TPMS - OEM - vs After Market

I purchased new OEM alloy wheels from a 2018 for my 2010 which originally had steel wheels. I brought the truck to Mavis Tire to have the existing tires mounted on the alloy wheels.

I asked that the TPMS sensors be switched to the new alloys, but they couldn't do that because the angle of the stem insert for the original steel wheels was different than the angle of the stem insert for the alloy wheel. So I purchased 4 new TPMS sensors from Mavis for $60 each (they called it "EZ Programmable Sensor" on the invoice). The Tech said that I should drive the truck for a few miles and the light on the dash will eventually reset and I should be good to go.

Even since I got the sensors (early December) .. every time I start the truck, the low tire pressure indicator light stays on and won't go off until I drive between 1 and 3 miles. Today it didn't turn of until I drove 10 miles. I have all 4 tires inflated to 32 lbs.

So took the truck to Mavis today and they said that they programmed the sensors to the sensors that were "originally on" the steel wheels. It was his "belief" that in order to correct the sensor reading, he should program it to an OEM "alloy" wheel sensor setting instead. I told him I would get back to them once I get more information from Toyota. But I thought I would post this here for now to get any advice from the TPMS experts here who may have experienced the same issue.

Does this sound logical to anyone who is familiar with the TPMS programming? Does is matter what type of wheel is used in order for the sensor to work properly??

Thanks in advance for anyone's help with this!

 

I'm kind of in a similar situation, I am going to opt for OEM sensors from Amazon at about $35 bucks each

 

I don't know anything about "EZ Programmable Sensor", but maybe your truck is calibrated to a number above the cold pressure in the tires, so when the tires are cold, the truck thinks they're too low, and after the tires warm up, the pressure increases and the truck is happy. Try resetting the TPMS with the tires cold and all the tires at the same pressure. Turn the ignition on, but do not start the engine. Push the button under the steering column until the TPMS light flashes 3 times. This programs the truck to recognize that pressure as normal, and if the pressure goes a few PSI below normal, it turns the light on.

 

Have you checked the air pressure in the spare? It may be low and sending an error message.

 

I have a set of EZ sensors in one of my sets of wheels. As long as the sensors are programmed to the same serial number as in the truck's computer they work fine. If the light turns off they are correctly programmed.

 

I did not see a choice for alloy or steel wheels in the software used to program the TPMS sensors. I would try resetting the sensors like muddinfun suggested. You could also have your tire shop check the initial threshold of low-pressure to make sure it is not set incorrectly.

 

Sounds kind'f like they installed the new sensors, but didn't "correctly" program the new sensors to your truck. Maybe try another tire store, the first I went to wanted to remove & dismount all my wheels & tires to see why the new sensors weren't sending signals to the computer. I declined. The next shop, I advised I'd installed new sensors, but my tpms light stayed on all the time. He advised me new sensors will "almost always" need to be programmed to the truck. I left my truck & came back in less than an hr. Went in & the guy said you're ready to go. How much do I owe you? He said we don't charge for just programming , it only takes a minute, just remember us next time you need something.

 

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions! Sorry for the late response, but for some reason I haven't received an email notification that any of you responded to this post, even though this post is set to do so. Anyway, I will follow Muddinfun's suggestion and try resetting the sensors "cold" (great suggestion!) tomorrow and see if that works!

To answer Troyken's question … I don't believe the spare comes with a sensor .. does it??

 

Some years of Tacomas did have a sensor in the spare honestly cannot tell you which years did.

Type of wheel doesn't matter on programming only on installation factory sensors are one of two angles and depending on the wheel used will stick out making mounting a tire a royal pain in the ass.

The biggest indicator of a programming issue is if it flashes during startup then goes solid a few minutes later.

I get two or three vehicles a week from a tire shop not able to program a replacement sensor in a toyota, they are not definitely at all.

 

Hi OKTACO … Thanks for your reply. In my case, the sensor alert on the dash does not "flash" … instead, the light is on until I travel a few miles and then turns off when the tires get warmed up and stays off for the remainder of the trip.

I'm going to try to reset the sensors per Muddinfun's suggestion above tomorrow when the tires are cold and see if that helps. Either way … I will report back here to let everyone know what happens.

Thanks again!

 

TPMS started in Tacomas in '06 with 5 sensors. Sometime a few years later, they eliminated the sensor in the spare. Easy way to tell if the spare has a sensor, is to look at the valve stem. If it has an aluminum hex nut, it's a TPMS sensor.

 

Thanks Muddinfun .. I will check the spare tomorrow

 

Wife's 2010 Touota Rav4 does have a sensor in the spare. Since new, the light will come on appx. 1 time pr. yr., every time the problem was with the spare. Not enough problem to get it fixed, just a shot of air every year or so.

