A true 'Idiot Light'

[pbm]

I installed my new snow tire/wheel package on my Corolla right before the big storm Saturday. About half way to the Christmas party I was driving to, the low tire pressure warning light came on. I pulled over and found that all seemed fine, so I continued on my way. When I got home later, I checked and all 4 tires were at 30 Lbs. I added about 4lbs. to each tire and the light still stayed on. After much searching, I found this in my OM under 'Replacing Wheels'.

" As you might have difficulty in identifying a flat or deflated tire, a tire pressure warning system is provided on this vehicle.
When replacing the wheels, be sure to install tire pressure warning valves and transmitters on the wheels. Consult your Toyota dealer about how to set up the tire pressure warning valves and transmitters."

I stopped at the dealer today and was quoted $108 APIECE for the valve/transmitter. That's $432 TOTAL.

My Buick has a similar system but it can be reset with the push of a button.

It amazes me that such a simple problem has such a complicated (and expensive) solution. I've purchased the little valve caps that indicate low pressure for about $12 for 4 and yet the Toyota system cost over $400. Needless to say I'll put up with the warning light until tire changeover in the spring.

It seems that some engineers have 'solutions' which are searching for a 'problem'. If you don't know how to check your tire pressure occasionally, then you shouldn't be driving IMO.

 

[Colt45ws]

Its more than engineers. The TPMS system is Federally mandated. You need to look no further than the critters in Washington. It sounds like your issue is you have a separate tire/wheel package and in order to fix it you need a second set of sensors.

 

[hate2work]

I have heard of some people who remove the sensors, and put them in a plastic pipe with a valve attached. Then they fill the pipe with pressure and keep in in the trunk, which keeps the annoying TPWS light off.

 

[mpvue]

pbm,
unless I'm not reading you right, did you think the car was able to tell you if your NEW wheels were low on air? it didn't occur to you that there had to be a transmitter in the new wheels?

 

[Eddie]

My Mazda manual states that the system will reset itself in ~ 20? miles of driving. If the rims did not have sensors in them, you have no low warning system. TireRack usually advises new rim purchaser of this and recommends a fix. What happened to the transmitters in the old rim or did you screw yourself and get ride of them?

 

[pbm]

Originally Posted By: mpvue
pbm,
unless I'm not reading you right, did you think the car was able to tell you if your NEW wheels were low on air? it didn't occur to you that there had to be a transmitter in the new wheels?


I wasn't even aware that the car had this feature since I've only had it for about 8 months. I never thought about it when I bought the tire/wheel package. Maybe it is the clowns in Washington that 'mandate' such things (that seem unnecessary to me). It's no wonder new cars have become so expensive with mandated features like these.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't need my car "to tell me that my new WHEELS are low on air". That's what a 2 dollar tire gauge is for. In other words our elected officials think we are all IDIOTS and that we need them to protect us.

 

[pbm]

Originally Posted By: Eddie
My Mazda manual states that the system will reset itself in ~ 20? miles of driving. If the rims did not have sensors in them, you have no low warning system. TireRack usually advises new rim purchaser of this and recommends a fix. What happened to the transmitters in the old rim or did you screw yourself and get ride of them?


My original rims are in the garage attached to my OE all season tires. I'll put them back on in April.

 

[mpvue]

Originally Posted By: pbm
Originally Posted By: mpvue
pbm,
unless I'm not reading you right, did you think the car was able to tell you if your NEW wheels were low on air? it didn't occur to you that there had to be a transmitter in the new wheels?


I wasn't even aware that the car had this feature since I've only had it for about 8 months. I never thought about it when I bought the tire/wheel package. Maybe it is the clowns in Washington that 'mandate' such things (that seem unnecessary to me). It's no wonder new cars have become so expensive with mandated features like these.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't need my car "to tell me that my new WHEELS are low on air". That's what a 2 dollar tire gauge is for. In other words our elected officials think we are all IDIOTS and that we need them to protect us.


considering how many people don't even know how to even drive properly, almost no one checks the air pressure, so the govt is spot on in assuming we are idiots.
TPMS is pretty simple technology. eventually the price will come down and years from now we'll wonder how we ever got along w/o it. (years ago when fuel injection was coming on, all the sttuborn ones were going 'I don't need that, just give me a carb, don't need no computers, etc)
TPMS also tells you there is a problem BEFORE you become aware of it (slow leak on the hwy, etc) that all the checking manually wouldn't tell you.
I have it in my mazda5; I just consider it a passive warning system, working in the background to supplement my own PM regimen.

 

[SaturnIonVue]

Originally Posted By: pbm
Originally Posted By: mpvue
pbm,
unless I'm not reading you right, did you think the car was able to tell you if your NEW wheels were low on air? it didn't occur to you that there had to be a transmitter in the new wheels?


I wasn't even aware that the car had this feature since I've only had it for about 8 months. I never thought about it when I bought the tire/wheel package. Maybe it is the clowns in Washington that 'mandate' such things (that seem unnecessary to me). It's no wonder new cars have become so expensive with mandated features like these.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't need my car "to tell me that my new WHEELS are low on air". That's what a 2 dollar tire gauge is for. In other words our elected officials think we are all IDIOTS and that we need them to protect us.

Maybe a mandate to read the owner's manual would have prevented this confusion.

 

[kkreit01]

I agree that TPMS is a pain, and major cost when replacing wheels. (we can thank Ford & Firestone!). However, both times my light has went on throughout the past 5 years: I had a nail, and tire was 10 lbs low.

