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Tootsall: If all 4 sensors go blank on the display all at once, does this mean the module is dead ? I assume if one sensor on a single wheel goes out the other 3 will keep working. This distinction seems important.. Thanks. Dan
No. Per the manual, if even one sensor has a weak battery or has otherwise failed, all four will display dashes. "Indicates that the tire position information cannot be displayed". Don't know if you have the manual but it's on page 784 of the '14 MY.
The button is awkward to find but is "very" slightly to the left of the centre line of the steering column and just "behind" (towards the front of vehicle) the bottom edge of the lower dash cover. You can find it by feeling around (fumbling)...it's a small, raised round button on a squarish module about 1" square. The orange "module" in the image faces directly down towards the floor.
You do have to press and hold while the TPM alarm light flashes three times. Also note that sometimes you then have to drive for a bit (maybe 1-5 minutes?) before it starts to register properly. If you're doing all that then Note that the manuals only state that you should go to your dealer to get the replacement sensor IDs properly registered.....no need to do that if the replacements have been "cloned" to the same ID numbers as the OEM units they replaced.
Pressing the reset button too many times or when it’s searching for a sensor ID it can’t find the system might lock you out completely. Then you will need a proper scan tool/ tpms tool to get it back to normal.
You do have to press and hold while the TPM alarm light flashes three times. Also note that sometimes you then have to drive for a bit (maybe 1-5 minutes?) before it starts to register properly. If you're doing all that then Note that the manuals only state that you should go to your dealer to get the replacement sensor IDs properly registered.....no need to do that if the replacements have been "cloned" to the same ID numbers as the OEM units they replaced.
Maybe it wasn't clear that I was just making an exaggerated joke. I didn't mean literally pressing it "dozens of times at once". Just that it's hard to find fsr even if you've done it before.
Maybe it wasn't clear that I was just making an exaggerated joke. I didn't mean literally pressing it "dozens of times at once". Just that it's hard to find fsr even if you've done it before.
I have changed a few TPMS sensors for my friend at his service station. The Asian cars either need the new sensors cloned with the original ID of the replaced sensor, or if pre-programmed sensors are installed, the new ID numbers have to be uploaded through the ODB port for the car to recognize them. I am fortunate to have access to a decent TPMS tool.
The VCI cable is the gizmo. It is usually ~$10 for Techstream and $35 for the cable. The item on eBay seems to be the right one.
I am not 100% the fault is in the module - it could be that more than 1 sensor is dying. But at $30 for the module it is much cheaper to start there vs replacing all four sensors.
Reviving this thread now. I got the VCI cable and Techstream, and got it up and running. Just learning my way around, It seems flaky, more often than not I get an error when trying to access an ECU:
so not sure what's happening with that. Had to dig out a pretty old PC with Windows 7, so maybe it's a bit underpowered. After a few restarts, disconnects and reconnects, etc., I can eventually get in.
So to recap, my TPMS warning light was on and would not reinitialize - pressing the under-dash button had no effect. When I was able to get into the TPMS ECU in Techstream, I saw on the Trouble Codes tab two entries: one that one of the sensors had failed, and there was an X in the "History" column. I guess that's the sensor that got replaced. Then a second entry said "Initialization failure", with X in both "Current" and "History" column (think I have the column headings correct, I didn't screenshot it). When I looked at the Data List tab, everything looks normal to my untrained eye:
Without knowing really what I was doing, I forged ahead and cleared the Trouble codes, which made the TPMS indicator disappear. Then I disconnected and turned the car off, and performed the TPMS reset with the under-dash button. It did the three blinks as it's supposed to, and I figured I was home free - but the instrument panel display still just shows dashes for all four tires. I drove it extensively after the reset, and I've tried a few more times, but nada.
The TPMS warning indicator has not come back, and when I go back into Techstream there's no errors logged at all.
So looking for some more advice:
Recommended procedure(s) from here
Is it possible to make the Techstream sw more reliable
Is there a publicly-available online tutorial, manual, or something for the software?
Not sure at what point you changed at least one of the sensors but that year has specific sensors. The wrong one will turn off the light but won’t show pressure.
It is possible that the tech who originally installed any new sensors made a typo when (if), he cloned any as the system has not worked properly since the change. Since the original sensor (and its ID code) are now long gone it’s too late to try to back check and re-clone them (it). I think at this point it may be necessary to pop in to a dealer and get the car “programmed” to accept the (new?) codes that Carista and Techstream are displaying.
This past Saturday I found a flat snow tire with a wood screw jammed in the shoulder of the tire. I grabbed one of my all season tires and changed it until I could get to a shop for a replacement (they won’t repair a sidewall puncture). Hit the reset button but the alarm light would not go out…obviously the replacement tire TPMS had the same ID code as one of my other three snow tires so the car was seeing a duplicate code. Got the snow tire replaced and reinstalled this morning and without even hitting the reset button, all indications including pressures are back to normal. The system works great but the car has to know what ID code to look for with no discrepancies, duplications, or omissions.
If your problem is with a pickup or wiring, then you’ll have to go to the dealer anyway so time to bite the bullet.
Lesson here is, if your system is displaying correctly then get the current ID codes, write them down (preferably in your manual), and save them in a safe place.
AFAIK some cables work better than others. Sometimes upgrading the cable firmware may help. I do not know how to do it though - just remember someone suggesting it. My cable seems to work fine.
About the "---" dashes. If the light is off but you still get the dashes it means the car failed "localization" - a process in which a car determines location of each sensor (FR, FL, RR, RL). 6th gen ES has two transmitters that request sensors to start broadcasting - one for the front two sensors and one for the rear two. Left-or-right is determined by direction of rotation of each sensor (AFAIK). Aftermarket sensors are more sensitive and initiated by either transmitter - and the car cannot tell front-or-rear. TPMS continues to work but the car displays dashes just because it cannot figure out where to display each pressure.
Since your error code is gone - maybe the problem is the only aftermarket sensor? Try to move it to a different location on the car - I once got localization to work by having 1 oem and 3 aftermarket sensors at the same time. Most of the time 3 oem + 1 aftermarket should work.
More information could be found in the TIS under "new car features"
Ok, that might explain some of my issue. My cable is the 1.4.1 firmware - I'd already done this screenshot:
I guess it would help to get the newer cable, but it sucks that I'm out the funds for the first.
Guess I don't really understand how the IDs could be "wrong" per se, because the software sees all 4 IDs and associates them with all the pertinent information. I'm going to have a look at that other section under the TIS and (assuming I can get into it) and I'll report back.
11-09-22, 12:55 PM
Note that the manuals only state that you should go to your dealer to get the replacement sensor IDs properly registered.....no need to do that if the replacements have been "cloned" to the same ID numbers as the OEM units they replaced.
Now what?
