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How to turn off tire air pressure light permanently

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by lunarkingdom, Feb 21, 2024.

  1. lunarkingdom

    lunarkingdom Junior Member

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    In another thread a while ago we were discussing options on replacing the wheel sensors and I chimed in that when I got new tires I had them remove them and install new generic rubber valve stems for free. The argument at the time was that then the light will stay on was a negative. I just had my speedometer die from the capacitors failing so I have to take apart the dash board and I thought what a perfect time to "delete" the unwanted error light. I was able to access the surface mount LED so I covered it with a drop of black RTV and problem solved. It will not break whatever circuit is there, from the cars perspective it is still turning the light on but from my perspective there is no longer any light on my dash for this alarm. Pictures below.

    IMG_8307.jpg IMG_8306.jpg IMG_8305.jpg
     
    #1 lunarkingdom, Feb 21, 2024
    BrokenPipe and PriusCamper like this.
  2. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    So a small square of black electrical tape wasn't effective enough?

    Quick, cheap, and most easily reversible when needed for resale or regulatory reasons.
     
    #2 fuzzy1, Feb 21, 2024
  3. lunarkingdom

    lunarkingdom Junior Member

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    I honestly could not find my electrical tape to put over the top of the stencil so I dug deeper and decided I could just cover the surface mount LED with black RTV and it would be 100% undetectable. If I ever resell it I am just going to tell them that that light never worked lol
     
    #3 lunarkingdom, Feb 21, 2024
    bisco likes this.
  4. BrokenPipe

    BrokenPipe Junior Member

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    What if the tape falls off though? This looks more permanent.
     
    #4 BrokenPipe, Feb 22, 2024
  5. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    It means someone grabbed some seriously old electrical tape.

    For folks not already disassembling the panel, you can replace the tape dozens of times for less labor than this permanent method. And there are many situations were permanent can be problematic, such as states with periodic inspections, and owners intending to sell later.
     
    #5 fuzzy1, Feb 22, 2024
  6. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    Tape for the outside of the display is fine. I wouldn't have used tape directly on that board either. Electrical tape wrapped around itself is pretty permanent, but a little square of it stuck to a circuit board much less so. Especially since it probably gets quite hot in there when the car is parked in the sun, and the adhesive could soften enough for the tape to slide/fall off.

    I do agree that there may be some state where disabling the TPMS light would cause it to fail inspection, but I am not aware that there actually is such a state.
     
    #6 pasadena_commut, Feb 23, 2024
    BrokenPipe likes this.
  7. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    #7 fuzzy1, Feb 23, 2024
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Scattered thoughts:

    The main object of disabling the light then, is to skirt regs, in a few US States.

    For esthetics, I think there's constantly a few lights on, for this and that.

    I've heard someone here say, as an Uber driver, if he had TPMS light on he'd be getting negative reviews?

    What do they call it, "first world problems"?
     
    #8 Mendel Leisk, Feb 23, 2024
    Rph74 likes this.
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