 

[fsskier]

Agreed, TPMS is an annoying unreliable and expensive to repair addition to my new Sienna.
$150 for repairs in the first 15,000 miles of driving, and a day of downtime getting it fixed.

Hopefully they will get better.

 

[Drew2000]

Originally Posted By: kkreit01
I agree that TPMS is a pain, and major cost when replacing wheels. (we can thank Ford & Firestone!). ...


No....you can thank incompetent moron drivers who never bother checking the tire pressure on their vehicles, load them up to max GVWR for vacataion, drive at 80mph in hot weather with 15psi in the tires, then when a blow-out does occur, slam on the brakes rolling the vehicle instead of gradually slowing down while drifting to the shoulder.

 

[CivicFan]

Quote:
Maybe a mandate to read the owner's manual would have prevented this confusion.

4 sensors for my A6 run $380. Needless to say, my winter wheels don't have them. I can handle the orange light for a few months until the summer wheels are put back on.

 

[Rand]

mine were 75$/each.. I paid 470$ shipped for winter tires AND rims... wasnt paying another 300$ for sensors..
I just have a tiny light in corner that lights up the letters TPMS on a black background... very easy to ignore

another gripe is there is about 15 kinds of sensors.. this needs standardized and cheapened so it costs no more than 20$ each.

They also need to mandate a warranty on them like the extended emissions warranty etc.

 

[fsskier]

"They also need to mandate a warranty on them like the extended emissions warranty etc."

I could not agree more, or making the manufacturer abide by the existing warranty!! When mine became very intermittent after 15 K miles, I took it to the dealer for warranty service, they disassembled the tire, said the TPMS sensor was cracked, and that it was my fault, not covered by warranty. Their were no bruises on the tire, no dents on the rim or wheel cover, and no evidence that the car had struck any thing at any time ever!!! As almost the sole driver.....

The only thing that I could imagine ever cracking it was the tire removal process to fix it!!! I argued my case but to no avail, then paid $150 to have the problem fixed and get out of the shop. This is the only repair ever on my new Sienna - certainly a reliable enough vehicle but.....

Anybody else had this experience?? If it happens to another sensor I WILL NOT have it fixed. My safety would definitely be improved by spending the extra money on buying good tires, etc. In 50 years of driving I have never yet damaged a tire by running low on air or jumping curbs, etc so....

 

[38sho]

Originally Posted By: hate2work

I have heard of some people who remove the sensors, and put them in a plastic pipe with a valve attached. Then they fill the pipe with pressure and keep in in the trunk, which keeps the annoying TPWS light off.


[censored] that sounds like work, I would just pull the [censored] light on the dash so you couldn't see it on anymore. It won't have any bad effects on anything else.

gotta love good ole Toyota, they are [censored] bent on having sensors in the wheel, which are a bad way of doing a TPMS system IMHO for the price and maintenance aspect of it. Most other car companies are switching over to an indirect system, where they use already installed components to measure wheel speed. It is just like your ABS system, but when the computer sees one spinning more then the other one, then you know the overall diameter of the tire has shruken(smaller tire=more revolutions, smaller tire=less air pressure) it then sets off the light.

in theory I like the actual sensors on the wheel because it can give you a true reading of what it really is, not a comparison between the other wheels.... what happens if all 4 are equally low on an indirect system? I don't know if there is a standard or if it just sets the light off when one is different then the others. Also some cars have the TPMS sensor on the spare tire, which can alert you when its low on air pressure. But you have more installation costs for tires for these kinds of sensors. They go bad, they have batteries, and can get broken when installing tires. The only installation method of direct sensors I like is some of the Fords have the sensor clamped down in the middle of the wheel, it is not part of the valve stem...

also the indirect systems have an advantage if you want to run different wheels..... not that you couldn't install your old sensors in new wheels though. They even make aftermarket direct TPMS systems you can install in your wheel.

I also like the conveinence of the indirect system when it comes to valve stems. What happens if you devolp a leak somewhere, and there is only one place that can service your tire around, and they just happen to be out of parts to fix your sensor.... if you had regular valvestems any old place could fix you up in a couple of minutes.....

 

[mcrn]

Originally Posted By: Drew2000
Originally Posted By: kkreit01
I agree that TPMS is a pain, and major cost when replacing wheels. (we can thank Ford & Firestone!). ...


No....you can thank incompetent moron drivers who never bother checking the tire pressure on their vehicles, load them up to max GVWR for vacataion, drive at 80mph in hot weather with 15psi in the tires, then when a blow-out does occur, slam on the brakes rolling the vehicle instead of gradually slowing down while drifting to the shoulder.



Maybe it shouldn't be but that was funny!

 

[wantin150]

I know the Government is mandating a TPMS system but I don't recall if they are going to mandate a direct system by 201X or not. I like the system but agree with others on the cost. If it is Federally mandated, it shouldn't cost an arm and a leg to fix/replace.

 

[unDummy]

Everything else federally mandated cost an arm and leg. Why should TPMS be any different?

All suffer when society caters to the few incompetent who can't check their tires or pressure on a regularly basis.

 

[George Bynum]

In looking around on supporting devices for TPMS, I found one thread (forgot where) that a tire shop bought a "universal" (does that really exist?) and ALWAYS checks the TPMS before doing any work. They said the scanner paid for itself the first week they had it when people said theirs worked fine before the work was done and they had the printout showing 1 or 2 were bad to start with. After that 1st week, the scanning was done before the customer left; they said that wasn't true.

None of my cars have one ... so I don't know what failure modes exist.