Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems - Help?

[bakerhillpins]

Bought a new car (2010 Toyota Corolla S) since the old commuter car rusted away underneath me last year. Its now time to get snow tires for the thing and it has a TMPS where the sensor is in the wheel.  Typically I just get a set of steel rims and put snows on them to keep from having to go to a dealer every year and wait/pay to get them pressed on and off. Not to mention it keeps the alloy wheels from rotting. Simple/quick/cheap. Plus I get a quick brake inspection and tire rotation in when the tires get changed.  

Well now with these F#@$ing sensors it seems it is no longer Simple/quick/cheap.  

Anyone out there with experience with Toyota's TPMS (or equivalent) answer a few questions for me?

1) I can get a set of rims with new sensors on them - Do I need to go to a dealer every time I change wheels (spring/fall seasons) to get the retarded car software to recognize the tires? Or do I only need to go once to program the 2nd set of wheels and then I am good?

2) Should I just order the $125 programmer or is this only going to work for this car? Or only solve half the problem (only talk to the sensors and not the Engine Computer)?

3) Any chance I can order a second set of senors with the same ID's as the ones on my car now?

4) I suspect the computer knows which corner the wheel is on so this makes rotating an issue and that the worst that will happen is that the wrong tire will be reported if I just ignore the reprogram after rotation?

5) If I just bail on the sensors all together and live with a warning light for 6 months of the year what systems does the ECU shutdown as a result? Traction control? ABS?

[Ponch ®]

Bought a new car (2010 Toyota Corolla S) since the old commuter car rusted away underneath me last year. Its now time to get snow tires for the thing and it has a TMPS where the sensor is in the wheel.  Typically I just get a set of steel rims and put snows on them to keep from having to go to a dealer every year and wait/pay to get them pressed on and off. Not to mention it keeps the alloy wheels from rotting. Simple/quick/cheap. Plus I get a quick brake inspection and tire rotation in when the tires get changed.  

Well now with these F#@$ing sensors it seems it is no longer Simple/quick/cheap.  

Anyone out there with experience with Toyota's TPMS (or equivalent) answer a few questions for me?

1) I can get a set of rims with new sensors on them - Do I need to go to a dealer every time I change wheels (spring/fall seasons) to get the retarded car software to recognize the tires? Or do I only need to go once to program the 2nd set of wheels and then I am good?

2) Should I just order the $125 programmer or is this only going to work for this car? Or only solve half the problem (only talk to the sensors and not the Engine Computer)?

3) Any chance I can order a second set of senors with the same ID's as the ones on my car now?

4) I suspect the computer knows which corner the wheel is on so this makes rotating an issue and that the worst that will happen is that the wrong tire will be reported if I just ignore the reprogram after rotation?

When I had my wheels put on my 08 Charger, I forgot to take the TPMS sensors off the stock wheels. Basically I've been living with the "low tire pressure" icon (the one that looks like this: (!) ) for 3 years. It doesn't even bother me.

I don't know about Toyotas, but as far as I know you should be able to remove the TPMS sensors and put them on whatever wheels you're going to be using. Just a simple swap.

[bakerhillpins]

Don't want to move them to a second set of wheels, I want to have a second set of winter wheels.

- A summer set (alloy with summer tires) and a winter set (steel with snow tires).

If I can just ignore the light for half the year without it shutting down TCS or ABS I will probably go with that but IIRC the minivan shuts those systems down with low pressure on one of the wheels. (The minivan has an external to the wheel TPMS so its a different setup.)

[Landonsrt]

I'm not quite sure how Toyota sets up their tpm sensors. Some are just valve stems that you can switch out. Some are actually made into the factory wheels. Some fords and mazdas are this way. I work for dodge as an advisor and all sensors are valve stems. You can ride without them but the light will be forever flashing in your face.

Think about it this way.  Do you really want to pay $65.00+ for sensors and mount and balance plus programing??
I'd just have them switched to the new wheels if possible.

I had a customer come in today with a new nitro and tried to blame his tire light on us. Did not have factory wheels. I took one look, saw the rubber valve stems and asked him when he had his wheels put on. "last week at pep boys.". I told him to take it back and have them switch the sensors out. They should have known better than that.

[Landonsrt]

If you switch out the wheels, The computer will have to relearn the sensors. Aka, dealer only.

If I were you, just swap the wheels yourself. If both sets have sensors. Then take it to the dealer and tell them the light is on. Maybe they won't notice the difference. I don't charge customers to reset the light. Especially under warranty.

I have not come across any repercussions of not running sensors besides the light. It should not affect the abs or traction system.

[bakerhillpins]

Toyota uses the valve stem sensors.

