TPMS light, any quirks?

Recently got new tires, wheels, and TPMS sensors. I have the pressure around 36 psi. This morning the light came on when I was going to work (it may have been on right when I started, but I didn't notice). Anyway, none of the tires looks low. Is the low threshold fixed, or does the system learn this when it is set up? The pressure was high when I came home from having them installed. Anything else that might be causing this? I wonder if I should set them at my desired pressure and use the reset button?

 

Set and reset. If that doesn’t fix it take it back to whoever installed the new tires.

 

Have you actually checked the pressures since the light came on? You mentioned they don't LOOK low, but they may still be lower than the cutoff for the light.

 

No, I haven't checked since I'm at work and don't carry a gauge. But not sure what I'm looking for since I don't know what the threshold is for the light. Thus my question, is it a fixed thing from the factory, or does it get set somehow based on the pressure present when it is reset/enabled?

 

I think he means check manually to make sure that the pressures reported by TPMS are accurate.

If they are at, say 35 manually checking but TPMS says 30, it’s probably a bad sensor. Or your vehicle is reporting it wrong.

Just a quick diagnostic to narrow down the issue. Might be worth buying a 15 dollar pressure gauge to test and also just to have for future use.

 

Check your spare while you're at it

 

Also, the light is most definitely set to trigger at a certain pressure (high or low) that Toyota doesn’t recommend. If you are airing down for off-roading obviously just deal with the light until you are on road.

 

My truck just has a light, no numbers, nor indication of which tire. I'll check when I get home, but if they say 33 or 35, or whatever, what do I do with that? I guess I just keep filling them until the thing shuts up? If anyone actually knows the threshold numbers (high, low), that would be helpful.

Good thought on the spare. I'm not certain it has a TPMS in it, but maybe.

 

I'm sure the light comes on at a set pressure below the stock recommended pressure, so whatever the sticker on your door says should be what you need to stay at or above to keep the light off. My third gen TRD offroad says 30 psi and I've dropped a few psi before and never had the actual light come on.

 

You should be able to check numbers. The directional arrows right and left on the steering wheel should change what screen you see on your gauge dash. One is tire pressure.

 

I don't know what all these gizmos are you're showing me. My truck is 2011 base model, crank windows, manual locks, etc. No buttons on the steering wheel, no LCD screens. I like it, but I was shocked anyone produced such simplistic vehicles in the 2000's.

 

Fuck sorry I didn’t realize it was 2nd gen. If you are within 33-35 take it to the shop that installed the TPMS and make sure they fix it.

 

His 2011 won't have a sensor in the spare, but it is a good idea to check it anyway. I think 2008 was the last year they did that. In fact if the spare is still the factory tire it needs to be replaced since it is 10 years old. I found a good used tire and had it mounted for $30 a couple of months ago to get a newer tire for my 07.

Check your tires with an accurate gauge. Chances are that one or more of your tires are low. It could be because the pressure dropped if nite time temperatures dropped. Or you could have picked up something in a tire leading to a slow air loss. If the light comes on after you've started driving it probably means something is wrong.

 

Well, the light turned off by itself and the tires are all around 35. Could be intermittently bad sensor, which would be a PITA to get fixed.