TPMS light blinking

[billp]

Hi

Had a set of new Revo's put on 6 days ago. I had to have one of the TPMS sensors replaced as one was broken.

Firestone dealer did all the work.

All seemed to be fine for the past 200 miles. Just tonight the TPMS light starting blinking.

Pressure is fine in all the tires. Manual says the TPMS system malfunctioned.

Anyone have experience with this and advice? should I take it back to the Firestone shop or the Toyota dealer????

 

[toto]

Definitely go to a Toyota dealer. The TPMS registers OBD codes, so the dealer can confirm what I suspect is the problem: when you have a sensor replaced, you need to have the transmitter's ID number programmed into the TPMS computer. Otherwise, the computer is still trying to find the old sensor. I doubt that the Firestone dealer has the Toyota-specific scan tool required to do that computer change.

 

[charlier180]

Hi

Had a set of new Revo's put on 6 days ago. I had to have one of the TPMS sensors replaced as one was broken.

Firestone dealer did all the work.

All seemed to be fine for the past 200 miles. Just tonight the TPMS light starting blinking.

Pressure is fine in all the tires. Manual says the TPMS system malfunctioned.

Anyone have experience with this and advice? should I take it back to the Firestone shop or the Toyota dealer????

Just wondering WHERE the Firestone Dealer got the replacement TPMS sensor?
Sure hope the replacement is compatable with the Toyota TPMS system?

When you say the "Pressure is fine in all the tires" does that include the Spare Tire?
Many, many, times a blinking TPMS light is the result of a spare tire that is low on air.
BTW, have you measured the tire pressure in all 5 tires since you purchased the new tires? What pressure are you running?

 

[billp]

Re: Re: TPMS light blinking

Answers:

I bought the replacement sensor myself from the local Toyota dealer and hand carried it to Firestone.

Firestone registered (or at least attempted to) all 5 tires including the spare.

All tires (including the spare) are at 40lbs. Confirmed them all last night after the light came on.

Just wondering WHERE the Firestone Dealer got the replacement TPMS sensor?
Sure hope the replacement is compatable with the Toyota TPMS system?

When you say the "Pressure is fine in all the tires" does that include the Spare Tire?
Many, many, times a blinking TPMS light is the result of a spare tire that is low on air.
BTW, have you measured the tire pressure in all 5 tires since you purchased the new tires? What pressure are you running?

 

[Kmvreter]

Re: Re: TPMS light blinking

... Many, many, times a blinking TPMS light is the result of a spare tire that is low on air...

Actually, a steady light "on" is a properly functioning system that indicates a low pressure condition, usually the spare because it is forgotten.

A blinking light is a system malfunction as already pointed out. Take it back to Firestone and give them a chance to correct it. They may have to "wake up" or initialize the new sensor after registering it. If they can't do it, tell them you are taking it to a Toyota stealer and will be returning with the repair invoice for them to reimburse.

 

[charlier180]

Re: Re: Re: TPMS light blinking

A blinking light is a system malfunction as already pointed out. Take it back to Firestone and give them a chance to correct it. They may have to "wake up" or initialize the new sensor after registering it. If they can't do it, tell them you are taking it to a Toyota stealer and will be returning with the repair invoice for them to reimburse.

Thanks for correcting my earlier mis-statement.

I forgot the difference between the blinking and steady light. My 4Runner's TPMS light blinks when it does not see all the sensors. My snow tires do not have the sensors. When I park near the regular tires that have the sensors the system resets and the blinking stops. If I drive about 50 miles the TPMS light starts blinking.

 

[jhkorn]

Multiple low tires can cause blinking.

After driving home when the temp dropped to the teens and snowing my light starting blinking and wouldn't go out. I checked the tires and all were really low due to a sudden temp drop. Two days later I had them all filled including the spare and the light went out. It's my conclusion that blinking can also mean multiple sensors are reporting low pressure or can mean a malfunction. So fill all tires including spare, wait a few minutes and see if the light goes out.

 

[AE1M]

Answers:

I bought the replacement sensor myself from the local Toyota dealer and hand carried it to Firestone.

Firestone registered (or at least attempted to) all 5 tires including the spare.

All tires (including the spare) are at 40lbs. Confirmed them all last night after the light came on.

40! Kinda high isnt that? Might as well put on cement tires!

 

[oljedi11950]

Nah not to bad, mine are at 42psi !

 

[BlackWorksInc]

After driving home when the temp dropped to the teens and snowing my light starting blinking and wouldn't go out. I checked the tires and all were really low due to a sudden temp drop. Two days later I had them all filled including the spare and the light went out. It's my conclusion that blinking can also mean multiple sensors are reporting low pressure or can mean a malfunction. So fill all tires including spare, wait a few minutes and see if the light goes out.

Blinking indicates a fault in the system, typically a fault in communication between the sensors and the module.

A steady light means the sensor had communicated with the module and the module has determined that the sensor's value is below threshold.

What may have happened with your vehicle is that for whatever reason the sensor went into "sleep mode" and/or did not respond when pinged by the module. By adding air to the tire, you woke the sensor up and the module was able to communicate with it. Typically this can happen with sensors who's batteries are starting to fail as they seem to flicker in and out; the sensors themselves are actually switching between on and off to extend battery life as the TPMS module doesn't monitor tire pressure 24/7 (hence why some members don't even get blinking lights until many miles later.)

 

[kakuno]

Are the TPMS sensors sensitive to anything other than either the low tire pressure or a miss-communication with the programming? My light has come on periodically for no apparent reason. But I did have a shake in the front end and after re-balancing the tires and checking the front end for problems (new rotors are needed for the front as well) we decided to try hub centric rings for my aftermarket rims and now with the shake gone the light has also gone off.

thoughts?

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Are the TPMS sensors sensitive to anything other than either the low tire pressure or a miss-communication with the programming? My light has come on periodically for no apparent reason. But I did have a shake in the front end and after re-balancing the tires and checking the front end for problems (new rotors are needed for the front as well) we decided to try hub centric rings for my aftermarket rims and now with the shake gone the light has also gone off.

thoughts?

Not that I am aware of? Some TPMS sensors have an inertia sensing circuit that turns them on after a certain speed (Nissans are one example of this as one of their programming methodology requires setting each tire to a specific pressure and then driving over 20mph.)

But they work mainly off a radio frequency, so unless something was somehow interfering with the signal, it shouldn't have caused an issue.

 

[kakuno]

Thanks for the reply [MENTION=66389]BlackWorksInc[/MENTION]. I've read that these things are temper-mental. I've had the runner for just over a year and it's blinked at me about 5 times through out that year. Granted one of the times was for a low spare tire, but all the other times it's just been something that can't be explained. I see through maintenance records that the original owner had problems with it right from new. Might do the mod to get rid of that annoying flashing light.

 

[ben550]

when mine comes on first thing do is check the spare.

ive never had it blink tho. might not be calibrated right. id have the installers at firestone check it for you...