The first three mins and twelve seconds is the backstory, which you may be experiencing the exact same thing... If you enjoy reading, feel free to read the rest of this description for an in-depth review of this experience. I have a 5,000 character limit, let's see if it fits... Ha!
Word on the street, Toyota was infamous for having a hard time with aftermarket TPMS sensors; however, that's simply not true. Therefore, here is my experience with the TPMS system with a true fix and not a cover up--or simply ignoring the light...
I routinely check my tire pressure and thread depth, so the light being "ON" isn't a big deal--but I also didn't want to ignore the light, I wanted to fix the problem so the system works the way it was designed to--especially when I have my family in the car pulling 5,000 lbs. behind my Tundra.
First, I needed new tires and had those replaced, before leaving the tire shop, I asked to make sure the TPMS light was reset (past experience from tire rotations left the light blinking and with new tires installed, I wanted to be sure that was corrected). When the techs tried scanning the TPMS sensors, two of the sensors did not activate and the other two showed low battery (TPMS batteries can not be replaced). The shop cut me a deal if I would buy four new sensors, so I weighed my options and purchase four new sensors (remember, this is a 12 year old truck). After install, the said I was good to go and I left--unfortunately, the light came on within 100 yards of leaving and I returned to the shop. I was instructed to drive home because "sometimes the system needs time to learn the new position and if it doesn't turn off, I was advised to bring the truck back." No problem, I vaguely recall hearing that before--so I headed home (25-30mins). Well, the light didn't turn off, so the next day I went back to the shop. The techs tried using the scan tool to reset the light and it failed. They decided to swap the sensors (same frequency, different brand) and try again...and again, it failed. They believe it may be something that Toyota has to do on their end to reset the ECU.
I immediately drove over to Toyota, spent 2.5 hrs having them try to reset the light and was told, "We tried using two different scan tools and it didn't work...you have to use OEM sensors..." I inquired on the cost to have these sensors replaced and was quoted $1200.00---uhh, no thanks! Mind boggling nonetheless. I went back to tire shop to see what my options are as I have new paper-weights (the non-functioning sensors) in my tires at this point. The shop advised they would try to get their hands on the OEM sensors and swap 'em in when they arrived. A week goes by and I used that time to research as much as I could on the Tire Pressure Monitoring System. *Tire shop did call a week later to tell me they could no longer get their hands on OEM sensors--I think this was a nice way of letting me go so they wouldn't have to deal with it; regardless the shop was awesome and I greatly appreciated all their efforts.
From my understanding, a vehicle has four (4) sensors in each tire (attached to the end of the valve stem if your vehicle is equipped with a TPMS). Those for sensors have a specific frequency and ID (either 315MHz or 433 MHz--OEM Toyota sensor uses the 315MHz frequency). Those sensors communicate to a TMPS Receiver (wirelessly--obviously) which is wired to a TPMS module. The ECU is programmed with the ID on each sensor as well as the position on your vehicle (front left, front right, etc.) If the sensors are not programmed correctly, the system will throw a fault and the low pressure light will come on. Now, I had no way to verify if the techs initially programmed the sensors correctly besides taking their word for it and they certainly wouldn't let me play in the parking lot with their $1800 scan tool--ha! So if they programmed the sensors correctly, and the ECU wasn't locked; then what's going on?! Why is this light still on?! Logically, I have four new sensors and the module is throwing codes; then it has to be the receiver? Maybe the new sensors are not making it to the module...this is where I decided to start, but needed a tool to verify the IDs were written properly to the sensors and the ECU matches; therefore, I purchase an expensive scan tool that could connect to the OBDII port so I could pull those codes. Sure enough, the codes matched and I order a new receiver... from here the rest is history (or the last two minutes of this video). I replaced the receiver, turned on the truck and the system is communicating properly. If you made it this far, well done, I greatly appreciate your time and hopefully this helps you in your TPMS troubleshooting. On a side note, if you're counting my characters (Ha!), I'm at 4837/5000.
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2 ноя 2020
