Tire Pressure Sensors

Holy Smokes Galaxee.. where did you get all this info?.. I haven't read the whole manual yet, but I'm sure many have....

I have wandered through extensive threads about tire and wheel mods and so many people have tried different tires and wheels.

I have never heard any of this tire valve sensor stuff?
All this must be new with the 06?

Either its such common knowledge that nobody talks about it and so I missed it, or this is quite secret?

So many have dicussed price of tires and wheels down to the penny and I can't imagine why I have missed this expensive necessity to an extra set of winter tires.

If the sensors are even monitoring "resonance" of the tires.... how can one change tires to a different type without a computer tuning to the new tires?

Who knows how to do that?...

I have also read how so many end up with altered mpg because thiere new tires are out of whack with the computer?

Is all this just a new issue with the 06?

 

will post verified info as soon as possible. i feel so dumb for not noticing that there was a discrepcancy between the 2 info sources he was given.

so i take it there is no second-set-of-wheels button? the book here says it's present on the 06 land cruiser but doesn't mention the prius.

 

yea well, I'm not thrilled about all this new info. it seems abit rediculous to have a 1000.00 tied up in valve sensors in order to own an extra set of seasonal tires. Then to have to set them with the computer seems a bit absurd.... why can't they make it simpler and less expensive?.
Behavior such as this is usual for Toyota..I expect this type of "propietary making us in bondage to the dealer" activity more of Ford or some others.

I sure hope we are missing something here and its really just a bit more reasonable and simple.

 

DH is working his way up the toyota certification ladder, he brings home all these training books and other info sources... although i'm pissed that there's a discrepancy that we need to now verify.

i have an 05, so the 06 is actually completely foreign to me, but DH has to learn all the stuff to be able to fix all the systems that they have. the tpms is in fact new to the 06.

i am calling into question my own post saying that both systems exist until i am able to verify this. i have one source that says only direct tpms and one that says both direct and indirect. so i need to have DH go to work and find a third source that agrees with one of the other ones, and we will assume that the two sources that agree are both correct. so the resonance monitoring may or may not be there. gah.

DH is asleep, he has a migraine or i'd probably be able to get more answers from him. i just want to be able to straighten this out before causing too much more confusion!

 

the direct tpms info is correct. i still haven't gotten a straight answer as to whether there is a "change-set-of-wheels" button. it sounds like there is in fact no button, in which case it does make it a pain in the butt, convoluted process. like Jim said, you could just mount new tires on your rims twice yearly and skip buying the extra sensors to save some money and not have to go to the dealer and pay them to re-enter the ID numbers.

 

No prob Galaxee.... If all this is true, I expect it will make for alot of verbal ripples throughout the forum.

I don't mind extravagant monitoring systems if they are really needed or helpful... or even just "cool".... but NOT in the name of making the customer more dependent upon the dealer to keeping things in order!.. unfortunately , thats an american carmaker trick to generate service work!

I just don't see why the revolutions "alone" couldn't do the job.. but maybe there is much more being monitored I don't know?

Its one thing adding technology if it helps the end result ... ie: better mpg, safety etc..... but if its expensive redundant stuff that just makes more more to go wrong and set some alarm light off, then its a waste of ingenuiety and customer service for the money.

I am going to be surprised if Toyota really added 500.00 worth of technology for very little benifit or payback by the way they are trying to keep prices down.

There must be something we're missing..... "I hope!

 

well, the revolutions/resonance (indirect system) works just fine. the prius is the first car that they've used the direct system on, before now the direct system has only been used on larger trucks/suv's.

i am obviously not the tech here... the tech is upstairs sleeping and i'm the insomniac in this marriage. tomorrow i'll sit him down and he'll tech talk and i'll interpret the direct (valvestem) system and changing out wheel rims.

 

New '06 pkg 8 here -- no button in the glove box. No snow here, so it doesn't affect me, but I thought others would like to know...

