When she got home I inspected each tire with a flashlight for any objects and found none. The tire pressures in each tire are at 32psi as well as the spare. The tires are new Firestone's which I just had installed this past August. Never had any issues up until now.

Tonight my wife was driving to a see a play with a friend and she calls me to let me know the tire pressure warning light came on again. It's cold again outside, but I know this morning I checked all 5 tires and the pressure was spot on at 32psi. Could there be some malfunction in the system? I would think the vehicle is not old enough for a battery to go bad. Would the dealership be the best place to have this issue checked? I'm assuming tire shops would not have the right equipment to diagnose the issue? This is all very frustrating since she has to drive an hour to get to her job.

Thanks for any information and suggestions.

 

[ukrkoz]

Batteries run low in TPMS. Though it's a bit too early for the year. I just had all four done on my TCH, but she was made in 2006. So I get that.
Discount tire is you best bet for those. Cost me around $70. LS wanted shy of $400 for the same job.

 

[scsiguru]

Batteries run low in TPMS. Though it's a bit too early for the year. I just had all four done on my TCH, but she was made in 2006. So I get that.
Discount tire is you best bet for those. Cost me around $70. LS wanted shy of $400 for the same job.

That's what I though too..since the vehicle is just over four years old. Don't have a Discount Tire near me, but what is "LS"?

I'm going to do a thorough inspection of each tire again tomorrow and if I don't see anything then the wife will have to take it into some shop on Monday. Just need to find a shop that knows what they are doing.

 

[Greasymechtech]

Piling stuff up in the hatch can sometimes block the spare signal.

Should be easy enough for the shop to check each TPMS sensor to see which one is not working and replace just that one.

Your local autopart store and rockauto/ebay/amazon have the sensors. Tire needs to be dismounted, sensor replaced, tire remounted, and then rebalanced.

My '08 still work fine. But, eventually, I'll have to replace all 5 of them.

 

[scsiguru]

Piling stuff up in the hatch can sometimes block the spare signal.



Should be easy enough for the shop to check each TPMS sensor to see which one is not working and replace just that one.



Your local autopart store and rockauto/ebay/amazon have the sensors. Tire needs to be dismounted, sensor replaced, tire remounted, and then rebalanced.



My '08 still work fine. But, eventually, I'll have to replace all 5 of them.

Thanks for the information. So would any tire shop be able to check this or would I be better off going to the dealer?

It just seems unusual to me that a sensor would need to be replaced on a four year old vehicle.

My daughter drives our old 06 Highlander and never had this issue with that vehicle.

 

[ukrkoz]

Les Schwab.

 

[Greasymechtech]

There is nothing unusual about dead TPMS or its dying battery. Any tire shop should be able to determine which sensor has a dead battery, usually because they can't read its SN with their RF scanner. If the issue is intermittent, you might have to wait some time for the sensor battery to be completely dead or really cold out.

To rule out inaccurate shop/mechanic's gauge, I would increase the cold tire PSI all around to 34psi to see if the extra PSI prevents the issue. I would even consider lowering the spare, rotating it 90 degrees, and tucking it back in.

Don't rely on a shop for accurate PSI. Sometimes you'll just have man up and to do it yourself. If car is parked outside, you need to check the PSI before the rising morning sun warms up 1 side of the car tires, and definitely before you warm the tires by 'driving' on them. And, if garage is heated, park 'er outside overnight for a proper seasonal tire PSI.

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-programmable-digital-tire-gauge/p-02830048000P
http://www.ghmeiser.com/digital-gauges.htm

http://www.slime.com/us/products/auto/inflators/12v-auto-/2x-tire-inflator.php
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Twin-Cyclin...tric-Pump-Tire-Inflator-150-PSI-/231660054448

 

[inmars]

A bad tpms would blink first for 30-60 secs. then stay on steady. Is that what is happening?

 

[05Moose]

My daughter drives our old 06 Highlander and never had this issue with that vehicle.

1st Gen has Indirect TPMS, 2nd Gen has Direct TPMS. Indirect compares tire rotation to other tires. If one's low, that tire rotates faster triggering the light. Direct has sensors in each tire to measure pressure directly (thus the type).

 

[05Moose]

A bad tpms would blink first for 30-60 secs. then stay on steady. Is that what is happening?

Opposite. A solid light is typically a pressure issue. A bad battery or similar issue will result in a blinking light (after the self test is done).

 

[scsiguru]

Opposite. A solid light is typically a pressure issue. A bad battery or similar issue will result in a blinking light (after the self test is done).

All the pressures are equal in all five tires. I went through the reset procedure and the light did not go out. Wife went out this morning and after driving a short distance the light went off.

I'm wondering if I should leave the vehicle outside today (since it's cold here) and see if the light comes back on?


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[funman1]

Opposite. A solid light is typically a pressure issue. A bad battery or similar issue will result in a blinking light (after the self test is done).

No he was correct, a bad sensor, or no signal will make the light blink for 30-60 seconds when you start the vehicle, THEN it will go solid for the rest of the trip.
A low tire will just be on solid from the second you turn it on to when you shut it off...

See this thread for more info..
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/122-2nd-generation-2008-2013/1194330-diy-tpms-repair-w-techstream-sensor-replacement.html#post9927706

.

 

[abimom]

Another idea, you mentioned that the tires are from August:
Usually when they replace the tires, they charge an extra fee to replace the batteries since they are in there - did you have this done?
Or if they just cracked the sensor when they replaced the tires and the cold temp is causing it to show up now.

 

[scsiguru]

Another idea, you mentioned that the tires are from August:

Usually when they replace the tires, they charge an extra fee to replace the batteries since they are in there - did you have this done?

Or if they just cracked the sensor when they replaced the tires and the cold temp is causing it to show up now.

No...I did not pay extra to replace the batteries. I'm just wondering why you can still reset the warning light and then it comes on at random times.


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[funman1]

they charge an extra fee to replace the batteries since they are in there

I can ASSURE you, it's IMPOSSIBLE to change the batteries on an OEM sensor.
They are as sealed as sealed gets.
I attempted to just get the batteries out of my old sensor to see how it was made, and you have to literally destroy it to get to the batteries...

 

[05Moose]

No he was correct, a bad sensor, or no signal will make the light blink for 30-60 seconds when you start the vehicle, THEN it will go solid for the rest of the trip.
A low tire will just be on solid from the second you turn it on to when you shut it off...

See this thread for more info..
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/122-2nd-generation-2008-2013/1194330-diy-tpms-repair-w-techstream-sensor-replacement.html#post9927706

.

I was going off a past post of yours that was consistent with the FSM for the Tacoma.
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/1...arning-light-blinking-stays.html#post10189081

I was also ignoring the self test. Sounds though like they have different settings for TPMS among diff models. On the Tacoma, a solid light means either low pressure or connection with ECU problem. All other problems like dead batteries, communication with a sensor, etc. will cause the light to blink. If a solid light on the HL can be a dead sensor, then they're definitely different.

 

[funman1]

It blinks for only 30-60 seconds then goes solid for errors not related to tire pressure..
I would imagine a constant blinking light on your dash would drive people NUTS.
It shows the error on start up then just goes solid (I assume to end the annoyance)

For low pressure tires it just comes on solid and stays on solid...