What's with this damn light?!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Hybrid Hobo, Jan 16, 2026 at 8:53 PM.

  1. Hybrid Hobo

    Hybrid Hobo Member

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    I've never experienced dashboard light issues in my Prius before 3 weeks ago. I had to drive through a severely icy parking lot that was riddled with mini icebergs on the ground. Even though I was driving turtle speed, the car was rocking & bopping a lot.

    When I pulled out the orange tire pressure light - exclamation point with squiggly line underneath & brackets - was blinking for a good 5 minutes, then became solid for about an hour before finally going off.

    This has happened 2 or 3 times since in the past few weeks.

    I even inflated my tires to the suggested 35/33 PSI about 10 days ago (while the light was on) and it made no difference.

    It came on again today randomly and did the same blinking routine before turning solid.

    Any guesses on what's going on?
     
    #1 Hybrid Hobo, Jan 16, 2026 at 8:53 PM
  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Batteries are dying in one of your tire pressure monitoring sensors... It's what shops will rip you off for hundreds to replace even just one, but you can buy one online for $20 and get some tire irons and swap it yourself and you're done.
     
    #2 PriusCamper, Jan 16, 2026 at 9:04 PM
  3. fragglestickcar

    fragglestickcar Member

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    It's not *that* easy. It's straightforward to debead the tire with the car's scissor jack, but getting the bead back on can be tricky with just household tools. Plus, you'll need to program the ECU to pick up the new sensor id (write the id down before you stick it in the tire!).
     
    #3 fragglestickcar, Jan 16, 2026 at 11:50 PM
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Just leave it alone till reasonable weather . No critical . Fill those tyres ho 40 psi
     
    #4 Tombukt2, Jan 17, 2026 at 7:39 AM
    priumium likes this.
  5. priumium

    priumium Member

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    Getting the bead back on is not complex, just soap or lube the bead and pump the tire with a compressor.

    Adding the new ID requires Techstream - or other ”capable” scan tools - that payed Toyota to be able to communicate with the TPMS ECU.

    My tip; buy cloneable ID TPMs sensors, such as thinkcar S3.
     

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    #5 priumium, Jan 17, 2026 at 9:25 AM
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2026 at 9:40 AM
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