Best way to hide TPMS warning light?

What's the best way to cover up the TPMS warning light on the dash? A bit of electrical tape would work but it seems likely to gunk up the surface. As I understand it there is no way to permanently disable the circuit with TechStream.

That light is now lit because apparently one of the sensor batteries died. It is a 2007, and if all the sensors are original they were living on borrowed time. The dealer wanted my left nut just for a diagnostic, and the tire shop we usually use asks $123 to fix one and $87 more for any others. The thing is, I have this magic tool called a "pressure gauge" which is employed periodically, and I also am in the habit of walking around the cars to check the tires by eye, so I'm not at all worried about a slow leak. I suppose the TPMS might provide a few extra seconds warning if we ran over a nail on the highway, but other than that, it doesn't have much value. Certainly not the ~$400 it would cost to change the sensors on all 4 tires, because if I just do the one, another may very well go next month.

 

Yeah, I saw those on RockAuto. I don't know yet if any of the software I have can talk to the TPMS. In the meantime I called a couple of other shops and they were all very close to $120 to replace one sensor (they supply the sensor and program.) Kind of ridiculous that this sensor costs roughly as much to replace as a tire. One might have thought they could design a sensor that screws onto a shorter stem, with the weight landing on the rim. Basically just an electronic pressure gauge that can stay on the car. Then changing it would be roughly as difficult as changing the cap.

Duh, of course they have:

 

The cap ones are interesting but I do wonder about the forces. The sensors can't weigh much, but once the tire is rotating at 700 RPM (about right for highway speed) that will apply some force to the valve stem and the tire as a whole. Perhaps the latter isn't enough to unbalance the tire significantly, but I suspect that stems in general, and those on the internal TPMS systems in particular, are not designed for any type of load at all (caps weigh nothing.) Also, if one uses the little lock nuts that come with these then adjusting tire pressure becomes a minor PITA. At least it is trivial and cheap to change the batteries on them, as they use CR1632 batteries and the two halves unscrew. Also the displays on these cheap units show much more information than do any of the car TPMS systems I have seen.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the little cap units were compatible with the Prius's system?
It seems wildly unlikely though.

 

The TPMS started working again. Coincidence, miracle? Don't think so, see details here:

No air out of defrost vents at windshield | PriusChat

 

Sounds like a new and creative way to throw money down the drain.

Not by me. I was never motivated to fix this problem because for all practical purposes nothing was broken - the tire pressure is checked periodically in any case, TPMS or no TPMS. It would have been nice if the Prius's MFD was able to display the tire pressures, eliminating the (oh so slight) burden of having to carry a tire pressure gauge. I would have missed that convenience and might have spent some time trying to figure out the issue.