The issue was with the front passenger tire (ID code of the tire pressure warning system valve & transmitter was incorrectly registered) and when asked if the recoded all 4 tires into ECU the head technician said he did, but apperntly the 7digit ID code data was not entered correctly in the front passenger tire and had to reprogram all 4 ID codes into ECU again today.

So far so good, but I will know after at least a couple of days if the issue is fixed...

 

Just received the following reply from Transport Canada re my request for tire monitoring information. It explains why US vehicles have tire monitoring and Canadian don't!
Presumably Toyota agree with Tranport Canada, or they would be including it on all vehicles?


"At present, tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) are not required on new vehicles sold in Canada. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published a Federal Regulation requiring that by September 2007 all new vehicles sold in the United States, weighing 10,000 lbs (4 536 kgs) or less, will have a signaling system on the instrument panel that warns the driver when a tire is significantly under-inflated.

Transport Canada's investigations have not revealed a pattern of motor vehicle collisions caused by tire failure. The Department encourages motorists to ensure their tires are properly maintained. Tips on good tire maintenance can be found on the Transport Canada website at www.tc.gc.ca. It is expected that some vehicles sold in Canada will offer TPMS. Motorists who experience tire failure or problems with TPMS can call TC defect investigators toll-free at 1-800-333-0371 to determine the nature of the concern.

Transport Canada will continue to monitor the effectiveness of TPMS. Should this system prove to provide additional safety benefits to Canadians, the Department will consider taking similar action.

Regulations Officer
Road Safety and Motor Vehicle Regulation Directorate
Email: MotorVehicleStandardsResearch@tc.gc.ca "

 

Thanks for those information. But what can we do?
Does that mean if there are plenty of accidents obvious caused by under-inflated tire, transport canada will change it?

 

Low tire pressure will lead to tire heating up when driving and possible blow up. I would speculate, much higher average temperatures in US may be contributing risk factor, not present in Canada. Also, I believe low quality Firestone sold tires, which had tendency to blow up and resulting deaths were main reason for the changed law in US. The publicity surounding that huge recall made enough noise in the press for changes to take place. BTW I'm surprised it is not offered as an option in Canada, pretty much any option on a car is nice profit maker for a dealer and car manufacturer alike so not sure why not in this case.

 

Toyota Canada typically has always limited the option packages they provide compared with US models. The TCH is no exception as it has 4 option pkgs in the US and only 1 in Canada. When I bought my Sienna LE, the choice was 7 or 8 seat, period (color aside). In the US the LE seemed to have so many option packages it looked like they might run out of letters.

As to why, my only guess is that with only 10% the population to sell to compared with US, Toyota Canada is trying to reduce inventory carrying costs by reducing the amount of variation in their inventory. I guess cost reductions here outweigh the extra profit on any specific option upgrades.

I'd agree on this. Although the recalls were done in Canada too, I don't recall hearing anyone actually having the same catestrophic failures here. 90F for 3 or 4 weeks is considered an unusually brutally hot summer.

 

I find the TPMS useless without run-flat tires. For people who like to customize their cars, specifically aftermarket wheels, the TPMS just makes it a hassle to switch wheels. I don't want to spend the money on a second set of sensors (about $500/set from the dealer), so now I need to switch-out the sensors into my new wheels, then if I ever want to sell the car, I need to switch the sensors back into the stock wheels. There are very few aftermarket wheels which will not accept the TPMS sensors.

 

On the contrary, TPMS is quiet useful IMO. The problem is high speed rated tires have very strong side walls and they won't show low until they get bellow 20PSI. I drive and depend a lot on my car, so I'm pretty good about maintenace, probably much better than most and often I wouldn't check my tires for months, so I bet some people never check their tires untill they go flat. Since TPMS are required on all new 2007 cars, aftermarket wheel makers will need to adopt to it. Besides who is telling you to move the sensors? If you feel they are useless, don't bother with it, simply put new rims without TPMS, the car should recognize there are no sensors and never give you any warnings, just like the system wasn't even there. I read somewhere that the extra cost of TPMS system is way bellow $100 at the factory, those dealer prices will come down and you will also have plenty of those sensors in old wheels, maybe even less expensive aftermarket replacements. The whole technology is based on computer chip and here prices will keep on going down as production increases, I bet in few years new sensor will cost as little as tire pressure valve cap. Of course the whole idea is that TPMS, just like all 7 airbags, ABS breaks, VDIM and whole bunch of other safety related items will be useless, in a sense that they never have to deploy, hopefully you'll never have an accident, flat tire or slide out of control.

 

Actually, it's the reverse. Without the sensors, the warning will flash continously.