TPMS receiver black hole

Situation: 07 Tundra limited crewmax. Replaced original 20” wheels with the new style 18” TRD wheels and put on BFG KO2 tires. I got the wheels from a guy on Craigslist who had just bought a new tundra and wanted to lift and get new super mega wheels and tires etc, so I was stoked to get essentially new wheels. He stripped the original TPMS sensors from the wheels. When I got the new tires mounted at Costco, they also put in new Redi-sensor TPMS sensors. I thought I was home free. But I soon went on a small road trip and noticed that the dreaded TPMS warning light was on. Pulled over and looked at the tires and nothing seemed wrong. I took it back into Costco and the poor guy spent an hour trying to re-program. He said all the codes were appearing but something didn’t seem right. It was fine until I went out of town again and the light came back on. Thereafter when I started the car it flashed for a minute or so and then remained lit. Costco said it was a “Toyota thing” I needed to take it to Toyota. So when I was getting something else done at Toyota I asked the technician to reset the TPMS system. He had the same experience as the guy at Costco, but said I could replace the whole system for $1600. “Um, no thank you.” Another trip out of town and the light came back on.

I did quite a bit of internet sleuthing and it appears the system will engage and communicate with itself after about 30 miles—which is why it seemed fine after it was reset by Costco and Toyota but tripped on the error light when I went out of town. I thought it might be the computer or a defective TPMS sensor, but both Costco and Toyota said they didn’t think that was the case. Then I came across a couple YouTube videos that discussed this exact issue. It appears a very likely culprit is a TPMS receiver (antenna) that’s mounted under the headliner in the back of the cab. It's a simple plug and play part. Apparently this part fails a lot but damn near the entire vehicle maintenance world is clueless. It is such a conundrum the TPMS gods have people routinely resorting to putting black tape over their instrument cluster. I refuse to do that. I want my nice truck to function as intended—especially the safety-related functions. So anyway, I thought I had a potential solution until I looked at the price of OEM parts. A new replacement runs $450-$500 for the tundra. Seriously. No way can I justify $500 for a plug and play part that I’m not even 100% sure is the problem. It’s more like I’m narrowing it down and eliminating possibilities. I’ve been scouring the internet and eBay for 6 months for a used part to no avail.

I’m pretty sure the part numbers are as follows:
07-14 crewmax: 897600C020
07-14 doublecab: 897600C010

I don’t know if there is any difference in the two.

Here’s the question: are there reputable used parts shops online that would have this kind of a Toyota part available?

What are others with this problem doing because I think it’s a fairly widespread issue for the 2nd gen tundras? Thank you for all suggestions.

 

I recently bought an 08 and the light came on right after I had the truck home. Had something else come up,so I went back to the used car dealer and they said my antenna wasn't working. She said they would call when she found one. I did see where they are up there in price and would have a hard time buying used and know if it was any good. Good Luck!

 

Just thinking outloud here. Current / latest TPMS programming tools activate and record the registration numbers of the TPMS, then download (via OBD port) the registration number into the ECU. A "weak" TPMS battery may register on the tool because of the proximity of the tool to the sensor, but, might not be strong enough to be detected by the receiver antenna. Perhaps you have a sensor with a weak or failing battery.
***One way to confirm...... I have a copy of TechStream on a laptop. When plugged in, it shows the TPMS registration numbers, PSI and tire temps, per tire. You can monitor these in real time, with the laptop hooked up, go for a drive and look for the change per tire (s). I would think that if the antenna is bad you would get no pressure or temp readings at all. If just a sensor(s) is bad, it would show up in Tech Stream.

 

Find the thread on here the gives the step-by-step instructions on how to locate (under the passenger kick panel IIRC) the correct wire and then CUT IT to permanently disable the idiotic TPMS.

 

I have did this to mine, I did not want the worry of a stupid sensor that tells me my tire pressure is low. I check my tires regularly. no need for a sensor to tell me this.

 

Somewhere I saw where two wires were connected with a jumper to kill the light.

