Riktor

I have a 2006 Scion TC.

With a cross-country drive on the horizon, I took my vehicle into an auto shop for some preventative maintenance. I had the brakes, tires, and battery replaced, in addition to an oil change.

About an hour after driving the vehicle out of the shop, my low tire pressure indicator tripped. My wife took the car back to the shop that evening, and they reset the sensor.

About three hundred feet from my apartment, the indicator tripped again. We got back into the car to drive back to the auto shop. This time, the engine started cranking prior to ignition, as if the battery were bad.

This time, the folks at the auto shop tell us the alternator is bad and needs replacement. At this point, however, I am skeptical. I brought the vehicle in for preventative measures, not because there was anything specifically wrong with my vehicle. Prior to taking the car into the shop, I'd experienced none of these issues.

Assuring me I would not be held to the cost of parts of labor should the alternator not prove the culprit, I allowed the auto shop to proceed as planned.

A few hours later, the battery indicator tripped... and then the low tire pressure indicator again.

I am suspicious the auto shop may have installed a defective - or the incorrect - battery. Anyone have any idea what may be going on?

ESEMRFOZZ13

they worked you, just driving after proper air pressure check, light would have gone away. i've used after market wheels without sensors, and light shuts off except passed 100+mph. my battery is the oem from 2006, i've deep cycle charged it, and it keeps on going strong.

sciontc_mich

you need to STAY away from that shop! ESEMRFOZZ13, is correct, they did work you over. Chances are they screwed you with a battery that's bad, if you take it to autozone they'll test it for free. Autozone uses a new battery load tester that's not as accurate as the old kind they had, it's more of a pass/fail one now.. so if the voltage falls below 10.9volts during the load test they fail it. I'll bet money that they test yours and it comes up as "Fail". It's up to you to fight that shop, but they sound like they're making stuff up. To test your alternator all you need is a simple multimeter set to dc voltage, put the red lead on the battery and the black on the negative while the car is running.. my tC is running 13.5v at idle with no load (no lights, hvac fan, etc). so ya you can check that yourself..

..stay away from that shop, i feel they'd really try more stuff JUST to get more money out of you.. and we don't want to see your tC all hacked up by some greedy mechanic. If the battery is bad, just get another one at autozone, and be done with it..

also.. has anyone taken a tire pressure gauge to check the tires? maybe you really have a leak? you can reset it all day but it's going to trip if it's reading a 25% air loss, i think that's the number it takes to trip the tire indicator light.

TTCCC

You learned a valuable lesson here. Find a new auto shop. Also on a side note, you do not replace a battery for preventative maintenance.

Basebllstar

I've got a 2006. The reason your TPMS light keeps coming on is because we don't have the traditional pressure sensors. We have the wheel speed sensors that detect a difference in speed when a tire goes low. Because of this, any changes to the wheels, a rotation or new tires for instance, will trip the system. Pressing the reset button in the glovebox will only reset the light, it will not relearn the wheel speeds. It will come on again. It has been a while since I completely reset mine, so check your manual. Theres some procedure to learn the new wheel speeds, it takes like 100 miles for the system to learn it.

As for your battery issues, I'd get a second opinion and then go back to the original shop for your money back.

TTCCC

I am unaware of another way to reset your tire sensor. You should be able to reset it in the glovebox then while you drive after that it "re-learns" the pressure.

Lil_Deuce_tCoupe

iTrader: (9)

You have to hold the reset button until the light blinks 3 times. If you just hold it until the light goes off, the light will come back on again after a few miles.
Page from the Service Manual, item 1c:
https://www.scionlife.com/tech/manua.../tc05_0572.gif

Basebllstar

^^^ That. Read your manuals people.