TPMS False Alarm?

[MikeWCivicLX]

I was driving my Civic LX this morning in an area that was higher elevation than where I usually drive and the low tire pressure warning came on in the center dash screen below the speedometer. I pulled off the road and checked tire pressure and all were at 37 PSI (32 PSI cold is normal, but I had been driving a long time in warm weather). I got a dealer service advisor on the phone and he said it was not uncommon for the TPMS warning to come up after somewhat common events like refilling the tire with air. He explained how to do the TPMS recalibration and that made the warning go away and it did not return for the rest of the trip.

My questions are is it really normal for this to to happen when the tires aren't really low? If it's going to happen frequently how will I know one of the false alarms from the real thing? Also, my tires were filled with Nitrogen by the dealer (one of those "second sticker" items that you don't really need but the dealers do anyway). Could the nitrogen be fooling the TPMS sensors?

Sponsored

 

[dick w]

The indirect TPMS system knows nothing of the pressure in the tires--you could put on solid rubber tires and it wouldn't know--so everything depends on what pressure they were at when it was last re-calibrated compared to now.

I preferred the direct system, sensors in the wheels and all. When it triggered, you knew why.

 

[MikeWCivicLX]

My best guess based on the info I've been able to gather is that the dealer didn't re-calibrate TPMS prior to delivery.

 

[dick w]

My best guess based on the info I've been able to gather is that the dealer didn't re-calibrate TPMS prior to delivery.

Probably not. The manual says:

The calibration process requires approximately 30
minutes of cumulative driving at speeds between
30-65 mph (48-105 km/h).

 

[ArnoldLayne]

Honda's TPMS has some issues with the way its calibrated. Believe it or not, my TPMS warning came on 5 minutes after I rolled off my vehicle from the dealer lot. You can reset the TPMS from your Navigation screen (or whatever other screen the non navigation people have in their model)

Also the recommended tire pressure is 32 psi but you'd want to inflate to 36 psi to account for expansion and avoid TPMS false alarms (esp if you live in a warm place)

I have my tires nitrogen filled at Costco and I check my tire pressure once a month (its free and the guy at Costco will gladly do it for you so you don't have to do a thing. They have better gauges too for accuracy) and they recommend inflating to 36 psi (4 over) to account for expansion. The one time they did 32 psi as recommended the TPMS warning came on 2 days later.

 

[dick w]

…inflating to 36 psi (4 over) to account for expansion. The one time they did 32 psi as recommended the TPMS warning came on 2 days later.

As noted previously in this thread, the indirect TPMS knows nothing of the actual pressure in the tires. If it was reset last at 45 PSI, then getting down to 40 PSI would likely set off the warning. So, if it was last reset at 36 PSI, 32 PSI will, indeed, be detected as "underinflated". Likewise if you reset it at 28 PSI, you'll have to get down to 25 PSI or something for it to go off.

Sponsored