Why is my Highlander beeping?

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

Hi all,



My 2006 Toyota Highlander has started beeping rapidly when I’m accelerating (25-40 mph) around a curve. Last week it did it on exactly the same on-ramp at exactly the same place, and I mean exactly, on two occasions on the same day (do not ask why I’m driving in circles).



The only recent change was a new tire, which may have a faulty sensor: the “low tire pressure” warning light keeps coming on, no matter how many times I have the professionals shut it off.



I’ve checked the tire pressure several times, and had professionals check it too, to no avail.



I’ve also had an oil change recently . . . come to think of it, the beeping started after that.



The beeping occurs twice in a day, then not for several days, even through a 250+ mile trip.



This is not the “ding, ding” sound of an open door or unbuckled seat belt – it’s a fast beeping, 5 or 6 beeps, then it stops.



Could this be a faulty fuse warning? A VSC or ESC correction (I don’t know what those mean, I just pulled them off Toyota sites on the web.)



Help! Am I doomed?

2

Toyota’s traction control beeps when it activates. I find it very annoying. And if the tires on your Highlander are anywhere as bad as the ones on my office’s Rav4, accelerating around a curve at those speeds would be enough to make them slip slightly, which would make traction control kick in.

3

Check your owner’s manual for the instructions to “reinitialize” the Tire Pressure Monitoring System…NOT to “reset”, but to “reinitialize”. That allows a new baseline to be established by the system.

I’ve had to do this with my '05 Scion when getting new tires.

Note that the TPMS and the TCS (if you have it) both use the same wheel speed sensor signals, so reinitialization should solve both problems.

4

Is your vehicle AWD? IF it is, and you only replaced 1 tire with the others being worn down a bit, it could be an early indication of something more expensive going wrong

5

Thanks, all, for your help. The vehicle is not AWD, so the solution is, hopefully, not expensive. I took it back to the (good) tire guys, and they agreed with ?thesamemountainbike? and ?bscar?: The new tire is slightly larger than the other three, so the system ?senses? a loss of traction, and the solution is reinitialization.

Good calls, people. I appreciate the help.

MissAligned

6

Hopefully you’ve caught the problem before it became too expensive to fix. Since it isn’t AWD, then you will likely come out ahead

7

For the low tire pressure warning light: also check your spare. The light will come on even if the 4 tires on your car have adequate pressure but the spare is low. Would be nice if the indicator light indicated which tire was low!