No Tire pressure readout?

Somebody want to dm Erica on this?

 

I make it a habit to check the pressure in my tires at a minimum of once a month, preferably every couple of weeks. But I did get the warning light on my '06 after picking up a very tiny piece of metal, which caused a slow leak. There wasn't enough difference in the appearance of the tires to tell me which one was low, so I had to check them with a guage. It would certainly have been handy if the on board system had told me which tire was low.

 

The only problem with the way Toyota displays the Tire pressure information is that the tires are not labeled. After I sold my Prius early this month I had to rent a car. The first car I rented was upgraded to a Camaro SS Convertible. The way GM displays the tire pressure is very intuitive, the tires show up as they are installed in the car. The top two tires represent the front tires and the bottom two represent the rear tires. The pressure is displayed on the outer side of the corresponding tire. However, I am currently driving a TRAC (Toyota-Rent-A-Car) Camry with Display Audio. The way Toyota displays the tire pressure makes absolutely no sense. It displays four tires on the screen one after the order, like a police line up. They are not labeled, nor do they follow a logical order. It wasn't until I adjusted the tire pressure that I was able to figure out what tire on the display corresponded with a tire on the car. It displays the tire pressure as follows (starting from left to right)

1) Right Rear
2) Right Front
3) Left Rear
4) Left Front

That means that the tires on the right display pressure readings for the tires on the left side of the car and the ones on the left display the right tire pressures.

 

There are are two types of Direct TPMS: high-line and low-line. It sounds like the Camaro SS Convertible has high-line has a TPMS receiver per wheel, so it can differentiate which wheel is which. The Camry sounds like it has low-line has a single receiver, so it cannot differentiate which psi reading goes with which tire, so it would simply display them in an arbitrary order.

I check my tire pressure regularly, so I don't consider TPMS particularly useful. In fact, it seems like an additional hassle/cost when changing tires or having to replace dead batteries, but unfortunately they are now mandated. Also, I'm not particularly impressed with TPMS, since I found a tire with low pressure during one of my checks, but TPMS did not light up.

 

Every TPMS sensor has an unique ID label on it.



EDIT: Toyota TPMS does keep track of the wheel position, but it has to be done manually using a scan tool. If any of the system components are subsequently changed e.g. in the event of rotating the tires, changing sensors, replacing the ECU etc. the ID numbers along with the wheel position have to be registered again with the TPMS ECU using a scan tool.

I believe after you rotate the tires, the order will change too.

Vincent

 

Agree with the post above. Was reading all the manuals. Need to type faster?

"If the TPMS sensor ID's have not been registered with the system there is nothing to display. Wheel position (type B ) or number (type A) has to be assigned manually using the scan tool. This has to be redone when the tires are rotated (re Lexus 450h). Using the number system eliminates this step. You should get a card showing in which wheel position sensor's 1-5 are currently in. It should be a standard feature on all 2012 Prius models except the C. If the 2012 Solar HB is still on the local lot tomorrow I'll check to see if it has the Tire Pressure display option."

 

Now I am very confused. The preceding posts indicate that Toyota does have a tire pressure display (albeit a bit confusing about which tire is which). But PlugIn users (including myself) say they cannot find any tire pressure display Are perhaps our TPMS sensors not registered with the system, and thus there is nothing to display, and we need to schedule a service to get our dealer to do this?

 

The TPMS sensors must have been registered, otherwise the warning light would have lighted up. I have no idea why the screen is not showing. Perhaps it only shows when the warning light is on? Anyone tried to release the tire pressure to test the warning light?

Vincent

 

My wife's 2008 base model came with aftermarket alloy wheels (??!!?Why?) and a
permanently on low tire pressure display. We recently replaced the tires, and the
Goodyear dealer reset the sensors with a TPMS device. We then re-initialized the
system, and the tire pressure warning light went out. So far, so good.
I just took delivery of a 2012 Prius V with the level 5 option set. The manual shows
the "Car" button on the left, but mine is on the right, and there is no square shown
on the screen for tire pressure. I'll check with the Goodyear dealer again and see
if that helps. But I suspect not.

 

no prius has ever had pressure readout, or even low tire identification.

 

From page 193 of the 2012 OM33A02U.pdf document. Mine doesn't have this, but apparently some do.

Edit to add: After closer scrutiny, it appears that these systems are not just for the Prius since the section on fuel consumption has one section for hybrid systems and one for gasoline systems.

 

Is that mean all the hardware and software necessary for displaying individual tire pressures on screen existed in 2012 Prius, but Toyota somehow omitted this capability to be active? I wonder why???

 

I don't know, but I wonder about it, too.

 

There was a thread in which a few people swapped Pruis's OEM head unit with aftermarket one, and real-time individual tire pressure information fed from the vehicle TPMS was magically displayed on it without any special wiring or software set-ups. This too seems to indicate all the necessary software are already there, to begin with. I was wondering how hard it is to display them on the existing OEM head unit, but it seems hardware support was also there already at least for some Prius.

 

I've never owned a vehicle that DID show me individual tire pressures.
My Gen 3 Prius, only had the TPMS light, which basically just warns you to check tires.

While I think it would be nice, if the sensors are accurate enough, to be able to push a button and see all 4 tires PSI, is this really a big deal?
I have a tire gauge, and a portable tire inflation device. I check my tires at least once a month.
If the TPMS light come on?
I pull over and check all 4 tires.
Conceivably a system that read out PSI on all 4 tires could save me from checking 3 of the other tires, but I'm really not that keen on being that efficient. I can check 4 tires, about as easily as I can one.

And finally, if you really want this ability, I think Amazon sells several aftermarket Tire PSI monitoring systems for less than $80, that are basically plug and play.

 

if a scan gauge can read it, that must mean it's all there. but a lot of good it does us, without modifications

 

i don't think they do jerry, at least not that i recall reading. owners manuals are filled with 'may not apply'. information

 

Tire pressures can be read from each tire with Toyota Techstream software.