QuestionQUESTION: Hi Ted, I recently replaced the tires on my 07 Camry with those of the correct size but a different brand. It was done at COSCO. The tires were filled with nitrogen. A few days later, shortly after driving over a rough dirt road, the tire pressure light on the dash came on. It flashes after the car is started and then remains on, which indicated to me that there is a problem with the system. I checked all of the tire pressures and they measured correctly. I reset the system using the button in the glove compartment,as indicated in the owner's manual, but the problem is still there. Can you give me some indication of what happened? If one of the tire sensors was damaged, how can you determine which one it is? Is there an easy way of just turning the light off? Can I pass New York inspection with the light on? Thanks, George
ANSWER: Without knowing what year and model it is I don't know which TPWS sytem you have, so please give me a year/model and tell me if the valve stems are rubber or metal.
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QUESTION: Hi Ted, Thanks for getting back to me. The vehicle I am referring to regarding the tire pressure sensors, is a 2007 Toyota Camry 4 cylinder LE. The valve stems are metal. George
AnswerI have seen this many times before, an independent tire store damaging one of the sensors, most of these places don't know how to deal with this because it requires special equipment now to find out which sensor is damaged, after the defective sensor is replaced it has to be programmed using the dealer's diagnostic computer. You should first go back to Costco and tell them that the light stays on and you suspect that one of the sensors was damaged and they should accept responsibility,if they do so they will usually keep the car and send it to a toyota dealer to replace and program the sensor or they tell you to take it there and then present them with the repair bill for reimbursement, or they may flatly refuse to do anything. The dealer has a diagnostic tool made for the TPWS system that can locate the defective sensor without removing it from the tire, then they replace the sensor and connect the techstream computer to input all the code numbers including the new one into the TPWS computer, as soon as all tires are transmitting correct pressure information the light goes out.
