Hi. I have a 2006 prius. Yesterday I harshly rode up on a curb on both my front and back tires (I was making a 3-point turn on a narrow street because I accidentally went the wrong way on a one-way street and panicked a little). This morning I see that the tire pressure monitor is on. The tires seem ok though I have not had them checked yet (getting a pressure gauge later today or tomorrow). Might this be because those maneuvers messed up the tire pressure sensors? Has anyone heard of this happening?
If the TPMS light flashes first when you turn on the car and the stays on it is very likely that one of the sensors was damaged by the curb. The good news is that you can have a new one installed at Walmart for $30 including part, programming and tire mounting labor.
Did the indicator light flash for half a minute before turning on solid? Or was it solid immediately? If it did some flashing first, it would suggest a damaged / dead sensor. If it was went solid immediately, it would suggest actual loss of air pressure.
Very possible the curbs damaged (pinched) a tire but I also noticed the OP is in NY. And it's mid-sept. A drop in temperature means a drop in tire pressure. Mornings are cooler. And since the OP doesn't own a tire gauge, I'll hazard to assume they haven't been keeping up with tire pressures which slowly leak over time.
Not in my area you can't. Because the Auto Service Department at WalMart is still closed. But yes, the transducer is located in the valve stem assembly. And this kind of result is fairly common. But then so is actual pressure loss from hitting a curb or other big obstruction.
If these are old orig TPMS, you are well over expected life. Otherwise you probably damaged one. You could use Techstream or a TPMS reader to debug to see which tire is bad. We have not heard too many damaged Toyota OEM TPMS....they are pretty robust. But your car probably has replacement TPMS of ??brand name. If they are orig, you have set a new world record so you need new ones anyways or live with the light, if allowed by NY.
update: So it turns out that my tires were all quite under-inflated. The front tires were at around 20psi, the back ones at around 30psi. The warning light turned off after I inflated the front two tires. Glad that the sensors caught that! (I am new to car ownership and have much to learn) Thank you everyone for your help
Great, glad you determine the cause. Keep researching/asking when you don't know. There's a lot of info here on both Prius and general automotive subjects. Also, please read your owners manual. It's not the most exciting reading but it will answer a lot of newbie type questions.
I asked two weeks ago at my Walmart and they said the price per sensor for Toyota is $28.14 plus tax but they did not have it in stock. I will go to install them this week and let you know the exact total. Of course these tpms sensors are not OEM that lasted 14 years. I tried to buy one OEM online with the best reviews from Amazon. I received it, registered it with Techstream my self and then paid $20 to install it at a local tire store. The sensor never activated or transmitted any pressure to Techstream live data so I asked for a refund. Waste of time and $20 but at least did not pay for a non working sensor.