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Tire pressure indicator wont go out after I put a spare on

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Dshin525, Oct 24, 2016.

  1. Dshin525

    Dshin525 New Member

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    My tire pressure indicator light came on today. When I pulled into a gas station, the tire was basically flat. So i changed it to the spare. As I was driving home the tire pressure indicator light stayed on. So I pulled in to another gas station and made sure that all tires were at the recommended PSI (including the spare) but the light still would not go out.
    I plan on taking the car into a tire shop tomorrow....but my question is, is the light remaining on b/c i have a spare mounted right now?

    Thanks.
     
  2. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Yes. The spare tire has no sensor.

    The TPMS sensor is in a tire that is still flat. Either the system sees that it is still flat, or it is out of radio range and the system sees (hears over radio) only 3 good tires, not the required 4. So the light stays on.

    Or, you could have additional low tires. But the display would not distinguish that case from the above.
     
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  3. Dshin525

    Dshin525 New Member

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    ahhh....gotcha. the flat is in my trunk. Makes sense. thanks for the quick reply!
     
  4. exstudent

    exstudent Senior Member

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    Do yourself a favor and read the owners manual. You have a better understanding of the car.
     
  5. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Correct... in the trunk the TPMS unit is transmitting a pressure reading of about 0 psig and room temperature. But even if you took the flat tire out of the trunk, the light would probably stay on because the car is expecting a reading from that sensor.
     
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  6. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    i've got a related issue. light went on several days ago while the pressure is still decent (36PSI). i didn't check the spare but i understand the spare has no sensor. 6 years and 80,000 miles. does it sound reasonable for a sensor battery going kaput? it lasted for 8 years (IIRC) in my RAV4 with lower miles.
     
  7. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Some people say on the 17 in touring wheels the TPMS may experience more bumps and fail earlier. Other than that it sounds too early but it could be an outlier. If you have the Techstream with mininvci you can see the readings. Also you may have the low pressure alarm set too high (use Reset button).
     
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  8. FuelMiser

    FuelMiser Senior Member

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    I would make sure all the tires are set to the correct pressure and then reset the TPMS using the button. If the light goes out, the wheel sensors are working.
     
  9. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    i aired the tires a bit and the light went away. the TPMS must have been reset at high values. in retrospect i should have done it before posting. sorry for hijacking the thread.