How to disable tpms in a 5th gen 4runner

[HBO_frenchy]

TPMS trouble

First, thanks to those who posted solutions to disabling the TPMS dashboard light. Not being a big fan of messing with panels (always fearful of braking this or that tab, having to chase replacement clips and so on), I favor the PCB mod that involves making a short on the TPMS module between pin 5 and 6. (see other post). This is what I experienced, and on which I would like some commenting: (2018 4Runner-5thgen SR5 premium).
1. I have no need to lower my tire pressure (not much off-roading).
2. I fundamentally dislike any system that displays erroneous info (i.e light coming on when pressure is fine). see Boeing Max issue with sensors for example of a dramatic engineering arrogance.
3. I found that the spare does NOT have a TPMS sensor (a opposed to my previous 4Runner- 2008, 4th gen).
4. Leaving for a trip(>200 miles) light came on flashing. Stopped. check pressure. All good. Resumed travel. Light went from blinking to solid. Disappeared a few minutes later. Outside temp in high 40s.
5. light came back a week later. First flashing upon ignition then solid then disappearing. Read about it: ah, bad sensor and/or onboard battery.
6. Light flashing as above, then stays on for good. Happens on every local trip. Check pressure again. Investigate spare, found there is no sensor (was messing with my previous 4 runner with 25F ambient).
7. read blogs, decide to make a mod. installed a piece of black electrical tape on cluster temporarily (pretty ghetto and not quite satisfying as I can still see the glow- OCD I guess?). Will address mod a bit later.
8. Went on a another trip (>200 miles). Light flashes, stays on, disappeared at one time. Never back since then.

I have a feeling it will come back, but I wonder if someone experienced this sort of events sequence and had the system remained quiet thereafter ?(I seriously doubt that the module has some sort of AI, learning to ignore one of the failed TPMS sensor after a while!).

Note: love my 4Runner but still..2018 and no individual readout of tire pressure. HOw did I manage 50 years of driving, several flats without TPMS, dang..

 

[Blackgoat]

Seriously?

Now thats so 1975 sh*t right there. Bulb ? Cmon man their aint been bulbs in the dash for 20 years!!

 

[HBO_frenchy]

First, thanks to those who posted solutions to disabling the TPMS dashboard light. Not being a big fan of messing with panels (always fearful of braking this or that tab, having to chase replacement clips and so on), I favor the PCB mod that involves making a short on the TPMS module between pin 5 and 6. (see other post). This is what I experienced, and on which I would like some commenting: (2018 4Runner-5thgen SR5 premium).
1. I have no need to lower my tire pressure (not much off-roading).
2. I fundamentally dislike any system that displays erroneous info (i.e light coming on when pressure is fine). see Boeing Max issue with sensors for example of a dramatic engineering arrogance.
3. I found that the spare does NOT have a TPMS sensor (a opposed to my previous 4Runner- 2008, 4th gen).
4. Leaving for a trip(>200 miles) light came on flashing. Stopped. check pressure. All good. Resumed travel. Light went from blinking to solid. Disappeared a few minutes later. Outside temp in high 40s.
5. light came back a week later. First flashing upon ignition then solid then disappearing. Read about it: ah, bad sensor and/or onboard battery.
6. Light flashing as above, then stays on for good. Happens on every local trip. Check pressure again. Investigate spare, found there is no sensor (was messing with my previous 4 runner with 25F ambient).
7. read blogs, decide to make a mod. installed a piece of black electrical tape on cluster temporarily (pretty ghetto and not quite satisfying as I can still see the glow- OCD I guess?). Will address mod a bit later.
8. Went on a another trip (>200 miles). Light flashes, stays on, disappeared at one time. Never back since then.

I have a feeling it will come back, but I wonder if someone experienced this sort of events sequence and had the system remained quiet thereafter ?(I seriously doubt that the module has some sort of AI, learning to ignore one of the failed TPMS sensor after a while!).

Note: love my 4Runner but still..2018 and no individual readout of tire pressure. HOw did I manage 50 years of driving, several flats without TPMS, dang..

Update:
Soldered a jumper between pin 5 and pin 6 of the TPMS module PCB. Had to remove panels anyway since I had a hard time finding the proper alignment of the PCB in its box in order to re-install the small snap-on cover. All set. Works as advertised. Will remove if I sell the vehicle.

 

[Hungryhawk]

I embraced the tpms technology with avScanguage2 mounted on steering colunm.
Normally I read the tire pressure of all 4 at a glance.
Driving 85-90 in southern Utah to keep up with flow and especially the Big Rigs, I was nervous about tire failure at such high speed. So seeing all 4 tire pressures helped me

 

[BR4R87]

Sound like the yaris tpms work around. Reminds me i need to add the switch to the woman's car this weekend.

I added a 1NC/1NO switch to the blank slot to toggle TPMS system on/off.

 

[Galdarn]

wow

It looks like that disables the light, but not the sensors. Why not just remove the bulb?

First of all its not a bulb its an LED. Secondly getting to the dash and desoldering the LED is a ton of work. You might want to learn about the subject before you post next time. Or like the wise man said "think before you speak" in this case type.

