Any way to disable TPMS?

[remc86007]

I took the CTR to the Tail of the Dragon last week. It performed incredibly. The only issue I had was with TPMS. I repeatedly checked the tire pressures every morning at the cabin when cold and they never waivered. I'm sure the subsequent elevation change and warming up of the tires drastically changed the pressures, but I assumed the TPMS system would be designed to account for that. Four times on the trip the TPMS light came on. Every time, I would get out and check the tires and they were all around 5 PSI higher than their cold PSI...none of them were ever low.

I noticed one stretch of road leading to Route 129 caused the TPMS light to come on every time I drove on it. It had some uneven pavement and lots of turns combined with sudden elevation changes. At no point was I driving beyond the limit of the tires. I'm guessing that that road was just too much for the wheel speed sensors to keep track of? I'm sure it didn't help trying to recalibrate it on curvy roads.

It got pretty annoying trying to find a place to pull off and check the tires and it made me wish the car had the old fashioned actual tire pressure sensors rather than wheel speed sensors. Does anybody know how to temporarily disable TPMS?

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[zelmo]

I took the CTR to the Tail of the Dragon last week. It performed incredibly. The only issue I had was with TPMS. I repeatedly checked the tire pressures every morning at the cabin when cold and they never waivered. I'm sure the subsequent elevation change and warming up of the tires drastically changed the pressures, but I assumed the TPMS system would be designed to account for that. Four times on the trip the TPMS light came on. Every time, I would get out and check the tires and they were all around 5 PSI higher than their cold PSI...none of them were ever low.

I noticed one stretch of road leading to Route 129 caused the TPMS light to come on every time I drove on it. It had some uneven pavement and lots of turns combined with sudden elevation changes. At no point was I driving beyond the limit of the tires. I'm guessing that that road was just too much for the wheel speed sensors to keep track of? I'm sure it didn't help trying to recalibrate it on curvy roads.

It got pretty annoying trying to find a place to pull off and check the tires and it made me wish the car had the old fashioned actual tire pressure sensors rather than wheel speed sensors. Does anybody know how to temporarily disable TPMS?

Please don't disable the TPMS, it's a safety feature and integral part of the car's safety system.

Have you tried calibrating the TPMS instead?

 

[remc86007]

Please don't disable the TPMS, it's a safety feature and integral part of the car's safety system.

Have you tried calibrating the TPMS instead?

I did calibrate it after every time it came on. It would go away for awhile and then come back on, presumably because I was never driving straight enough for long enough for it to calibrate.

I wouldn't disable it permanently, just when it gets in this loop of the light coming on for no reason because the wheel speed sensing is screwed up due to the inability of it to calibrate correctly.

 

[zelmo]

I did calibrate it after every time it came on. It would go away for awhile and then come back on, presumably because I was never driving straight enough for long enough for it to calibrate.

I wouldn't disable it permanently, just when it gets in this loop of the light coming on for no reason because the wheel speed sensing is screwed up due to the inability of it to calibrate correctly.

I did calibrate it after every time it came on. It would go away for awhile and then come back on, presumably because I was never driving straight enough for long enough for it to calibrate.

I wouldn't disable it permanently, just when it gets in this loop of the light coming on for no reason because the wheel speed sensing is screwed up due to the inability of it to calibrate correctly.

I've done a lot of canyon runs and it has happened to me once.

I just calibrated it like 3 times straight, pausing a couple of minutes in between.

 

[zsak]

What’s the point of a tpms system if you can’t rely on it if something is truely off. They should have stuck with normal sensors like everyone else.

 

[RedGiant217]

The car doesn't instantly calibrate the TPMS.

I did calibrate it after every time it came on. It would go away for awhile and then come back on, presumably because I was never driving straight enough for long enough for it to calibrate.

Owners manual recommends starting calibration after setting cold pressures. I don't think it's recommended to start another calibration when tires are hot.

 

[remc86007]

The car doesn't instantly calibrate the TPMS.


Owners manual recommends starting calibration after setting cold pressures. I don't think it's recommended to start another calibration when tires are hot.

Right, but what are you supposed to do when the light goes off while driving?

 

[RedGiant217]

Right, but what are you supposed to do when the light goes off while driving?

