TPMS Sensors
 

After almost 10 years my TPMS light came on, and I had not aired down for an off-road trail. When checking the tire pressures all were OK. Went to a local tire shop and had all 4 sensors replaced. Only 1 was bad, but I did not want to have to do them one at a time later.

They installed universal sensors but the light stayed on. They decided to use OEM compatible sensors and the problem was fixed for $316.

I checked the tire pressures today and found 40, 40, 37 and 36. The door sticker shows 32. After that I decided to check the wheel lug nuts. Some appeared OK when I backed them off a little to re-torque them. Others felt way tighter. This stuff is why many of us do our own maintenance but we should not have to checkup on work we have done.

The photos show the TIS screen and ID 1 with no output. I don't have one in the spare so no ID 5.

Yeah, the batteries start to wear out, about 10-12 years is where you can expect to start to see the tire light come on. If you will have noticed, when you cranked the vehicle up the tire light would blink a certain number of times. This is a code and you can see what the light means. Typically a low battery is the first thing to come up. It will flash when you first crank up, and then go solid. This is a low battery light and with a scan tool you can actually go in and see which one it is. You are right, replacing them all will fix it and get you about another 6-8 years. The aftermarket batteries dont seem to last quite as long as the Denso Toyota do, but they work and get you back on the road without a tire light.
Yes, its still pretty smart to check your pressures because the tire shops just air them up to seat the bead and install and send you on your way. You have to check behind everyone for everything these days.

Our sensors are 6 and 7 yrs old. Current plan to buy Autel sensors and programmer. Emulate current sensor ID toward new Autel units. Waiting until the light on the dash illuminates.

Amazon has an Autel package that includes two sets of sensors.

Mine are still going at 14 years old. I’ve got Denso replacements that I plan to replace myself when the time comes. The plan is to break the bead with a bottlejack to get to the sensors and reprogram with TechStream.

@1000MPH -- Good plan, you will save $250 and have the tire pressure and lug nut torque set correctly. Tire rotation too.

I would wait until the sensor/s batteries goes bad before buying replacement sensors, if you buy sensors now and your OEM sensors last another 2 or more years you lose that much battery life on the new sensors as they sit waiting for the OEM sensors to need replacement, and as such the new sensors won't last as long as they would have if you had waited to buy them!!

I agree that would be best. I bought my replacements with the naive idea that Costco would install them when I purchased new tires recently. Turns out, they won’t install what they don’t sell.
They aren’t operating while in the box, you need to turn them on by installing and applying air pressure, but there is a modicum of self-discharge happening.

On my 2013 I just replaced one sensor with Denso 550-0103, 315 MHz Sensor for $30. Replaced it myself breaking down the tire with a jack and some tie straps. Programmed the TPMS with Techstream. Everything works fine and didn't cost much.