Some more TPM sensor info

I scoured this forum and the Internets for info on the TPM sensors and much of it was inconsistent and some of it was wrong. (Could have been right at the time...)

Anyway, I wanted a separate set of wheels for snow tires for my '06 (build date, 10/05) and also wanted to keep the TPM working if it wasn't going to cost an arm and a leg.

I wasn't having any luck finding a set of wheels on the boards or CL so I checked with Discount Tire and Tire Rack. Tire Rack had none and Discount Tire had a set of steel take offs for $300, so I pulled the trigger on those. (That was last week. This week, everyone wants to sell their alloy take offs for peanuts... )

Tire Rack had TPM sensors for $352, Discount Tire for $95 each (IIRC) and the dealer for a bit over $100 each. At that price, I'd try to get used to the flashing light.

I checked the boards for TPM sensors and found some, but the sellers were not sure they would work. It was clear I would need 20 degree sensors for steel wheels, but there seemed to be a variety of part numbers. I checked eBay and found more. The suggestion there was to call a dealer and get the correct part number for the vehicle.

I did and got 42607-0C020. I searched for these on eBay and found one listing for them, but shy of a set of 4. However they did state that this TPM sensor had been superseded by 42607-33021. I found an eBay seller with a bunch of those and offered $100 for a set of 4. I was hoping at that point that they would in fact work.

And then I thought about what was needed to get them to work with my Taco. A little more searching and I found a post that claimed that their dealer wanted $95 to reprogram a vehicle for the sensors. I would need that done twice/year.

When I dropped the TPM sensors off at the Discount Tire store, they assured me that they had the scanner to reprogram the truck for the new sensors and would do so at no additional charge, twice a year when they swap the tires. Actually, I think they'll swap the tires and even rebalance if needed at no additional charge. Usually I swap them myself on my other vehicles, but if I need to take it in to reprogram for the new TPM sensors, I might as well let them do the swap too.

So, I had the snows installed this morning and drove more than 40 miles away from the summer tires and got no TPM indicator. I've heard that the TPM sensor can read up to 40 miles away which boggles my mind.

What I take away from this is:

• 33021 does appear to work for applications that call for 0C020 - steel wheels on an '06 built October '05. These supposedly came from a Lexus.
• Dealers aren't the only shops that can reprogram your vehicle for new TPM sensors. I suspect any competent tire shop can do this.
• Tire shops may be willing to perform this service after the sale at no extra charge. I don't know if Discount Tire is unusual in their level of service after the sale, but our local shop keeps me happy.

It would be great if we had an inside contact at Toyota who could provide cross reference regarding TPM sensor applicability through the years. I have the impression that it would be easy to get the wrong ones. Or perhaps it is as simple as getting the correct sensor angle and given that, they all work.

Edit: Life with TPM sensors. I swapped out my snows yesterday and today I went to my Discount Tire dealer. This is a twice/year trip and they still do the reprogramming at no charge and provided I catch them when they're not busy, they get to it right away. I stopped and picked up a couple boxes of cookies on the way in to let them know I appreciate their help.

Programming has always been troublesome. I don't know if it is their equipment or Toyota's system. It took a lot of tries to read all 5 tire sensors. I'm sure other shops would have given up and told me the sensors are bad. (I will always go to this shop because go the extra mile without complaint.) I think they worked on it about an hour before they got it programmed. I'm wondering if the batteries for the TPM sensors are starting to go bad and I was looking for info on that when I ran across this post.

Programming the previous fall was a disaster. My first trip in, I had driven far enough from home (50 miles?) after swapping tires and before reprogramming to result in a TPM fault (flashing dash indicator.) With the fault set, all attempts at reprogramming were futile. I drove home, loaded the other set of tires in the bed and drove back to Discount Tire. On the way, the fault cleared. When I got to Discount Tire they reprogrammed the TPM system and all was well, or so I thought. The system was fine while all of my trips were local. The next time I left town, about 50 miles out (maybe 60 mi, 100 km) the dash indicator indicated a fault again. When I got home, I put the other tires back in the bed and drove around until the TPM fault cleared. Then I left the off season tires at home and went back to Discount Tire where reprogramming succeeded. (That was three trips for one tire swap. )

So DON'T have the extra tires in the truck when the TPM is reprogrammed or there is the possibility that one of the off season tires will respond when the programmer is trying to read the installed tires. Today while trying to read the left rear tire, the TPM programmer picked up the sensor info for the spare.

I found some information that the Pacific sensors used on the Tacoma should have a battery life of about ten years. I hope that's conservative.