If you measured pressures and they're all ok, given the driving conditions, I'd say everything is fine and just keep driving without calibrating TPMS. I'm sure it doesn't break anything to calibrate like you did. I'd just recommend doing a proper calibration when tires are cold again.

Based on the information in the owners manual, it sounds like there are some driving conditions similar to what you were doing where it would not be uncommon for the light to come on.

 

[remc86007]

If I just keep driving without calibrating TPMS, I may as well not even have the system on. Also, you can't turn traction control off while the TPMS light is on which can be quite unsettling to the balance of the car when boost is suddenly cut under full throttle because one tire ran over a wet leaf.... What are you supposed to do if you get in this calibration loop at a track day?

I gather there is no other solution, so I guess I'm just complaining to complain at this point. Stopping on the side of a tight mountain road trying to check tires while cars are flying by is not safe, and that's what got me really annoyed with it.

 

[racer]

mmm Technology is wonderful.. and thank you Federal Government for stepping in so we won't have any more Ford Explorer crash issues from 2002! While the intention was to prevent tire pressures from dropping too low, clearly it can help when pressures climb too high.

The TPMS has a small window of acceptable pressure changes before it goes off.. 2-3psi? If canyon driving like this is something you enjoy, fool the system. Set the calibration at the high end of the expected pressure window range - you mention pressures climbed several PSI? set the calibration at that number so it will then remind you once you and the car cool, that you should check pressures again..

Or, keep doing what you did.. check the pressure by hand.. know they are fine.. and its just the technology not adapting to your driving style. Sometimes a small piece of tape over the warning light can work wonders

 

[RedGiant217]

I got a 1 day subscription to ServiceExpress for something else I'm working on and decided to look into this a bit more. Seems like the stuff about calibration comparison logic as described in Scenario 2 explains why the TPMS would come back on after starting a calibration. Sounds like a special calibration was needed. Not sure if this helps or not, but maybe next time try doing a special calibration at the beginning of the day and see if TPMS still comes on.

 

[remc86007]

^That's very helpful. I wonder why they don't put that in the manual about calibrating three times? I'll try it out if it happens again. I'm not positive it would prevent the issue I had where certain sections of uneven pavement set it off, but maybe the comparison calibration was just way off or something?

 

[SCOPESYS]

What’s the point of a tpms system if you can’t rely on it if something is truely off. They should have stuck with normal sensors like everyone else.

100% agree.. just being CHEAP !!

I fitted Direct TPMS to my other (older car(), as well as to the 1028 SI.

The si's TPMS is a small stand alone unit, so is visible at any time, and works extremely well... always comforting to see the pressures before starting a trip.

The direct TPMS in the older maxima, is an APP on the HU, and puts out a Notification when the pressures (or temperature) on any tire goes out of a specified range.

This morning, for the 1st time in 3 months, it alarmed, indicating the rear left tire was low.
Sure enough, it was 4 psi below factory spec, while all the other tires were OK.
No big a deal,, but it warned me, and I was able just to top it back up again before I left home. ( It was VERY cold this morning !!, but I strongly suspect that that this tire has a very slow leak)

the point is, with the Honda TPMS, you do not have a clue as to what it is alarming about, or how bad the tire pressure error is... and it only seems to detect an individual, grossly low individual tire.
By the time that tire has got anywhere near that low, you should be able to easily feel it when driving the car !!!

 

[RacingManiac]

Its basically there so it meets the NHTSA requirement to have a TPMS on new cars. The implementation is cheap since its basically just part of the system needed for ABS(wheel speed sensors). VW does the same in my last 2 cars. Pros, you don't need actual sensor in the wheels so switching wheels like winters or track or whatever doesn't really affect it much. No need to worry about damaging it when mounting tires neither. Cons, Of the 7 years I've had cars with similar style of TPMS, I have never gotten a warning that actually was the result of a tire losing pressure. It gets a lot of false positive, since I am sure it always errs on the side of the safety so it would rather you know it sees something is out of the ordinary and for you to do something about it. I carry a gauge with me all the time with a pump on the car, I basically check it anytime if it lights up if possible and see if it actually is a problem....

 

[Slap KFD]

^That's very helpful. I wonder why they don't put that in the manual about calibrating three times? I'll try it out if it happens again. I'm not positive it would prevent the issue I had where certain sections of uneven pavement set it off, but maybe the comparison calibration was just way off or something?

Did this work for you? Im having the same issue

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