 

I have no issue with those defeating safety systems (my seat belt warning chime is turned off), but, recently while traveling at traffic flow speeds, 75-80 mph, on I-65 south of Birmingham, my TPMS light came on. I immediately slowed and exited the freeway. By the time I got stopped and checked pressure (tire was visibly low), the pressure was down to under 20 psi. It was nearly flat by the time I located a facility to repair it. The TPMS warning likely saved me from a roadside tire change or worse. IMO, when they work..............

 

"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."

SPP

 

The thread:https://www.tundras.com/threads/disable-tpms.1056/page-5#post-2128954

It's stupid you have to reprogram when switching wheels or sensors. Our MDX is basically plug and play. The new sensors never have needed reprogramming on it. I run two sets of wheels on it, one for winter the other for the rest of the time. No TPMS light when I switch.

 

Update: removed TPMS receiver from underneath headliner at back of cab as others have described. Was easier than expected. Verified that the module on the crewmax is 897600c020, not 010 (they have a different mounting piece). The only two tips I have is to drape a towel over the back seat and into the bed so you cover the gap between the cab and bed—in case you drop something, like I did. It was pretty easy to fish out but I could see something getting wedged in there and it’s just easier if something doesn’t fall between. The other tip is to be gentle with the headliner. I used my hand to carefully unsnap the clips holding the headliner up. I could see where a real aggressive approach or using a leverage tool if you didn’t know what you were going for could result in the clip-holder getting separated from the headliner, and then you just made the job a lot harder.

I ordered a used part from a salvage outfit on eBay at half the cost of new—still ridiculously expensive. I emailed them and they said the parts are all tested and work, so I’m super-hopeful to have a solution to this issue soon. I will update again when the part arrives and I test it.

 

The wire splice mod is way easier and relatively free. I would be inclined to keep it if the TPMS was accurate and even displayed individual pressures but it's neither. It's money that can be better spent elsewhere.

 

Second update. The TPMS gods were shining down benevolently today. The used replacement part arrived and I plugged it in, started the truck, and pressed the reset button under the steering column. The quickly flashing TPMS warning light changed to flash slow 3 times and then went off. Started the truck 2 more times just to make sure it would go off and it did. Appears that the needle has been threaded and the issue is SOLVED.

Flashing TPMS error light fixed by replacing TPMS receiver under headliner at back of cab. Thanks to M&M Service and Salvage Yard in Ruckersville, VA for getting the part on eBay and for answering my questions. Super fast shipping too.

Crewmax part#: 897600c020
Doublecab part#: 897600c010

 

Guys you can buy it off a sienna used ebay for like $25-$35. swap out the circuit board with your housing and its good to go. just match the 89760...the numbers after the 'c' is code for the mounting bracket. the 89760 circuit board are the same thing.

https://www.tundratalk.net/threads/tpms-lost-communication-nightmares.765560/#post-9468670

 

if your tpms receiver acts sketchy in any way, retrieve it from above the headliner (mine is 2008 tundra lmtd dblcab) and take it apart. look carefully at solder joints. one or more of your solder joints are cracked (see pic) and can be reflowed with a cheap soldering iron.

 

a wider look at same board

 

Awesome discovery. Couldn't find an antenna replacement so I figured I'd pull mine and take a look at the solder joints. They didn't look bad, but I redid them anyway on a longshot. As all electricians know, more solder is better, right? Reinstalled the sensor electrically and turned on the key. The 60 seconds of flashing was still there. Decided to do the RESET button. The quick flashing (1/sec) went to three slower (1/sec on - 1/sec off) flashes, and then the light went out. Been a couple of days with no return after years of failure indications. Fingers crossed.

Remounted the sensor to keep it from banging into my rear glass, but haven't felt so bold to resnap my headliner back into place yet. Barely hangs down and it was tough to access initially. If it falls again, I'm going to grab another antenna from a Toyota of that era that used the same sensor frequency. Read where someone successfully used one from a Sienna.