Test a 2nd Gen TPMS Sensor Without Installing It?

The OEM type TPMS sensors in a 2nd gen Tacoma go into hibernation when they aren't installed. They do that to preserve the internal battery.

Is there a way to get one of those TPMS sensors out of hibernation without installing it so it will talk to the truck's TPMS computer?

I have some loose TPMS sensors. I have a computer with Toyota Techstream software plugged into my truck's OBD-II socket. What I want to do is use Techstream to program my truck with the ID number of an uninstalled TPMS sensor and then see if Techstream will show me the data from that sensor so I will know if it's good.

Online, I've seen some ways that are supposed to work, but none of them ever worked for me. But as soon as I put a TPMS sensor in a tire, add air, and drive a few feet, Techstream starts talking to it with no problem.

The Toyota part numbers for the TPMS sensors I'm talking about are 42607-04010 and 42607-04011.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

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Here's some useful information about 2nd Gen Tacoma TPMS sensors that I've been meaning to post for a while.

The genuine Toyota sensors are made by Pacific. From what I've seen, the sensors sold by Denso are also genuine Pacific. The original 2nd Gen Tacomas used Toyota part 42607-04010, Pacific part PMV-108J. Toyota discontinued the original sensor years ago and replaced it with 42607-04011, Pacific PMV-C11A. I don't know the difference between the new and old sensors.

On the right of a genuine Pacific sensor, printed above the big seven-character ID number, there's a serial/lot number. The first two digits of that number are the last two digits of the year it was made. For example, if the number starts out with 09, the sensor was made in 2009.

The TPMS sensor contains a non-replaceable battery, so it's good to know how old it is. For example, if someone tried to sell me a sensor with an 09 (16-year-old) lot number, I'd decline and ask them to check stock for a newer one.

I can buy four cheap Chinese knock-off TPMS sensors on Amazon for less than I can buy one genuine Toyota sensor, but I buy the real Toyota ones because I expect the batteries in the knock-offs will be cheap crap and will fail pretty fast. Many knockoffs have a Pacific part number printed on them, but not the Pacific brand name.

In my experience, if Toyota Techstream software says a TPMS sensor battery is:
OVER, the battery is good, or the battery is dead, or the sensor is missing.
LESS, the battery is low. I've seen them continue to operate for over a year when low.

If I recall correctly, if Techstream says the sensor temperature is -40, the sensor is dead or missing.

 

You would need a TPMS tool that is capable of triggering and reading the sensor.
Some of the older TPMS tools won't read the newer sensors but most of the newer ones will read any currently known sensor, I just upgraded my TPMS tool (

$219 Autel TS501 PRO, 2025 TPMS Programming Tool Same as TS508 Up of TS501 TS408S, All Sensors Relearn Activate Tool, Program Autel MX-Sensor 315/433MHz, TPMS Reset Read Clear DTCs Lifetime Update

Autel TS501 Pro) because my old one (

$199 Autel TS401 TS408, OBD II Programming Scanner, OEM Sensor(315 433Mhz) Relearn, Activation, Reset, Read Clear DTCs, Smae as TS501 PRO TS508WIFI TS601

Autel TS401) wouldn't read alot of the newer sensors and the battery in it wouldn't hold a charge anymore.

I bought Denso sensors off RockAuto for mine and had them put in and programmed when I get new tires.

 

One more piece of 2nd Gen Tacoma TPMS trivia:

If a 2nd Gen Tacoma TPMS sensor dies, usually because its internal battery did, the truck won't tell you (it won't light the TPMS LED) until the truck is driven at highway speed for 20 minutes or 20 miles (I forget which).

That means if you only drive your truck on short or low-speed trips, you can't depend on the TPMS system to tell you when a TPMS sensor has died or that a tire with a dead sensor is low on air. All 2nd Gen TPMS sensors eventually die when their internal battery does.

The TPMS system is designed like that because it's normal for the TPMS computer to lose communications with a TPMS sensor for a while. Everyone else's TPMS sensors on the same frequency interfere. So does ice/snow buildup on the truck. To prevent false alarms, the truck's TPMS computer ignores communications loss with a sensor until the truck has been driven long enough at a high enough speed that an underinflated tire could overheat. That's all the US government required.

The government made TPMS mandatory because Ford SUV owners weren't keeping their tires properly inflated. To give a soft ride, Ford specified a tire pressure for their SUVs that was just above the minimum to keep the tires from overheating at high speed on a hot day. Most people don't keep their tires properly inflated. So there were many cases in which an underinflated Ford SUV tire overheated, blew out, and caused a crash.