2005 Highlander TPMS question...........

[dkryan]

Exactly what does the TPMS on this vehicle consist of?

I ask because I cannot get the warning light to stay re-set and the tire dealer said there were no sensors on those tires/wheels.

I have 77k miles on the SUV and a set of Bridgestone Dueler Alenzas on all four corners. I've had no issues with that light previously, other than the time it came on a few years ago and warned me of a low tire pressure (it does not indicate WHICH tire, though). The light was appropriate, as I found the RR tire at 26 psi due to a piece of metal in the tread.

This time around, the skins were all at 32 psi. I cranked down the spare and found that merely touching the valve stem released air. Since it was the OEM spare, I had a new valve stem installed and the tire checked. End of problem, so I thought. The owner's manual is silent as to the TPMS.

The tire store could not get the light to re-set via their scan tool, so they suggested I take it to the dealer.

Oh, boy..................

 

[bdcardinal]

I believe that is an indirect system on that vehicle. There are no sensors on the wheels, instead they use the ABS system to guess tire pressure based on rotation compared to the other tires.

http://www.brakeandfrontend.com/Article/...s_the_road.aspx

Towards the bottom of the link is the reset procedure.

 

[The Critic]

There's probably a fault in one of the sensors.

Toyota Techstream is probably the easiest way to diagnose the issue. You can get the Mongoose MFC cable which will allow you to link the vehicle and the software (installed onto a computer). There's a knockoff version of the cable called "Mangoose" for $60 that is also supposed to work. I ordered one for myself and it should arrive this week; once it arrives, I'll see if it views TPMS info and if so, I'll let you know and you can go buy one for yourself and do the troubleshooting.

 

[dkryan]

Thanks!