TPMS light confusion

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by splitter, May 27, 2026 at 7:26 PM.

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  1. splitter

    splitter Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2024
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    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Hi everyone!

    I have a confusion about the TPMS light.

    Two TPMS sensors have gone on my wife's 2006 Prius - the TPMS light flashed on start then eventually settled on solid.

    I bought 4 Denso "OEM fit" sensors from RockAuto hoping to save a bit of money (DENSO 5500103) and have booked in at a local shop to have them fitted. They seemed a little confused about whether they would need to "program" them or not (they are pre-programmed I believe).

    To save some time and confusion, I decided to add the new sensor IDs to the car via TechStream before the new sensors are fitted.

    After doing this, the TPMS light has turned off. The sensors are still in the box, not installed. I drove round for 15 or so minutes, and the light did not come back on.

    I'm very confused about this. I would have thought that with the new sensor IDs on the car, the TPMS light would again be on since they can't be showing any pressure.

    Have I misunderstood something about this procedure?

    Bonus question: Anyone familiar with whether these particular sensors need to be "activated", e.g. tpms tool trigger, rapid deflate/inflate cycle?
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
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    II
    If you put in new sensor codes, you can confuse the computer for about half an hour, if your drive exceeds that, your light will come back on