I must be doing a terrible job of explaining myself.    I am not looking to replace my factory wheels/rims and therefore I will not be transferring the existing sensors from the factory alloys to the steel rims. I am getting a second set of wheels that will have my snow tires permanently mounted. So its a question of getting a second set of sensors and the hassle/expense involved.

For those of you who don't live in a region with 4 seasons. Many of us up north get 2 sets of wheels and tires (A summer set and a winter set) so that we don't have to wait in long lines and pay $20+ a corner to have guys press off, on, and balance tires 2 times a year. All we have to do is jack up the car and pull a bunch of lug nuts.

[moparjohn]

Note to self, NEVER buy a car with TPMS.

[goosesgarage]

On a chevy impala they are in the valve stem you just have to buy a set from the dealer and put them in the rims you have and the computer just reads them without any programing. When they mess up all the computer said is low air pressure in the message center so i too think you can get away without them. Try going to your dealer and getting a set for it.

[Ponch ®]

Note to self, NEVER buy a car with TPMS.

thats gonna be a problem if youre looking at a new car...all 08 and up cars have to have them by law.

[moparjohn]

Where will it end, ? GOSH, now we can't be trusted to check the air in our tires!  I still think a low fuel light buzzer is stupid, MY God- the guage is right there!! Sorry, end of rant, you have a hard time finding a new vehicle with a V8, but every vehicle has features mandated that you don't need/want.

[Ghoste]

Trust them, they are from the government and they are here to help.  Just think of all the tax dollars they are going to spend on propaganda telling you much fuel they saved the nation by ensuring that tires are properly inflated.

[Ponch ®]

Where will it end, ? GOSH, now we can't be trusted to check the air in our tires!  I still think a low fuel light buzzer is stupid, MY God- the guage is right there!! Sorry, end of rant, you have a hard time finding a new vehicle with a V8, but every vehicle has features mandated that you don't need/want.

I can see where you're coming from with that and I agree. BUT, it is a safety issue. Remember that most people aren't car guys like us that diligently make sure the tire pressure is good and all the fluids are topped off. My mom, for example, won't notice or care that her tires are low unless the car is practically riding on the rim already. On the other hand, as soon as the light comes on she's starts freaking out and calls me to go look at her car and make sure the tires are good. So if that lights keeps her from getting on the freeway with a tire that could blow out or fall apart on her and possibly have a bad outcome, I'm glad it's there. Whether or not it should be government mandated, that's a different topic altogether...

[Landonsrt]

Well we can all thank ford and firestone for that one. That gave the government an excuse to come up with something else to keep us safe??

[bakerhillpins]

Thought I would post a follow up to this just as an FIY.

So the big concern for me was the loss of the sensors causing the on-board computer to shutt down some other useful functions on the car like ABS/TCS/etc. Well ok, the cost was also a concern and then issues with reprogramming ever 6 months and so on.

So as a simple test I figured I would either throw on the spare for a day or lower the pressure in one of the rear tires and take a short trip to see what happens. As it turns out road debris helped me solve both of those problems before I got to it. Plus I got to spend $20 to get the plug put in.  Computer didn't care other than the warning light as others suggested. So I ordered up a set of snows on steelies without the sensors and put them on the car. For the first 40mi the sensor light didn't even come on and I figured that would be cool. But it eventually came back on. Now it just flashes the light for about 30 seconds every time I start the car and then its solid for the remainder of the trip. Since it doesn't effect any other systems I can deal with it over the winter months. And I was able to get the TCS system to enable on the snows so I know its on.

[BrianShaughnessy]

Some folks have made so called pipe bombs for the sensors.   I googled and came up with this from some fing yoda board http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/tundra/142895-tpms-diy-bypass-completed-tested-pics-3/http:

[charger490]

so now put a peice of black tape over the light on the dash

[bakerhillpins]

Ill use the tape trick if it starts driving me nuts. But for right now I am just ignoring it.

I'd hate to try to work my way through the border with the pipe bomb solution stuffed up under my vehicle. That might generate a cavity search that isn't so user friendly. 

[69bronzeT5]

I work at a Dodge dealership and we have had some issues with the TPMS' on some of the cars. Yesterday we had a 2010 Grand Cherokee that had the warning light on. I went over the thing with the Nitrogen machine and topped up all the tires to factory suggested specs (I believe it was 36psi) but for some reason, the TPMS system said on the dash that all the tires were 36psi but the front right was 41psi. We checked it a few times, took it out for a drive, checked it again and the Nitrogen system in the detail shop and the actual mechanic's shop both say all tires were at 36psi

[bakerhillpins]

Did you try dropping the front tire by 5 pounds and seeing if the system told you it was at 36? I'm betting that the sensor is plain old bad and just needs replaced.