Damn Toyota TPMS!

ok so what wire do i cut im done with this tpms junk

 

OK, IMHO this is a very stupid system. I don't know what the deal is but whoever makes it seems to have sold it to many auto mfgs. They all have the same idiot light, they all have the same reset button, and they all have the same weaknesses (no pressure readout, no way to tell which tire, etc.) . Too bad they didn't use a system like on Chevy Impalas that reports actual tire pressures for each tire. I'm not sure whether they need dealer programming like ours, however.

But to the TPMS story, and I am NOT making this up... a couple weeks ago a coworker (female) with a Lexus asked me about the TPMS light that had just come on in her car even though the tires "looked ok". I explained that it was probably that she had a nail lodged in one of her tires and she had a slow leak. I guess she didn't really think too much about it because today she told me how she has been dealing with it. She said she added air to ALL the tires and the light went out. Then a week later the light came back on. So she added air to ALL tires AGAIN. And so on...

So I went out with a gage and checked her tires today. No surprise that 3 were between 45 and 50 psi... and 1 was 26 psi. OK, OK, I know she doesn't have any mechanical common sense. But there are a lot of folks like this out there. This just highlights the weaknesses of such a dumbed down system that for some folks is worse than having no TPMS system at all.

 

That's kinda why I wanna replace mine with an aftermarket setup. I'd like my wife to know she's got a low tire when she drives home at 1am, but I don't want her to stop and deal with it if it's just the spare. That can be taken care of easier in the safety of our driveway the next morning.

 

Anyone come up with an easy way to disable on an 07? I got enough sense to check pressures regular. I have a mini guage in all my trucks

 

As of 2008 the Feds require all light duty vehicles sold in the USA to have a TPMS system. The dumbing down of America continues.

 

yeah what sux is i had to buy different tire pressure sensors to go with my new alloy trd wheels cuz the steel wheel sensors don't work on alloy wheels...the sensors were like $100 each plus like another $120 for the labor of mounting and balancing and programming...that is like $520...on top of what i paid for the tires and wheels which was roughly $1500 plus $520 more...over $2000 altogether but it was a brand new truck so i went with it....anyways i got two sets of sensors...the steel ones and the alloy ones....they should have at least made a sensor that would fit either kind of wheel...i don't even know if my spare tire has a sensor on it or not...it is still the stock spare...i guess it does i dunno....on my old truck i never used my spare one time and i drove it to 300k miles....i ran over nails and such but just had the tires plugged ....the tires were 31x10.50 and you could pretty much drive on them even when almost flat......one time i didn't even know it and a rear tire only had about 10psi in it....i couldn't even notice since there is not much weight on the rear...lol...i mean i can understand the tpsm is for safety reasons and all but everyone knows people change the tires and wheels on tacomas all the time so it is a huge pain to deal with...it's getting to where people don't have to pay attention to taking care of their cars anymore...computers do it all for you now...pretty soon the cars will drive themselves too so then we will not even care to drive a car for fun anymore it will just be about getting from point a to b and nothing else

 

it is ridiculous. i recenttly changed wheels /tires but ive had aftermarket wheel for almost 2 years so ive had "the light" on i just aked because i had to clear maintenace required light and it made me notice tpms light all the more

 

I suppose we should all be happy the damn thing doesn't beep too...

 

Just bought my first Tacoma, an 06 but it came with the spare tire missing. Needless to say the flashing light is driving me crazy. What a useless annoying feature!! I always carry a portable air compressor and checked air pressure regularly so I'm going to unplug that stupid system. Thanks for all the tips I'm glad I found this thread.

 

Im getting my new wheels and tires put on this week, and Im just gonna black tape it till I have time to remove the LED.

 

why not just remove the HVAC controls and radio and simply unplug the TPMS ECU?

Very easy, and can be plugged back in at any time.

Takes about 10 minutes to complete.

=D

 

Does that affect anything else? I mean, if it were that simple I wouldn't think people would be cutting wires, grounding others, etc to disable this system.....

 

I've had my TPMS ECU unplugged for the past 2+ years. My truck has been to the dealer at least 3 times (new 6-speed installed, ECU flashed for TRD S/C) and they never said a word and I've never had any indication that it is unplugged. As far as I know, it is an isolated ECU and does not interact with the OBD-II functions. Scangauge does not report or show any codes, etc.

You can check out the wiring diagrams and ECU information for the TPMS in the Factory Service Manual for 2nd Gen Tacomas.

 

ok cool! Maybe I'll get around to doing that! lol I have 1 dead sensor, and I could replace the whole system with a more functional aftermarket setup for less than it would cost to repair the factory one.

 

Just got back from a trip where I had two flats - fortunately had 2 spares! First flat was from a TPMS stem breaking off - two bad not shorter and flexible.

Regarding the Dumbing of America

This whole legislation thing started from the 'Firestone Death Toll' and Firestone's augment that the de-lamination was due to wrong tire pressure. Then the Top Attorneys' Program aka. Federal Legislators determined that they could legislate a system for all people that are not smart enough to be an attorney.

What is Going On?

The Firestone tire recall is perhaps the most deadly auto safety crisis in American history. US regulators on 16 October, 2000 have raised the death count to 119 (the death count has steadily risen from 62, later to 88 and 101 deaths reported on 9/20/2000). Experts believe there may be as many as 250 deaths and more than 3000 catastrophic injuries associated with the defective tires. Most of the deaths occur in accidents involving the Ford Explorer which tends to rollover when one of the tires blows out.

In May 2000, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration issued a letter to Ford and Firestone requesting information about the high incidence of tire failure on Ford Explorer vehicles. During July, Ford obtained and analyzed the data on tire failure. The data revealed that 15" ATX and ATX II models and Wilderness AT tires had very high failure rates: the tread peels off. Many of the tires were made at a Decatur, Illinois plant. Worse, when the tires fail the vehicle often rolls over and kills the occupants.

Ford Officials estimate the defect rate is 241 tires per million for 15-Inch ATX and ATX II tires. By contrast Ford says there are no defects in 16 Inch tires per million and only 2.3 incidents per million on other tires.

On August 9 both companies decided on the recall. Ford and Firestone disagreed as to how to break the news. Bridgestone/Firestone officials wanted to read a statement at a joint briefing without answering any questions. Ford strongly disagreed with this strategy and warned of disaster if they refused questions. Ultimately questions were asked, many of them remain unanswered.

I hear that our 'insurance reform' will require us to have ATFS (Alcohol, Tabbaco and Firearms Sensors) that will installed in our carotid artery and that it will part of the H1N1 immunization program. Then when when ever we go to the doctor/clinic/med marijuana clinic, they will not allow you to leave until another one is injected.

 

i had three tpms rot out on me because of all the salt used in the winters up here.

anyways i had to replace the three sensors and each one was 78 bucks canadian and that was it, no install fee, no reprogramming fee

 

question, I have an 09 tacoma and my TMPS sensors is fried (because it has been blinking for the last 4 months and my tires all good with no nails). So, if the sensors are fried, can I get new sensor under the 3 yr/36K miles bumber to bumper warranty?

Stupid TMPS sensors....