MY light is on my dash. I have 16" alloy wheels when I installed new tires on the car I asked the mechanic if he could reset the light he told me I have a bad low battery in my sensor on the rear drivers side tire and that the batteries are epoxied in and you have to buy a new valve with sensor at a cost of about $50. I think this is ridiculous is there a cheaper way to fix this problem?
Tire indicator light on dash
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If the sensor is dead, you replace the entire sensor. You can buy a set of good sensors on ebay for fairly cheap and have them replaced. The replacement sensors have to be programmed to the car as well.
If the sensor is not dead, it could just be low tire pressure.
Is the light flashing at all or always on steady? If flashing, it's a sensor or ECU problem (almost always the sensor).
If the sensor is not dead, it could just be low tire pressure.
Is the light flashing at all or always on steady? If flashing, it's a sensor or ECU problem (almost always the sensor).
Hardtop the light is on all the time. The mechanic at walmart that istalled the new tires told me he tried to reset the light and tpsm sensors and the one sensor on the rear drivers side had a dead battery he told me yoj cannot just replace the battery have to replace the whole sensor at a cost of about $50. The way I understand it is each wheel has a sensor with a 3 volt battery in them the batteries will last any where from 5-7 yrs. Well I do not intend to replace sensors when the battery fails for $200 for 4 wheels. If I cannot fix it for under $5 on my own the light can stay on. What kind of crap are the manufacturers putting out these days trying to nickel and dime you death with these repair costs? I will keep searching to see if there is a way to just replace the 3 volt battery in these stupid sensors. I have driven 45 yrs. w/o them and got along fine with a visual look every now and then to see if they were low on air or not.
They normally fail around 7-10 years. That works out to around $20 - $30 per year for cost.
If you want to live with the light that's fine, but it's not a bad idea to replace them when you get your next set of tires.
I think $50 to install a new sensor is reasonable.
If you want cheaper, head over to the dollar store and get some of this stuff:
Then cut off a piece and stick it over the idiot light. While your at the dollar store, pickup one of these:
And you should be set for about $2.
The TPMS light is on solid on my 2008 Camry. When tires were rotated, they indicated that the sensor is bad in one of the tires (used their portable sensor tool to scan the tires - and one sensor was not giving off a signal). I've had several estimates to replace the sensor from the dealer and independent repair shops. They were all in the range of $150 to $200 for a single sensor. At that cost, I'm not excited to replace the sensor - especially if others are going to fail later on. The $50 quote for replacement is pretty reasonable in comparison to the quotes I received.
Corolla, Camry, Tundra, Camry, Avalon, Highlander, Venza, Highlander
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Rockauto has the denso sensors and various competitors from $30-60. Best time to change them is when you're replacing tires. Otherwise, you'll have to pay for tire removal, sensor swap, tire mounting, and then tire balancing.
It's not the manufacturers, it's your federal government mandating these. Your tax dollars at work for you!:surprise:
Thankfully some manufacturers have found different ways of running a TPMS. My 07 Camry uses the annoying sensors. My 2016 Accord uses an indirect system that doesn't have the sensors in the wheels.
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The indirect ones use the wheel speed sensors and are far as I know are not accurate at all. When my batteries start going I am just going remove the light or led in the dash and check the tire pressure the old fashioned way. I mean what the hell, it's worked for me for the last 40 years. :smile:
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