How Do I Reset The Tire Pressure Light In A Toyota?
Four ways to turn off the dashboard light after fixing your tire issue.
Toyota
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The tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) is a feature installed on all modern cars to keep drivers up-to-date on tire inflation. Many Toyotas like the 4Runner also include a gauge cluster readout that shows the individual pressure for each tire. If inflation substantially rises or drops beyond a safe range the system illuminates a warning light on the dashboard that indicates there's a problem with the tire.
Here's how to reset the tire pressure light in a Toyota once you've dealt with any inflation problems.
How To Reset The Tire Pressure Light
Once you have properly inflated the tire or tires that were triggering the light, the system should reset itself automatically. In some cases, this will occur as soon as you turn the ignition on again, but if the light stays illuminated there are a couple of ways you can trigger the sensors to re-read tire air pressure and reset the light.
While parked, turn the Toyota on without starting the engine. This either means turning the key in the ignition to the “On” mode or tapping the start button without pushing the brake pedal.
Reach under and to the left of the steering wheel and feel for the TPMS reset button and hold it until the light on the dashboard blinks three times. Start the engine, and within 20 minutes the system should reset itself.
You can also simply go for a drive. When traveling at speeds of more than 50 mph, the tire pressure monitoring system should take no more than 10 minutes to accurately read the inflation level in each tire. Hit the road for a bit, turn off the vehicle, and turn it back on again—the tire pressure light should now be off.
There are two other reset methods that require a little elbow grease to get done. The first is to simply disconnect the positive battery cable from the car, and then crank the ignition and honk for three seconds to discharge any remaining energy in the system. With the battery reconnected, the TPMS will automatically reset.
A more involved technique is to over inflate each tire to at least 3 psi more than the owner's manual recommendation, then deflate each tire completely—not just the tires on the car, but the spare as well—before re-inflating each one to the recommended psi. This can be very time consuming, and should be considered as a last-ditch effort if nothing else works.
Why Is My Tire Pressure Light On?
TPMS uses a set of wheel-mounted sensors that keep constant tabs on the pressure inside each tire. This information is transmitted at regular intervals to the vehicle's computer. If pressure is outside what's considered normal, the computer illuminates the warning light on the dashboard.
How To Keep The Tire Pressure Light Off
One of the best ways to prevent the TPMS light from coming back on is to keep track of your vehicle's tire pressures. You can do this visually by walking around your Toyota once a week to see if any tires look low, or you can make scanning through the tire pressure display on the dashboard a regular part of your driving routine at the beginning and end of the day.
