TPMS Sensors & Tools - Winter & Summer Tires

Last winter I decided to get a separate set of winter tires for my truck (a 2015 TRD Off Road AC). I did a few searches here and decided the best way to approach this was to have a tire shop install both the tires and new rims on the truck. I also required the shop to clone the TPMS sensor ids from the stock rims that were already on the truck.

The idea was since the sensors were the same ids, I could swap sets of tires myself and without needing to go back to the shop to re-set the sensor ids in the computer.

Winter turned to spring and I re-installed my original tires and naturally the TPMS light was now lit up on my dashboards. I was pretty sure that the sensor ID's were not cloned properly but couldn't be sure. I didn't want to go back to the tire shop because (a) I am stubborn and (b) I didn't want them to try an sell me an alignment that I didn't need.

A little more research here and I went out and bought the following tools so that I could handle this my self.

(1) Autel MaxiTPMS

$189 TS401 TS408, OBD II Programming Scanner, 99% OEM Sensor(315, 433Mhz) Relearn, Activation, TPMS Reset, Read Clear DTCs, Smae as TS501 TS601

TS401 - $179 at Amazon
(2) ATEQ QuickSet TPMS Reset Tool - $150 at Amazon

 

Have you used them yet, if so how did it go? I'd probably have tried to get the tire shop to fix it.

 

That's one solution, but rather expensive.

A cheaper method is to use Toyota TIS Techstream.

(EDIT: However, you need to know the IDs beforehand)

 

The Autel MaxiTPMS

$189 TS401 TS408, OBD II Programming Scanner, 99% OEM Sensor(315, 433Mhz) Relearn, Activation, TPMS Reset, Read Clear DTCs, Smae as TS501 TS601

TS401 tool is basically used for scanning the TPMS ids for the tires that you have while the ATEQ Quickset tool is used to load either a winter or summer set of tires ids into the computer.

It is important to note that if you already know the ids of all 8 tires, you do not need the Autel tool. It's a good idea to always get the TPMS ids off the rims when you are buying tires etc. I would suggest taking a picture of the sensor labels before they are mounted.

Here are pics of both tools: The autel tool comes in a very nice case.

 

$319? A person can figure out which one of the various ways to disable the light actually works and spend like 10 cents.

 

(not sure why the pics loaded upside down...sorry)

The first thing that I did was to download the sensor ids that were stored in the computer. These were the ids from my winter tires and it was pretty easy to do.

Step 1 was to install the quickset tool software on my computer and updating the program.

Step 2 was to plug the quickset tool into the OBDII connector using the included extension cable and pushing the winter button. The ids are then downloaded into the tool.

Step 3 was to open the program and display the ids stored in the tool. The interface is pretty simple and you can print, edit, etc.

 

I am surprised how much this went up in cost!

When I was looking last fall, they were going for around $90. Should have bought it then.

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?171785-Autel-TS-401-TPMS-Scanner-Reset-Tool

 

So now that I had the winter ids, I needed to find out what the summer ids were and for that I needed to use the Autel tool.

Step 1 required me to install the software on my computer. There is really no application program for this device, but you need the autel program to upload new firmware into the tool. This is fairly straightforward except that the instructions are at the back of the manual and only refer to updating the bin file. You will also need to update the aut file as well for the tool to work properly as it needed to be updated to handle my 2015.

Step 2 requires you to select your vehicle from the list provided on the tool.

Step 3 requires you to trigger and read each tire using the tool. It's a one button for each tire operation but each tire may take a few minutes to read and the tool needs to be very close to the sensor. When you are done you will see a screen that looks like this:



At that point there appears a way to set these ids in the vehicle computer. The manual doesn't provide much information on how to do this so I simply loaded these ids as my summer set of id's into the quick set tool screen.



At that point I simply downloaded both sets of ids into the quickset tool, plugged the tool into the OBDII port and loaded the summer id set into the computer by pressing the summer button.


Yes, I know that I could have cut the wire or paid $50 to have the shop reset the sensors, but I like doing stuff like this for myself and really do not like to turn this task over to someone else especially considering that the original tire shop only managed to clone 2 of my sensor ids.

 

The problem was that I wasn't sure of the tire sensor ids. I definitely knew 4 of them since I could pull them out of the computer but I was not sure of the other 4 and since the TPMS sensor light was on I was reasonably certain that the shop wasn't entirely truthful about successfully cloning all 4 new sensors.

 

Sub'd

 

Old thread but the info seems good.

Can you train the sensors to the vehicle using only the

$189 Autel TS401 TS408, OBD II Programming Scanner, 99% OEM Sensor(315, 433Mhz) Relearn, Activation, TPMS Reset, Read Clear DTCs, Smae as TS501 TS601

Autel TS401 or do you need a separate tool to connect and enter the sensor ID via the OBD2 port?

 

The Toyota Tacoma needs the OBDII connection to program the TPMS IDs to the system.

Therefore, the Autel TS401 and

$189 Autel TS408 S, 2024 TPMS Relearn Tool Updated of TS401 TS408, OBD II Programming Scanner, 99% OEM Sensor(315, 433Mhz) Relearn, Activation, TPMS Reset, Read Clear DTCs, Smae as TS501 TS601

Autel TS408 are insufficient in accomplishing this, as it has no OBDII capabilites.

Some alternatives are the ATEQ mentioned above, Toyota Techstream, or the more advanced

$199 Autel TS501 TPMS Programming Tool, 2024 Upgraded Car TPMS Scan Tool of TS408, TS401, Activate/Relearn All Known TPMS Sensors, Program Autel MX-Sensor [315 & 433MHz], TPMS Diagnostics & Reset

Autel TS501 or Autel TS508.

 

Balls, thanks for the quick responce.

 

I have the Autel TS-508 and did a TPMS relearn for my new set of wheels with different set of TPMS sensors. Easy with TS-501 or TS-508...

Trigger all 4 TPMS sensors, connect TPMS turn on truck, write Sensor ID's to ECU. Relearn complete. (Spare tire is not stored in the ECU, only 4 tires are stored.)

*** NOTE *** You must select the spare and cancel triggering it to continue to the next screen for writing TPMS information to the ECU.

 

You got it handled, great job! For others though coming in to see what you did, I was able to get a brand new Autel TS508 which reads & writes the data for $125 shipped.

Shop around, it pays to be patient sometimes

 

Seems like a lot of trouble for little gain.

You obviously take care of your vehicle and keep up on maintenance. I bet you look your tires over pretty thorouly before most trips. If you are investing an extra $2k in wheels and tires, I bet you are leery about trusting the electronics that monitor those tires.

I'd think it would be simpler to just put all those sensors in your spare tire. No issues with what season tires you run. An added bonus is you will be notified if the spare goes low pressure. No one checks the spare tire pressure, myself included.

Just check the tires the old fashionef way with a gauge. You should be anyways.

 

I had a slow leak on one of my new tires. After adding more air I noticed the valve stem was hissing. Had to go to the store a get a valve stem tool to tighten the valve otherwise I would of had a flat tire in the morning. Also bought a 4 pack of valves just incase it needs to be replaced. So far no more slow leak. Also having the Autel tool allows you to check your tire pressures without letting any air out.

 

I'm surprised the ECU won't store 5 sensors. That's the only reason I bought the device. Rotating 5 requires writing each time. The dealership wants $150 to do it.

Oh, I agree, checking them with a gauge is tried and true but with it built into the truck it's just too easy.

Some of us are just a little OCD

 

Yes agreed, a little OCD...



Watching them all warm up together...