TPMS woes

Hi All,

So I had perfectly working TPMS sensors working, then decided to swap wheels. So I had the wheel shop move my existing tires + sensors to the new wheels (which is used OEM and had their own sensors as well). I told the shop to move the old sensors to the new wheels as they are already programmed to the truck. I told them also to remove the sensors on the new wheels and put them in a bag for me.

When I left the shop the TPMS light started to blink, so I knew one tire was low. they checked all the pressures including the spare and all were within spec. They then said they turned off the light by resetting the fault codes.

About 50-miles later, the TPMS light is on and solid now. Which I know means the system can't communicate with one of the sensors.

I take it back to the wheel shop, and they cleared the code again, but said any trouble shooting will have to be done by the dealer.

I then took my truck to the dealer, and $155 later, they said one of the sensors was not communicating to the TPMS computer, so they reset the computer and re-programmed all 5 sensors to the truck. They gave me a nifty printout of all the sensor codes, as well as battery life (all were good)

Sure enough, 50-miles later, my TPMS light is on and solid again! I call the dealer and they want another $155 to check (they call it a diag fee) I told them that this sounds like a comeback, but they argued that I had driven the truck another 50-miles and anything could of happened. They said if something was faulty, the light should have come on within 2-miles--I told them this is not true on the Tacomas.

Question is, should the dealer charge me again for another diag fee? I feel like what they did, didn't fix the issue.

 

You TPMS may be on their way out. Those have a battery life

 

You are probably going to have to replace it. If there was TPMS on the wheels you bought you may want to check to see if they are good and just get them programmed for your truck. I'm sure it's going to be cheaper than buying new ones

 

That may be the case, but the dealer printout of the current TPMS sensors say the batteries on all 5 sensors is all good!

 

I bought a set of new Tacoma TRD Sport take-offs that had sensors already in place and the tire shop (Les Schwab) that swapped them registered the sensors for free. Took the technician maybe 5 minutes. I've had no problems and would never go to a dealer for this type of service.

I disagree with the dealer that the light should have come on within 2 miles and I'm quite sure I read of the "50 mile" rule in a manual somewhere. I have a friend who uses winter tires with no sensors, but parks next to the stack of summer tires in his garage every night. His warning light never comes on. I'm betting your dealer doesn't have them registered correctly.

 

How did you reset your code? Did they just wipe them? Have you tried unplugging your battery for a minute or two? If the dealer said the batteries were good I would almost believe them. Dealer would have been trying to sell you something if they could. Another possibility is that a tire tech may have damaged one when they were swapping them out

 

I only went to the dealer, because the shop that changed my tires footed the diagnostic bill.

I didn't reset the code.

I just went a head and disabled the TPMS system for now. I'll replace all the sensors with my backups and get them reprogrammed on my next tire change.

 

You should get techstream so you can enter the tpms IDs yourself and troubleshoot which one is not reading, you can get the cable on ebay and the program can be found searching on google.

 

TPMS only mandatory in NH. Put a piece of black tape over the light if it bothers you. TPMS is another goverment mandated waste of our money. Use a tire pressure gage to check your tire pressure. I've been doing that for 40 years and never had a tire issue. I don't need this nanny government to hold my hand.

 

Im with that guy. My taco was an 05 so i didnt have to deal with it. If toyota diabled it i would run with that as long as you can.


BTW this might help for resetting the TPMS correctly

 

I agree 100%. We have to deal with this crap because a bunch of Explorer owners did not check tire pressure. I see some idiot almost every day driving on a low tire. Govt regs are getting to the point where we will not be able to afford to buy a new vehicle.

 

I've had quite a few cars with and without TPMS. I never relied on the system anyways. I'm not going to spend a dime getting it fixed right now, and will leave it disabled. My truck is an '06 so all i had to do was ground one a single wire behind the glove box.

As a motorcyclist and a very OCD person, I check my tire pressures religiously!

Actually part of my OCD is part of this problem. I hate not having 100% functioning correctly!