What does this yellow light mean on the front

It's a tire pressure warning. Don't forget to check the spare as well.

Rav4 Tire Air Pressure Fault This means your tire pressure is either too low, or the sensor has faulted. This requires calling or visiting your dealership as soon as possible.

[snip]

Could you check the tire pressure first?

I have a Toyota that the tire pressure warning light has been on for over 5 years. I just check the tires every so often like I did for about 40 years before the warning light. I am not going to pay about $ 75 per tire as the battery in each of tire monitors fail. The truck will pass the stupid state inspection with that warning light on.

Same here. When I take it in for service, they reset it. A short while later, it's on again.

I also have the "check engine" light on. The Wisdom of the Internet thinks it's benign, that I've simply had a little backfire.

We don't have a state inspection, so hooray.

I just posted exactly what the web site said which was those three lines. It says seeing that light requires calling or visiting the dealer. Do you think maybe they know something we don't know. Why else would they say what they said? Presumably it's in the owners manual said that way.

Many manuals will say see the dealer for many things. Could be just a 'cover your ass' thing for the dealer in case someone messes up a repair and sues them. This suppose to be a group for people that want to repair their own stuff.

Or more likely just pumping up the tire. The tires that came with my Corolla were really good except for ONE which lost enough air in a month to trigger the light. Pump the tire, be happy for another month...

I finally replaced the tires (one blowout, others too old [10 years] for any shop to touch them) with the same ones. Took 6 months to lose enough air to trigger the light. 20-24 lbs instead of 32.

The $35 pump from Harbor Freight is handy. Don't get the cheap one, it burns out after 2 or 3 tires in a row. A digital pressure gauge is also a nice thing.

I bought a car with the check engine light. I think that's why it was so cheap, 3000 or 4000, probably 4000, but I was afraid to discuss it with the seller.

It took me 3.5 years to fix it. But during that time I checked the mileage and it was up to spec.

It was lean mixture. I did all the tests and replaced the simple parts and was going to start replacing 1 or 2 02 sensors when I leaned on the big (4") hose from the air clearner to the ... I forget the name, and the hose came off. Nothing I could do would put it back on, becuase it had been on crooked for so long, but after I bought a new one, I could turn off the CEL.

There's a battery? I thought it used the tire rotation speeds and the sensors were powered by the electrical system.

My car is 18 years old. I've had it for 5, never replaced a battery, and the tire pressure thing works.

Sounds like a better system than wife's 2016 Toyota. I was quoted $350 to have all 4 sensors replaced. F' that.

Tire Pressure Monitor For Toyota

FWIW, it's also a Toyota, 2005 Solara convertible. I don't remember if the manual is on this laptop or only the desktop at home but I hope to remember to see what it says about tire pressure monitors. But this thread will be 2 weeks into history by the time I'm home.

I missed that y ou had this link. I'll look at it.

FWIW, either because it's toyota, or because it's Japanese or Asian, or because it's years later, the shop manuals for Olds, Pontiac, Buick, and Chrysler that I owned were books that you could learn from, get to understand your car. The Toyota manual is full of tests using their own diagnostic and repair tools and I find very unhelpful except for the wiring diagram.

Maybe your video will be more help. It's 26 minutes, will have to wait until later!

It's all about the computers nowadays. Welcome to the 21st Century.

Years ago they said if cars were like computers they would crash every few days.

I want to go back to my little grass shack in 1965.

$ uptime 2:44PM up 708 days, 9:45, 11 users, load averages: 0.76, 0.60, 0.57

You can get valve caps that indicate when the tire pressure is low. That's a little less convenient than TPMS but a lot less expensive.

My best - eventually taken out due to backup battery problem.

Mon May 10 11:27:56 PDT 2010 11:28am up 1528 days, 6:47, 8 users, load average: 0.23, 0.12, 0.05

Google sez: "In the United States, TPMS is mandatory for all vehicles produced after September 2007."