 

[Galdarn]

Fred, Thanks for figuring this out and sharing. I am so glad to get rid of these useless sensors that do not even give you a read out of current pressure & do give TPMS false warnings. One unit died permanently after going out then came back on for a few months till giving up the ghost forever now. Saved $240 to not have them replaced at D.Tire I got a quote to swap rims $169 including TMPS recalibrate. Instead I just had them put in regular valve stems and the final bill was only $116 saving another $53 Saving $293 on the spot. Not to mention time saved messing with them every winter spring and summer plus random false alarms. I have several excellent tire gauges so I can check them any time with better accuracy. Since I air down when going offroad I can visually gauge if they are low just from experience. Yea for us!

 

[jerlane]

If anyone is curious how to disable tpms in a 5th gen it’s super easy. I noticed there were write ups on 4th gen’s but not 5th gens. The idea is simple and can be acccomllished in many ways but you basically just send a 12v ign to the dash bulb keeping it from grounding, so the light never comes on. Just take off the lower instrument panel, which requires you pull off the piece circled in orange, remove 2 10mm bolts (red arrow), there’s another one on the left you can’t see, it’s behind the little kick panel that you need to mostly remove to get to. Then it’s just the clips in green. Then you just Find the tpms module. There are 4 modules/rows of connectors. This is just left and below the steering wheel. The farthest right one, it’s brown/grey with a black connector, is the tpms module. It’s bolted to the dash with a single bolt on a silver bracket. Grab the plug and cut the green wire in pin 5 (Count from left to right, looking at the back of the connector, starting with the blank space) and connect it to the green wire in pin 7 and done. You can use a quick tap, or strip and solder. And bam. Your done. Now the tpms light will never come on. I’m just not a fan of the expense that comes with tpms. Tpms is a safety feature as a significant percentage of accidents are attributable to flats ad. Low tire pressure but I’m a grown ass man

I’m getting ready to do this and am wondering which end of the number five wire you splice to number seven? I assume it the “long end” not the short end that would come off the plug. Is that correct? To help clarify what I’m saying, if you pulled the wire out of the connector, you would only have the long end.

 

[4wheelinbum]

Old post I know... but a great one! Would this work for my 2013 SR5 4runner. My TPMS is NOT behind the glovebox, I have looked. Thanks a bunch!

 

[Old Tanker]

I had a nearly identical experience a few weeks ago with my 2019 during a 200 mile trip. It was colder than normal - maybe that chilled a TPMS battery or something. I added a few pounds of air, the light went off, but it came back on after a few minutes of driving. Went solid each time. Didn't happen at all for the return trip.

I can use a scan tool and see the tire pressure values, so the vehicle system has the data. Toyota just didn't think it was worth programming the dashboard to show such useful information on one of the screen display options. There is no reason not to have an option for detailed information like tire pressure, transmission temperature, etc.

First, thanks to those who posted solutions to disabling the TPMS dashboard light. Not being a big fan of messing with panels (always fearful of braking this or that tab, having to chase replacement clips and so on), I favor the PCB mod that involves making a short on the TPMS module between pin 5 and 6. (see other post). This is what I experienced, and on which I would like some commenting: (2018 4Runner-5thgen SR5 premium).
1. I have no need to lower my tire pressure (not much off-roading).
2. I fundamentally dislike any system that displays erroneous info (i.e light coming on when pressure is fine). see Boeing Max issue with sensors for example of a dramatic engineering arrogance.
3. I found that the spare does NOT have a TPMS sensor (a opposed to my previous 4Runner- 2008, 4th gen).
4. Leaving for a trip(>200 miles) light came on flashing. Stopped. check pressure. All good. Resumed travel. Light went from blinking to solid. Disappeared a few minutes later. Outside temp in high 40s.
5. light came back a week later. First flashing upon ignition then solid then disappearing. Read about it: ah, bad sensor and/or onboard battery.
6. Light flashing as above, then stays on for good. Happens on every local trip. Check pressure again. Investigate spare, found there is no sensor (was messing with my previous 4 runner with 25F ambient).
7. read blogs, decide to make a mod. installed a piece of black electrical tape on cluster temporarily (pretty ghetto and not quite satisfying as I can still see the glow- OCD I guess?). Will address mod a bit later.
8. Went on a another trip (>200 miles). Light flashes, stays on, disappeared at one time. Never back since then.

I have a feeling it will come back, but I wonder if someone experienced this sort of events sequence and had the system remained quiet thereafter ?(I seriously doubt that the module has some sort of AI, learning to ignore one of the failed TPMS sensor after a while!).

Note: love my 4Runner but still..2018 and no individual readout of tire pressure. HOw did I manage 50 years of driving, several flats without TPMS, dang..

 

[glwood54]

I had a nearly identical experience a few weeks ago with my 2019 during a 200 mile trip. It was colder than normal - maybe that chilled a TPMS battery or something. I added a few pounds of air, the light went off, but it came back on after a few minutes of driving. Went solid each time. Didn't happen at all for the return trip.

I can use a scan tool and see the tire pressure values, so the vehicle system has the data. Toyota just didn't think it was worth programming the dashboard to show such useful information on one of the screen display options. There is no reason not to have an option for detailed information like tire pressure, transmission temperature, etc.

What scan tool do you use?

 

[progress4m]

What scan tool do you use?

I am personally using Scan Gauge 2 to displays tire pressure.
Fun fact: TPMS sensors can also provide tire\sensor temperature and Scan Gauge 2 displays that as well.

 

[jbgrunner]

This method works! The dealer wanted $1000 to replace all my TPMS sensors and reprogram the system. Forget that. I followed the instructions with a lot of faith and it WORKED! I've driven cars without these for half a century. If you can check your own tires then who needs this system. Thanks!

 

[MDFI29]

good to know