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

I had a leaking tire replaced, TPMS light is on, suspect screw up

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Overworked9000, Jul 21, 2016.

  1. Overworked9000

    Overworked9000 Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 4, 2015
    47
    21
    0
    Location:
    US and A
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    Hi everyone, I had a leaking tire replaced and my TPMS light was on. I proceeded to go ahead and reset the TPMS system after checking the pressures. The light blinked slowly 3 times, but then blinked fast for quite some time before turning solid again.

    After pressing rest button with 3 slow blinks, what does it mean for the TPMS light to blink rapidly for a minute or so before turning solid?

    I highly suspect that the guy changing my tire either damaged or did not reinstall my TPMS sensor. Im kicking myself for letting them touch my car since they are so shady.
     
  2. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2009
    17,118
    10,045
    90
    Location:
    Western Washington
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I believe that blinking means a tire is low, solid (usually after some initial blinking) means that a sensor is not reading at all.

    I get the solid lights at least once a year, after changing seasonal tire sets (on two vehicles) but forgetting to reprogram the sensor IDs.
     
  3. RobertK

    RobertK Member

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2007
    128
    40
    0
    Location:
    Norfolk, VA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    The owner's manual describes the sequence you are seeing from the TPMS light as a problem with the TPMS system.

    Are you still using the original TPMS sensors? Sensors on a 2006 are at least 10-11 years old now. One or more of the batteries has probably reached the end of its service life. Since the batteries are not designed to be user serviceable, the fix is to replace the sensor(s). I've noticed that people seem to be reporting failures when the sensors are 8-10 years old. It is possible that the sensor was damaged during the tire replacement, but any one of the four sensors could be causing your problem.

    Most tire shops have equipment that can test the sensors without removing anything from the car. You can also use Techstream to see what data are being reported by the TPMS system.
     
  4. andrewclaus

    andrewclaus Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2009
    993
    324
    0
    Location:
    Golden, CO
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Yep, at ten years old it sounds like it's time for them to fail. The shop might have damaged one, but at this point it's not worth getting upset about. And never underestimate the power of coincidence. You need new sensors plus programming, a piece of black tape over the light, or a MiniVCI to ignore the bad sensor(s).
     
  5. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,314
    3,588
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    ...as above you know there are special button batteries in the TPMS that make it work...somewhere 9-10 years is when they go bad. For me coming up on 10-yrs, so far one TPMS is dead on mine. I am living with the TPMS light on right now.