2006 4Runner Tire Light

Maintenance/Repairs
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Question: This is for a Toyota 2006 4-Runner
Had a flat tire and after repairing, the Low Tire Pressure warning light did not go off. Toyota wants over $200 just to reset it. I have researched this and found several solutions online. None of them worked.
Any Ideas?
Here are some of the solutions I tried:

  1. Some models actually have a reset button located under dash, or in glove compartment. Mine does not.
  2. Deflate all the tires, including spare. Then re-inflate to the correct PSI. This didn’t work.

thank you

2

If you have a full size spare it might have a monitor and be low. Also the vehicle is 10 years old so the sensors might need replacing, any tire shop can do that. The dealer 200.00 is most likely to replace all of the sensors because at 10 years the batteries are ready to quit.

2 Likes
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Hi,
Thank you for responding.
One of the sensors (rear right) was replaced by the repair shop after I took the car in thinking that I had a slow leak or a potential flat. As it turned it was exactly what you said; that sensor was damaged. The shop replaced and calibrated all of the tires including the full sized spare to the new sensor however the tire light would not go out. The owner of the garage checked all of the other sensors plus he spent hours trying to reset the light to no avail.
We have researched how to reset the tire light on a 2006 4Runner but we cannot find anyone who knows how to so in hopes of finding someone with that piece of information we turned to the CarTalk Community.
We are hoping that someone out there knows and can help us. It is a little nerve wracking traveling any distance with that light on because if something is wrong we won;t know until it is too late.
Thanks again.

4

My 2005 had the sensors replaced and the light continued to come on because, as it turns out, they were not quite the right length and weren’t properly seated. It might pay to double check the sensor that was put in. Alternatively, it could be one of the other sensors that is triggering the signal. As has been pointed out, the rest of them are old and could be failing.

5

Did they use the Denso OEM sensors? If not, that could be the problem.

6

I believe I know what went wrong at the shop

Toyota vehicles require that the mechanic manually enter the id number of the new sensor into the system, using a factory-level scan tool

And you also have to tell the system what id number is in which location, 1 -5, and you also have to take the spare into account

You either have to write down the id number on a piece of paper, or you have to have a tpms tool capable of interrogating the sensor and displaying that number on the screen. Many shops don’t have such a high line tool, because they’re extremely expensive

And to further complicate things, when you enter the id number manually, one digit gets left off, the first one, I believe

Programming new sensors on a Toyota, and getting the system reinitialized, is far more difficult on a Toyota, versus a Chevy or Ford

I strongly suspect the shop either didn’t have a scanner capable of communicating with the tpms module, or they didn’t know how to properly enter the new id number

It’s also possible one of the other sensors has a weak battery, strong enough to communicate with the tpms tool, but too weak for the tpms module to see it

Based on the age of the vehicle, I think it would have been prudent to replace all 5 sensors. I’ve never seen sensors last longer than 8 years, so they’re definitely on their last legs, by now, if they’re still the originals

I don’t mean to sound pessimistic, and I don’t mean to imply the shop was clueless, but I’ve seen guys get themselves into trouble, working on tpms on Toyotas

7

Try asking the parts window guy to look up the “initialization procedure” for your vehicle’s TPMS system. It might be in a “Technical Shop Bulletin” (TSB) format. This is what Toyota uses to set the system in preparation for delivery on new cars.

Mine for my '05 Scion is in the owner’s manual in a separate section from the “TPMS reset” instruction. I’ll see if I can dig it out tomorrow when I go out if you don’t have an answer by then, on the possibility that it just might be the same system. It’s 10:35pm where I am and freezing.

8

The replacement tire pressure sensor must be registered to the vehicle before the system can be initialized and it appears the this vehicle does not have a switch to initialize the pressure thresholds.

You will have to find a tire shop that can register your new transmitter or visit a dealer. You can expect to pay up to one hour of labor to register your sensors.

1 Like
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We’ve done it ALL… every single thing listed above by a Toyota specialists (supposedly). Replaced all 5, back in for multiple dash lights, replaed brake sensor, back in, replaced bad TPMS sensor, then tech damaged a valve so we were back in, then replaced gas cap as engine light was on. This is all in a week 1/2 period!!! Finally thought we had it all fixed… 2 days later, TPMS light back on. Can we EVER get this fixed?

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There HAS TO BE A REASON this is happening… am I crazy? There really has to be a reason!