Have you ever had a sensor installed in the spare? Looks like it would certainly be able to read it since there is a space for it. Using my reader I can read the sensors without them being installed in a tire. Does the Techstream have a reader or does it just read them after installation in the tire through the ODB II port?

Is that Techstream running on a laptop? Did you get that off Amazon?

Light was off for a while earlier today, drove about 15 miles, when I was almost at my destination it started flashing again and then went solid and now it's doing it every time I get in the car.

@ArthurKotb made the point about the sensor possibly getting jostled into working again..I'm beginning to lean towards this as what's happening.
Even though the battery on the sensors are good there must be some sort of intermittent fault in one of them/

May just bite the bullet and get one of those scanners..

Anyone know whether 2018's have the TPMS in the spare?

If the spare has a rubber valve instead of the aluminum one, then there's no sensor there. If the spare is on a steel wheel instead of alloy then most likely it doesn't have a sensor.

Did you try lowering tire pressure on all the tires when the indicator was flashing? If it's sitting there, engine off, key in the run position and it's flashing, lower the tire pressure to 20 psi. If it goes solid, air up that tire and it should switch to flashing. Go to the next tire and do the same thing. If the flashing doesn't stop, that's the problem sensor. Swap that tire with the spare and drive around without the suspect tire to see if the light stays out.

I'll give that a try today. Can't recall whether the spare has a rubber valve or aluminum, but I'll check that as well.

The valve in the spare is rubber, so no TPMS there. We can eliminate that from the equation.

I cannot time it to where the lights flashing and I'm able to lower the tire pressure. The light will blink and then go solid. It did last night when I drove home and this morning when I started it up the light was out again..Guess I could just replace all of the sensors, but that seems like a huge waste of $$.

Left untreated, things go from bad to worse. Luck could be on your side.

I let mine blink from last December to early November before fixing it. You could invest in a TPMS reader ($200 for this one: Amazon.com: Autel MaxiTPMS TS501 TPMS Relearn Tool, 2022 Upgraded Automotive Scan Tool of TS408, TS401, Activate/Relearn All Known TPMS Sensors, Program MX-Sensor [315 & 433MHz], TPMS Diagnostics & Reset : Automotive . It worked for me.) It's a lot to spend just to find out. I'd just let it go and see what happens.

One other thing. If you have someone that could help you out. Put the spare on one of the four wheels and leave that wheel at home. If the blinking continues, it's not that wheel, restore the original to its position. Swap the spare to another wheel and continue. Maybe you'll get lucky on the first try.

If you have a flat, get the friend to bring your tire to you.

Still curious whether the TPMS module could be failing, but that really doesn't seem likely. Was out driving again this afternoon and no light.Really bizarre.

Good suggestion on rotating the spare in..I might just have to give that a try.

Thanks!

Was running a bunch errands this morning, maybe 10 to 12 miles of driving total. TPMS light was off to start. This gave me false hope that the problem may have "resolved" itself..Then on my way home, just about to turn into my neighborhood the light starts flashing and goes solid. I'm wondering if I just take it to Toyota whether their equipment will be able to figure it out.

toyota definitely has the tools to be able to properly program the sensors. if the light is on when you bring it in they would be able to see which sensor isn't transmitting and can replace it

Found the offending sensor, drivers side rear.

Was driving today and the TPMS light would pop every time I started back up. I knew the pressure was good since I had just taken it yesterday. Anyway, last time it came on I went up to the tire shop..They were able to get a reading on all the other tires except for that one.

If I recall the last shop that checked said the battery was good in all the sensors, so my assumption is that the sensor itself crapped the bed..

I got my new tires installed at Costco. They said they would only install the sensors they sell. I left my original ones in and will deal with replacing them when they fail.

I think that's what most tire places do. They won't touch anything not from their store and I guess it makes sense if they have to warranty it.

Dropped my vehicle off yesterday to have the sensor swapped out. That was early in the AM..Wasn't in any rush, called late afternoon and they said it was about to go in the bay and would take maybe 30 minutes, so I figured I'd head over..Long story short, even after swapping in the new sensor the light was still popping..

This was new sensor they put in - DVT-PRO DVT-PRO DUAL BANDED

The tech said he was going to try one more thing and enter the code for the sensor manually to see whether that would work and it did..The light went out..He went for a long test drive and the light had stayed out and it hasn't come on again since, but I'm not convinced..Still think there might be a problem with the TPMS module. If it pops again, I'm taking it to toyota just to have them diagnose.

Thanks.

The places I called or visited said they didn't have the Techstream software that Toyota uses, so they couldn't install Denso sensors. I bought a device for $200 and just had the store install the new Denso sensors, then I used the device to write the IDs to the ECU. I think it's just an excuse to sell their own products but I know the Techstream software is expensive; $5699. There is a "lite" version (Toyota approved, not a knock off) for $1545 now. On top of that, there is a yearly subscription $1295.

Techstream does more than install Denso IDs to the ECU but that's all I needed it for.

Attached Images

 

Even Amazon sells the cable used to connect with TechStream, comes with a probably not totally legit version of TS. It is BS that they don’t have the tools at tire shops, but I understand that at high volume places it’s not worth their time to screw around with stuff that might not be plug n play. Costco will swap Winter tire sets and reprogram TPMS for us. I do have another set of rims so I could take that approach as well. Probably easier just find a local gas station or do it DIY with some wood and a scissor jack.