[chrispitude]

I just got back from a 300 mile round trip. About 50 miles into the trip, the TPMS light started blinking constantly. It blinks constantly any time the key is in the "ON" position (whether the engine is running or not). I tried holding down the TPMS reset button with the key in the ON position without the engine running, but it blinks the entire time - even when I hold the button down for a good 30 seconds. All tires have perfect air pressure, including the spare.

It's dark out now, but I'll try disconnecting the battery for awhile tomorrow to see if it clears up. If not, do I conclude it's a bad/dead TPMS sensor in one of the wheels?

 

[spenser24]

As you may know, the TPMS system is crap on our trucks. If you do a search for Gen 1 / TPMS, you will find dozens of posts.

Assuming you are certain that the 5 tires are in acceptable pressure range and that you have correctly attempted re-set then you might consider disabling it. Look at TS member DINOSAUR's photo gallery. He has pix with instructions. He's a great guy and will respond to a Private Message in case he does not see this thread.

Good luck.

 

[GORILLA]

hi, most check the 4 tires.
many forget about the spare.
that to has a TPMS.
sadly it's facing the under side of the bed.
so you have to reach up & over to take the pressure of the tire.
& to refill it, if it's low.
it usually reset's itself.
turn the key off, refill, turn the key back on. it usually goes off.
there is a button under the steering column, that reset's it.
just in case.
good luck,
gorilla

 

[cheapskate]

I have the same thing. Tried all kinds of ways to reset it. Bottom line is I have a bad sensor but I am not getting it fixed. It's probably $80 for the diagnostic to tell me which tire has the bad sensor, then another $80 or more to get a new sensor and have it installed. For that kind of cash I will put up with the stupid light. When I need new tires I will get all new sensors and save a little cash by getting them both done at the same time. I may disconnect it but it has not bothered me that much yet. Thanks for the tip though Spencer. I will check out Dinosaur's gallery.

 

[chrispitude]

Well, I ran some errands this morning and the light is out. I imagine it's probably a weak battery and it will come back on at some point...

 

[mytundrarocks]

Well, I ran some errands this morning and the light is out. I imagine it's probably a weak battery and it will come back on at some point...

mine fixed itself a few months ago, hasen't been back since. Good luck...

 

[Puffnstuff]

There is a specifc sequence to reset the tpms and you can't do it while running the engine.

 

[integraGSR]

constant blink = diag code stored in TPWS ECM.
constant on = low tire pressure.

 

[petcutz]

I have aftermarket wheels and I did not put the sensors in the new wheels. A quick and cheap fix is black tape over the light! LOL. Works great for me....

 

[mytundrarocks]

I have aftermarket wheels and I did not put the sensors in the new wheels. A quick and cheap fix is black tape over the light! LOL. Works great for me....

That is quite effective but there is also a write up on how to ground the wire behind the dash and the light goes out forever. Just in case you wanted to check it out.


http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/1gen-tundra/76632-disabling-tire-pressure-sensor-system-tundra/

 

[PowerHogger]

Sounds like the battery died. They have about a 5 year life span

 

[chrispitude]

My TPMS light started blinking again today. I guess one of the TPMS batteries is dying. The good news is, I have a full set of winter steel wheels with TPMS sensors, and the ATEQ TPMS Quickset tool. The bad news is, I don't know which TPMS sensor is going down. Once the sensor has failed completely (light always blinks), I can put one of the steelies in the bed and start playing with sensor ID combinations with the Quickset tool and see if I can figure out which TPMS sensor died using trial and error.

 

[Big_Al1]

Does this tool you speak of reprogram what sensors are in the brain? Because if not you wont' be able to tell which is bad by just swapping them you can only have one programmed at a time as far as I know. I have been wrong before though. Good luck.

 

[TRD20]

Just had the same issue on my tundra. All tires, including spare, were inflated at the same pressure, but the spare's sensor went bad. Guy at the shop said it seems to happen alot on the spare tires on the tundras.

 

[chrispitude]

Does this tool you speak of reprogram what sensors are in the brain? Because if not you wont' be able to tell which is bad by just swapping them you can only have one programmed at a time as far as I know. I have been wrong before though. Good luck.

It's the ATEQ TPMS Quickset tool:

ATEQ TPMS Quickset review

I can program the Toyota TPMS computer for a set of 5 TPMS sensor IDs. I know all the sensor IDs of my wheels. What I don't know is, which one of the current sensors is bad? So, if I start replacing the current sensor IDs with a new wheel's ID, one at a time, I should be able to isolate the bad one. I am sure it will not be this easy in practice though.