 

OK Muddinfun .. On this cold & snowy morning …

• All the tires were inflated to 32 lbs.
  
• I turned on the Tacoma (didn't start it).
  
• I pressed the button below the steering wheel and the sensor alert symbol remained lit
• Then 10 seconds later it disappeared
• Then the alert came back on and stayed on for about 60 seconds and then disappeared (it did not blink 3 times).
• I stopped pressing on the button.

Also .. there is no sensor on the spare .. it has a rubber stem.

I took it out for a drive and now the alert remains on all the time. I'm assuming it cleared the programming that the tech at Mavis set for the non OEM sensors?

 

No, it's imposible for you to clear the programming on the truck.

Here's how it works. The sensors are 1 way communication. The truck listens to the information being sent to it by the sensors. The truck only listens to sensors it's been programmed to listen to. Let's call them Bob, Jake, Johnny, and Rafael. So, each sensor tells the truck what presure is in the tire. Let's say they're all at 32. When you push the button, the truck learns that 32 is normal pressure keeps the light off. Now, 1 morning Johnny is on a bad hangover and tells the truck he's only at 25PSI. The truck turns on the light to let you know. You give Johnny some pepto bismal(air), the truck is happy and turns out the light. On your way to work, there's a Tacoma beside you at the light with a low tire. That sensor is named Brittany. Your trucks light doesn't come on because your truck doesn't listen to Brittany.

So, when you get new sensors, there's 2 ways to make the truck happy.
1. Pull new OEM or aftermarket OEM type sensors off the shelf and program the truck to listen to them. Now the truck only listens to George, Paul, John, and Ringo. This programming can only be done by plugging into the truck OBD2 connector.

2. There are aftermarket sensors that have no name. It's like adopting a puppy at the shelter. Your dog Bob crosses over the rainbow bridge. You go to the shelter and adopt a new puppy and name him Bob. (The tire shop programs the nameless sensor to say, "Hi, my name is Bob") Now your truck still listens to Bob. Your truck isn't smart enough to realize it's a different Bob. He thinks it's the same old Bob, and is content and patiently waiting for Bob to go on a drinking binge.

So, somehow you didn't do the pressure reset correctly. Look in your owners manual, and do it exactly like the book says.

 

Hi Muddinfun,,

I really enjoyed and appreciate your analogies above and the time you took to explain the TPMS fundamentals

I tried 4 more times and the light only blinked once, not 3 times. I also drive it around the block, stopped it , turned it off and then turned it on without starting it and then held the button down and it blinked once.

So I looked this up in the manual and copied pasted what the manual lists below:

When the initialization of the tire pressure warning system has failed Initialization can be completed in a few minutes. However, in the following cases, the settings have not been recorded and the system will not operate properly. If repeated attempts to record tire inflation pressure settings are unsuccessful, have the vehicle inspected by your Toyota dealer.

● When operating the tire pressure warning reset switch, the tire pressure warning light does not flash 3 times.

● After carrying out the initialization procedure, the tire pressure warning light blinks for 1 minute then stays on after driving for about 20
minutes.

I'll send it back to Mavis to have them re-program this for me and will let you know how I make out. Hopefully I won't have to bring it to my Toyota dealer.

Thanks again!

 

Well, that's all I've got. Hope you get it figured out.

 

I took my Taco to Mavis this morning. They reprogrammed the sensors and now they no longer stay on (so far) and turn off quickly after I start the truck. So far .. so good.

Thanks to all here who gave their suggestions and recommendations.

 

I believe I found the solution to my TPMS warnign light issues and wanted to follow-up on this post.

Since my last post I've still been having issues with my TPMS light staying on. I eventually had them all relaced by a local mechanic and the light was still coming on after driving 50 miles or so. I had the mechanic reset the TPMS for each tire several times and he was unsure why this was happening. I recently learned on another post here in this forum that the reset button at the bottom of the steering wheel is used to set to the "low PSI tire threshold" ... the lowsest tire pressure reading to alert you that you have a leak.

So if you normally inflate your tires to 35 PSI and you want to be alerted when your tire pressure is 30 PSI or less, then you would first deflate all 4 or your tires to 30, then turn your key to "accessories", push the TPMS reset button untill it stops blinking. Then inflate your tires to 35, start the truck, and then the TPMS warning lite should turn off. It did for me for the first time.

I will follow up on this post again if this changes.

Hope this helps!

 

the door spec is 29 cold. That is when you reset it.
Tires inflate +4 psi after driving.