Prius TPMS and 2nd set of wheels/tires impacts?

Just to clarify: with the original rims, with their tpms, you're going to remove the original tires and mount winter tires. So far, barring the tire installer damaging the tmps somehow, I think you've got no problems. The tpms will continue to work, just like before the tire swap.

With the new aftermarket rims and tires (17"?), you're getting extra tpms. With these you will need to "introduce" them to the car. It'll require at least one component purchase ($100~200), or a trip to the dealership and some $'s. And every time you swap between the two sets, for the tpms to work properly, a similar introduction process is needed. If you get the serial numbers of the extra tpms it will be somewhat less complicated I believe: you won't need another piece of equipment, to read the serial's.

What I did, by comparison:

Stuck with the original rims and tires, and tpms. Purchased Corolla steel rims with mounted winter tires, and skipped the tpms. I also got utilitarian open-ended galvanized lug nuts. The downside of no tpms: a small orange light on the dash through the winter months. Typically it glows steady, sometimes it flashes. Also (of course): no tpms warning, if we get a flat.

Someone from the 'States said you can skip tpms if you get tires mounted on loose rims. Maybe depends on the shop? In Canada it's still legal to install wheels/tires without tpms if you want.

 

Welcome to PriusChat! I've just set up my winter tyres on a set of steel rims which are sitting in my garage at the moment. I have a Gen II touring model (16" wheels) but my winter wheels are 15" steel rims (wider selection of tyres). The steel rims do not have TPMS, and although I appreciate the safety aspect of TPMS, only one of the of the many cars I've owned over the past 50 years has been fitted with TPMS, so rather than deal with the hassle of re-initializing the system twice per year, I leave the TPMS on the summer wheels, and put a small piece of black tape over the nag-light in the dash-board. From what I've read, it seems that the TPMS system will only accomodate 4 serial numbers (an oversight?). Also, I think it is a bad idea to have one set of rims, and change tyres twice a year, since the sealing beads of the tyres tend to get stretched and damaged each time the casing is fitted to the rim. Just my opinion - YMMV!

 

I followed Mendel Leisk suggestion with Blizzak MS80s for Denver.

 

There are two things that have to be done with the TPMS.

First, the Toyota scan tool, or some equivalent, must be used to enter the four TPMS sensors into the system. Once that has been done, unless you erase them, they will stay in there. The system can only hold four. The system does not notice where they are on the car, just that they are near (the wheels could be piled up in the garage beside the car and it wouldn't know the difference).

Second, you pressurize all four tyres the way you want (I use 40 PSI on the fronts and 38 PSI on the rears, for example). When that is done you press and hold the TPMS set button on the bottom of the dash near the steering column. Be careful, if you have "PCS" or "radar cruise control" there will be two buttons down there. One turns PCS on or off, the other is the "set" button for TPMS. Hold the set button when the car is in "ready" until you get a response (either a beep or flash of a display). Now the tyre pressure you want is stored in the system. When -any- tyre looses more than 20% of that set pressure you will get a TPMS warning. The system won't tell you which tyre is low. It only knows the set pressure for each sensor, not where they are on the car.

Finally, if you mount wheels without TPMS the system warning light will be on, but no other warning or action is taken. You can drive all winter or summer with that light on with no problem.

 

In our 2013 and 2014, after setting the tire pressures, you press and hold the TPMS reset button under the steering wheel, and the TPMS light on the dash flashes three times to indicate it recognizes the new pressures. Then you release the TPMS reset button.