 

[Big_Al1]

Sweet I may have to get me one of these bad boys.

 

[chrispitude]

Sweet I may have to get me one of these bad boys.

I got mine from The Tire Rack:

ATEQ TPMS Quickset Tool from The Tire Rack

- Chris

 

[earlym]

my 2005 double cab had this scenario, and I found out some interesting facts that may help others.

-went driving on the beach and lowered my tire press for the sand. TPMS light came on. wouldn't go off after raising tire press back up... went higher to 40 PSI with no help (had been 32PSI prior)
-tried many variations on the owner manual reset procedure, which was vague. Read lots of posts on internet for more tricks, .... no help.
-put scan tool on and saw all transmitters operating, but 2 transmitters reporting 0 PSI. by lowering press to 25PSI and bringing back up to 30PSI, they began to read again. Performed TPMS user reset procedure from manual and it worked. (Note: for actual tire pressure of 30 PSI, the data the engine computer was reading was 45PSI. this is a strange anomaly, but can be tolerated)

Seems like the press transducers, even when properly transmitting & being received by the system, will sometime get into a "0 PSI" error mode where data is still being received, just the wrong value "0 PSI". If you don't have a scan tool, you can't see this, since you only have the light on the dash to go by. If you are having this issue like I did, the "blind" way to resolve it may be as follows: Do a 2 step process. 1) first, cycle the tire pressures one by one to get any "bad data" transmitter back to "good data" like this: lower the pressure in each tire to about 24-25PSI, wait 30 secs, and raise back up to 30-31PSI and wait 30 seconds. 2) perform the TPMS reset procedure in the user manual...... that is: turn key to ON (don't start motor). depress the reset switch under the steering column and HOLD it until the TPMS tire light flashes 3 times. Release the button. Leave the key on for at least 7 minutes. The TPMS light should go out. (Note: in my manual, there is a reference to waiting perhaps 20 minutes, but the grammar of the sentence made it questionable. so if you are really desperate, wait up to 20 minutes).

Hope this helps some of you!

 

[MIDASMANAGER]

I have the same thing. Tried all kinds of ways to reset it. Bottom line is I have a bad sensor but I am not getting it fixed. It's probably $80 for the diagnostic to tell me which tire has the bad sensor, then another $80 or more to get a new sensor and have it installed. For that kind of cash I will put up with the stupid light. When I need new tires I will get all new sensors and save a little cash by getting them both done at the same time. I may disconnect it but it has not bothered me that much yet. Thanks for the tip though Spencer. I will check out Dinosaur's gallery.

Hey, if you want to put the safety of your children at risk because of a couple hundred dollars... Thats fine.. I do not think you should advertise that..

TPMS light will flash when either there is a dangerously low amount of air in the tire or when the sensors battery is dead had a malfunction..

Most places will check for free which one it is... and on average its 75.00 installed per sensor and 25.00 for a reprogram.. So if one sensor is bad, I believe the safety of my kids is well worth it..

When anything on your dash is blinking... it means pull over and get it checked now..

 

[cheapskate]

Hey, if you want to put the safety of your children at risk because of a couple hundred dollars... Thats fine.. I do not think you should advertise that..

TPMS light will flash when either there is a dangerously low amount of air in the tire or when the sensors battery is dead had a malfunction..

Most places will check for free which one it is... and on average its 75.00 installed per sensor and 25.00 for a reprogram.. So if one sensor is bad, I believe the safety of my kids is well worth it..

When anything on your dash is blinking... it means pull over and get it checked now..

Well, first off, thanks for taking the time to reply to a 3.5 year old post. Good job on that. Funny how you are telling me what I should pay attention to but you didn't even notice how old my reply is.
In the meantime, I have since put new tires on the truck, without any sensors at all, and oh yeah, I sold a year and a half ago.
And when the time comes for my new truck to require replacing all the TPMS sensors, I wont do it again. Why? Well for starters I'm not an idiot. I check my vehicle regularly for things like that. I don't need an idiot light on the dash to point things out.
And TPMS is not even the law. Toyota started phasing it out first on things like Camry and Corolla. So I guess the government finally figured out that we're not that dumb after all. The only reason my tundra has them at all is because manufacturers could only phase it out one model at a time and chose the highest sellers first.
And if my low washer fluid light starts blinking on my dash should I pull over on the side of an interstate type highway and run the risk of killing myself and my family to top it up as per your suggestion?