Snow Tires, Rims & TPMS Question

He clearly stated "Prime with aftermarket sensors from Discount Tire on the winter wheels." Yeah, when I asked Toyota dealer service guy, he recommended to do just that. Apparently it is not illegal to drive a car with nonfunctional TPMS in my state and most other states.

 

What about that annual inspection, they're ok with the tpms light? Or is that the "catch-22"?

FYI, our son just acquired a Mazda CX-5, and that vehicle CAN detect new sensors. It takes something like 10 minutes of driving, above some minimum speed, and the car sorts it out. Maybe Toyota should get on the ball.

I still balk at spending $75~100 per wheel for a fancy tire valve, but that's for another day I guess.

 

My understanding is that, in my state, technically a car can pass annual inspection even if TPMS warning light is lit, but it really depends on which inspection station you take your car. I had one time my old Civic fail inspection because of underbody rust at one service station. I took the car to a different inspection station, had no problem passing. I think more of problem is that many tire shop are not installing new tires WITHOUT functioning TPMS due to legal ramification. It is not illegal for a consumer to drive a car with malfunctioning TPMS, but it is illegal for an auto service provider to replace functioning TPMS with wheels without TPMS (thus not complying with “make inoperative” provision. Following quote summarize the situation.

NHTSA responded that if the TPMS is functioning at the time of the aftermarket tire and wheel purchase, “a service provider would violate the ‘make inoperative’ prohibition of 49 USC 30122(b) by installing new tires and wheels that do not have a functioning TPMS system. Ref: Dealing With the Legalities of TPMS: ‘Ignorance of the Law is No Excuse’ - Service - Modern Tire Dealer​

 

The list of state statute on TMPS. Only 4 states, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia have regulation stating TPMS needs to be functioning properly in order to pass inspection.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=214

 

Similar to that States requiring tpms list, it'd be VERY interesting to see a list of the various auto manufacturers' implementation of TPMS, who's done it in such a way that owners are able to introduce new sensors easily, without special tools. Maybe a few other stats, say the suggested retail cost of sensors.

As I mentioned above: Mazda for one appears to have managed to accomplish owner swapable sensors.

 

I don't have hands-on experience but read somewhere that most US domestic cars are equipped with TPMS that can be re-leaned and re-set without special tools. Toyota and Honda which I have had and many other Japanese as well as most European cars seem to require special tool(s) or visit to a dealer. For my old Civic Hybrid, TPMS malfunctioning has been the costliest repair bills totalling close to $800.

 

Yup, cargo cult personified.

How about the radio code: that was another less than brilliant innovation.

 

I searched it up online when I had to switch 12v. The OEM 12v lasted 9 years, so I wasn't complaining.

 

Swapped summer for winter tires - TPMS on dash. Did I mess up?

Bought a Gen3 the former owner had upgraded the wheels, and converted the stock rims to winter tires with Blizzaks. With the possibility of snow in the forecast I put them on (jeez, what a hassle!). Had a bit of snow last winter and the Prius with Continental Extreme Contacts was absolutely the worst snow vehicle I've ever been in, that includes and old 2WD Toyota pickup. I live in Seattle on a big hill. Getting in or out, or going most anywhere in snow can be an undertaking.Snow around here has an extremely high water content and is WAY more slippery than dry snow.

I 'thought' I just needed to reset TPMS by pushing the button under the dash. Apparently not, it's more complicated. Seems maybe I can do it with Techstream, which I have but have minimal experience with. But the swap is done. Summer tires put away. Whew!

Are the 'codes' for the summer tires still in the system and maybe I can read them, since the system does NOT seem to be reading the winter tires? Then make the transfer.....however THAT is done.

Or, having yanked the summer tires I have no way of getting the TPMS codes unless they are put back on? Don't want to do that until spring.

Can I do something with Techstream the way it is now to get TPMS working?
Or is it 'black tape' for me?

 

Are they on separate wheel with separate sensors? If so, you didn't mess up, you just haven't yet finished the job. The new sensor codes need to be programmed in.

The summer tire codes are still in the vehicle, and can be read out with a programmer before the new codes are written in.

The winter tire codes can be read through through the sidewall by a special RF reader. At places such as Discount Tire, this is all done with one device. For me, it is two devices: the RF reader, and the ECU programmer (read and write).

Will PM you to see if you are close to me.

 

So, you had a set of TPMS sensors in summer tires that was working just until you swapped tires? Are you sure you have a set of working TPMS sensors in the snow tires you have on your car, albeit currently not registered to your car? In order to re-learn the winter set of TPMS sensor code onto the car ECU, you will need to know the ID, if you are manually doing this with Techstream. But since your sensors are inside or winter tires now, you can't read the ID off of the sensor body. Unless you have written down the winter tire sensor IDs written down and saved somewhere, the only way you can accomplish this is to use a TPMS reader tool that can communicate with the sensor inside of the tire. If you don't have access to the handheld TPMS tool that can send a signal to the sensor inside of the tire and read the ID, the easiest way is to just drive to any tire shop and ask for TPMS re-learning procedure done on your car. Whatever you do, don't take your car to a dealer. They will charge you way too much. ANY tire shop will be able to do this for a nominal fee, like $5 per tire at most. This procedure is usually included in mounting and installing a tire. Or, you can just live with TPMS warning lights until you swap back to the summer tire again.

 

You can just do nothing. Check your tire pressures, don't mess up the dash with black tape.

 

Certainly you should attempt to fix your TPMS, assuming you have viable sensors in all 4 wheels.

This ~$30 dollar aftermarket TPMS system with real time data could be a reasonable alternative if you can't easily fix what you have.

www.amazon.com/Spurtar-Pressure-Monitoring-Universal-Real-time/dp/B07PHLX1LD/ref=sr_1_17?crid=3D4IKTCEYAQJC&keywords=tpms+system&qid=1574809493&sprefix=tpms+%2Caps%2C390&sr=8-17


Rob43

 

49 USC 30122(b) is federal law, not state law. (USC is United States Code.) This regulates the auto service facility, not the vehicle owner.