 

Thanks for all the info galaxee. It was a real shock to find out that I couldn't just put my snow tires and rims on like every other car. Keep us posted if you find out something more.

 

thanks jbarnhart. not good news for anyone who wants to switch out rims.

according to the info in the book here, then, that means that you do indeed have to reprogram everything when you switch rims. and that really sucks.

i'll have DH answer any more questions tomorrow when he's up and feeling better. he does have experience working with the direct TPMS from other vehicles (4runner, tundra, sequoia, landcruiser) at work so he's quite familiar with the protocols.

sorry for the bad news

 

Just to clarify:

Here is a good read on indirect and direct systems, their pros and cons.
http://www.aa1car.com/library/tire_monitors.htm

And, no way Prius is the 1st in the world to have direct TPMS installed, galaxee. It is 1st for Toyota, but not sure it is first for Lexus. I think my friend's LS430 has one. In as early as 2002, some high-end model cars, (Corvette, BMW, MB) already used direct systems for TPM.

And, by the way, the TPMS on my friend's 2005 Lexus LS430 keeps giving him false alarms every few months. It has happened 2 times since new. Dealer just reset the system. It will surely happen again. What a headache!

Lucky for me, I don't need a 'system' to tell me the tire pressure is low. I can see them or kick them. The error is within 5psi (better than most indirect systems!).

 

oh i know, but you're right, i should have been more clear. it's the first toyota car to have the direct system. till now they've always used indirect on their cars.


and yep, the system can be a real PITA, glad we don't have those on the 05s...

 

Ceric,

On some cars... it is difficult to tell if the tires are flat. My wife's BMW Z4 uses run-flats... and you can drive those at highway speeds for 500 miles with no air in the tire.

Demographic proof of their value... my wife (who is NOT a car fanatic)... told me one day that there was a light on her dash that had been there for a few days. It was her TPMS and one of her tires had 0 psi.

/Jim

 

So if this really has "both" systems, what happens if you just toss the tire valves and don't even use them?.. does the other system not work too? Are they dependent upon each other?

And if they are.. whats the worst that would happen?... it seems a bit spendy just to monitor air pressure.
there must be more to it?

 

i have to verify that both systems are there. i have one source that says both, and one source that says direct only. i am going to have DH check out the repair manual and some other sources to see what the real situation is.

if there are 2 systems, they wouldn't be interdependent, but i don't know what would happen if you just toss the direct sensors.

 

Galaxee,

It would have been MUCH nicer if they displayed the individual tire pressure information on the MFD. They could have put the individual tire pressure information next to each wheel of the "energy screen". I would be an advantage to see the 4 individual tire pressures in the cabin... and all of the information is already available! My Jeep does this... and it is really nice to dynamically check tire pressures while driving.

Toyota put in the complexity of a direct TMPS... but didn't really deliver the full value that is available with such a system.

/Jim

 

i agree. not quite sure what they were thinking using this system and not adding a "main/2nd" button or using all the info available. especially looking at the demographic of prius owners- the whole "tech enthusiast" group likes to know as much as possible. this will probably piss a lot of people off in the long run.

i think because of the federal mandates that now require TPMS on all 06 and newer models, they just dropped a system into the prius to meet the requirements without really thinking enough about it.

 

ok guys... i hope i've given enough info to get you through the night i'm out of caffeine and about to crash. will get verified, detailed info asap and DH will answer any questions you guys have tomorrow.

'night all.

 

flynz4.

I test drove the Z4 (being a BMW 540iA owner) when it came out. Great roadster. I love the exhaust note. I wound have bought one, had there been a MZ4 available...

On the kicking tires, I also kick the contact surface (not the side wall). For thick-side-wall kind of run-flat tires, the flat surface is atill soft when it looses air...

People who drive should have basic knowledge of their vehicles. This should be part of licensing requirement, if you ask me. Very soon we probably need a "thread depth monitor/warning system" to assist their those people who never pay attention to the thread-depth of their tires... It could happen.