1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

A Modest Proposal To Solve The TPMS Problem

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Voltan, Jul 14, 2010.

  1. bagwell

    bagwell Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2005
    592
    49
    0
    Location:
    the woodlands, tx
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    so has anyone tried just having the sensors in the car and reset them????
     
  2. RobH

    RobH Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2006
    2,369
    978
    70
    Location:
    Sunnyvale, California
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    The sensors just send the current absolute pressure and temperature. The ECU compares the pressure value to an alarm value, and turns on the light if the value is too low (or if the sensor is missing). Pressing the reset button tells the ECU to set the alarm value to about 8 pounds less than the current value (subject to that minimum).

    I added a sensor to my spare and reprogrammed the ECU for 5 sensors. While fiddling with it all, my TPMS light was ON until I did a reset with full pressure in the spare.
     
  3. Skoorbmax

    Skoorbmax Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2010
    2,641
    264
    0
    Location:
    Western NY
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I know I've seen online a writeup about putting these in a PVC tube.
     
  4. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2006
    18,058
    3,073
    7
    Location:
    Northern Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    And pressurizing it.

    Tom
     
  5. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2010
    4,539
    1,433
    9
    Location:
    Northern California
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    A PVC pipe turns into shrapnel if broken under pressure. probably not such a big deal at a lowly 30-35psi, but a couple of wraps of duct tape around it to restrain potentially flying bits would be a good idea.

    People have been seriously injured by PVC pipe used to route compressed air around a shop.
     
  6. Judgeless

    Judgeless Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2009
    1,821
    255
    0
    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    This is the 5th thread that this topic has come up. Here are the pics again.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Both work. You need to put the sensors in a pressurized chamber. In both pics they have one nozzle exposed incase the pressure drops.
     
  7. Judgeless

    Judgeless Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2009
    1,821
    255
    0
    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    The PVC you buy at Home Depot or Lowes is rated for 280PSI. I am sure that number is very conservative. If you put 30-50PSI in the tube you have nothing to worry about.

    Here is a pic if a PVC air gun I built. It uses 4†and I pressurize it to 150PSI.

    [​IMG]