Just bought 04 Solara SE...tire pressure light question

[Justaplaythang]

The light has come on twice since I got it in May. First time only the front tire was off by 1 pound, 2nd time, it was 1 pound off of each tire. Excuse my apparent stupidity, but I just got this car after drivin a beat up 1990 Pontiac, but is the tire pressure light system just very sensitive, as in, will it always go on when as little as a pound is low? Any insight would be appreciated.

[boaclub923]

did u reset ur sensor after u pumped the air? the light should only lights up when pressure fall below 10%, or 25%. i don't remember which one, but my point is light will only lights up when pressure fall ALOT! i think u either forget to reset ur sensor or u set ur sensor wrong. just check the manual. it teaches u how to reset the sensor.

[glenb]

That does seem way too sensitive. The owner’s manual tells how to reset it. If it continues I would take it to the dealer to fix. It will be covered by the warrantee.

The only time the light on my Solara went on was after an oil change and rotation where they had the pressure 5 lbs off.

[Justaplaythang]

I did reset the sensor after each time that I did it. I called Toyota, what they told me was that there is a a sensor in the trunk, and from the factory, the spare tire is overfilled...and when a tire is either over or under filled, the sensor will go off. BUT, the spare does not have a sensor. The car has 914 miles on it now, I last added air at 730, and reset the sensor. I guess I will wait and see just how far off the readings are when the light comes on next, and if need be, pay a visit to Toyota. After they told me about the spare tire sensor, I have been leary of goin there for help. I was hopin that this was just a common thing, pleasant reminder to add some air every say 400 miles. I dont know, figured it was worth askin about. But thanks!

[sorkang724]

this happen to me dozen of times...i took it back to the dealer like 3 or 4 times...the fix the problem and about 2 hours later..the lights pop up again....so i just got tired of takin it back to the dealer.......thing u can do for temporary is ..when u stop....push the button down until the light disappear.....it works for like 30 mins and the light would come back on again. hopes this help

[Justaplaythang]

this happen to me dozen of times...i took it back to the dealer like 3 or 4 times...the fix the problem and about 2 hours later..the lights pop up again....so i just got tired of takin it back to the dealer.......thing u can do for temporary is ..when u stop....push the button down until the light disappear.....it works for like 30 mins and the light would come back on again. hopes this help

How often was this happenin to you? Got the car with 14 miles on it. Happened the frist time around 450 and then again at 730. I was tryin to make some kind of correlation between the amount of miles, and possibly that triggerin the light. But back to what I was gettin at, how often was this happenin to you? ONce a week, once a day, all the damn time, or every few hundred miles?

Im thankful for any ideas thrown out at me.

[dawp]

i have this same trouble,i noticed when i inflated to 32,which is the inflation for the v6 and i have the i4,the light came on less frequently.recently it seem to fix itself,the light hasn't come on for over 1 week now.

btw,i've had mine since april and i have 6400 mi.on it already

[Lone Solara]

I had the same problem. The light came on just a few miles after I drove the car off the lot ... go figure. I probably reset it about 30-35 times, and it would always come back after 10-15 miles. I got tired of resetting it, so I just left it alone. And then, the light suddenly went away once I hit about 1000 miles. Out of the blue. I'm up to about 3500 miles and the light didn't reappear.

There were a couple of threads a while back regarding this issue, and I think the most common problem was a loose connection.

[glenb]

There is a difference between resetting and initializing the tire pressure warning system. In my Owner’s Manual the instructions are on pages 135 and 137. I don’t know how you meet the requirement to drive over 19mph or over for more than one hour etc, etc (page137). It is important to initialize the system.

After all the problems with the left drift I have been very careful about tire pressure and use a good (not cheap) pressure gage.

We paid a lot of money for this car and all its bells and whistles and they should all work. If they don’t and the dealer’s service dept. is giving you the runaround talk to the service manager or contact Toyota directly.

[trdpower04]

I have a MAC Tools Digital Tire Pressure/Tread Depth Gauge. I highly recommend it. It will read psi and bar, and the depth gauge is handy. Very accurate, reads into the tenths on psi. I think it was like $40. Check it out!

[Justaplaythang]

Thank you much guys....atleast I know that its a common thing, and not just happenin to my car. I was startin to think everythin that I drove was machinecially cursed. Thanks again.

[sorkang724]

it happens to me about like 10 times a day.....but now instead of resseting it all the time...i just let it go...and the lights turn on and off itself

[cabacholoco]

I have the same problem on my 04 SLE V6. The dealer where I bought the car in May couldn't fix it so I asked my regular mechanic to check with his friends in Service at another dealer. They said that it is a known issue and that the fix is a new software program for the system. The system is made by Bosch and is connected to the ABS systems of cars made by several manufacturers.

So you need to tell your dealer to load the new software and the problem will be fixed.

[Jewls]

I bought my car back in May, and finally had this happen for the first time on my way here from VA. It lit up twice, I reset it both times, because the tire pressure was exactly as it should be on all 4. It has not come back on since then.

[SimplyRedSolara2004Sport]

I bought my car a year ago and has only gone off twice. I went to the dealer since it went off with in two days apart. Has never bothered me again.
The service guy told me that if it happened during straight driving it posibly was the tire pressure. But that at times if driving fast and making a quick turn it could trigger the scensor.