TPMS on aftermarket wheels--Honda Fit: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Nov. 29, 2010 9:12 p.m. gamby SuperDork

Hey all--

I'm buying winter wheel/tire combo for my wife's 2010 Fit Sport and since it's a new car, I have to deal w/ the tire pressure monitoring sensors on the new wheels.

Tire Rack will rape me for $144 for a new set--which I'm most likely going with--but does anyone know if they automatically calibrate to the car after a few miles? If I have to take the thing to the dealer every time I switch the wheels out, I'm prone to just leaving the sensors off of the car and letting her see the [!] light from November to April.

Anyone know about this stuff? Web has been very inconclusive--mostly "I switched my stock sensors out and they work great, y0!" or "I switched my stock sensors out and I broke them y0!"
Nov. 29, 2010 9:16 p.m. irish44j Dork

Just don't put them on.

Open gauge cluster plastic screen (usually very simple on modern cars). 1cm x 1cm square of black electrical tape is invisible in there.

I only have TPMS on my winter set (stock wheels) and run the rest of the year (summer wheels, track wheels) without, with the light taped over. Can't even see it unless you look super-hard. I open it up when I put on the winters and take the tape off.
Nov. 29, 2010 9:19 p.m. RexSeven Dork

The [!] light probably won't affect anything, HOWEVER that depends on the car. My Mazdaspeed3 has steelies for the winter tires and no TPMS sensors. The only effect it has on the car is that the [!] stays illuminated. I know that on the C6 Corvette that if the [!] is illuminated, then it will go into limp mode until the air pressure is back to normal. Since your car isn't a 400+hp sports car, it probably won't go into limp mode. Your wife should be fine without the TPMS sensors.
Nov. 29, 2010 9:26 p.m. gamby SuperDork

RexSeven wrote:

Your wife should be fine without the TPMS sensors.

Up until now, I was her TPMS. I monitored it with a tire gauge. Crazy. She's not thrilled about the ghetto tape thing, but I think she can learn to live with it--I know I will when I get a car w/ this stupid setup.
Nov. 29, 2010 9:28 p.m. mith612 Reader
1. Get yourself a tire from a hand cart or dolly or the like (make sure its rated to 35 psi)
2. At your local tire shop, have the TPMS sensors removed from the summer wheels and replaced with standard valve stems.
3. Break bead on cart tire and place sensors into the tire.
4. Reinflate cart tire to desired PSI and place in a secure location such as the spare tire well.
5. Enjoy.
Nov. 29, 2010 9:32 p.m. irish44j Dork
mith612 wrote:
1. Get yourself a tire from a hand cart or dolly or the like (make sure its rated to 35 psi)
2. At your local tire shop, have the TPMS sensors removed from the summer wheels and replaced with standard valve stems.
3. Break bead on cart tire and place sensors into the tire.
4. Reinflate cart tire to desired PSI and place in a secure location such as the spare tire well.
5. Enjoy.
This doesn't work on alot of cars these days (though it is a trick that alot of Jeep/Truck guys use). Most of the TPMS sensors are "turned on" when the wheel rotates and turned off when the wheel isn't moving (so as not to kill the battery inside of them). So the "sensors in trunk" concept won't work since the wheel is never in motion.

I've heard variations of this trick using a PVC pipe piece, sealed at both ends and with 4 holes drilled in it with the 4 valve stems fitted/sealed. Then just pump it up to 30psi or whatever and toss it someplace in the car. Again though, only works on certain TPMS systems.
Nov. 29, 2010 9:38 p.m. gamby SuperDork

Leave it to the GRM board to go the "high crimes and misdemeanors" route with this. If I'm going ghetto, it would be the tape method rather than the "valve stems in foreign object" method.

Still--things really seem to lean toward "skip 'em". Amazing how if this were my car it wouldn't even be an issue.
Nov. 29, 2010 9:39 p.m. nocones Reader

On my Wifes civic, I actually put the TPMS sensors in the Winter wheels. I'd much rather regularly check the tire pressures when it's sunny and warm then when it's -10...
Nov. 29, 2010 9:43 p.m. gamby SuperDork

nocones wrote:

On my Wifes civic, I actually put the TPMS sensors in the Winter wheels. I'd much rather regularly check the tire pressures when it's sunny and warm then when it's -10...

Good point, but her car is garaged year-round (and it's in a parking garage at work--it's very pampered), so checking pressures in the garage is no biggie for me.

I kinda figure that I'd rather keep the stock system in tact on the stock wheels.
Nov. 29, 2010 11:43 p.m. neckromacr Reader

gamby wrote: Tire Rack will rape me for $144 for a new set--which I'm most likely going with--but does anyone know if they automatically calibrate to the car after a few miles? If I have to take the thing to the dealer every time I switch the wheels out, I'm prone to just leaving the sensors off of the car and letting her see the [!] light from November to April.

That's not a bad price for 4 TPMS sensors, and the aftermarket has caught up with the process of TPMS resets, so you're not tied to the dealer for resets. Many tire shops have them for obvious reasons. My shop has a nifty NAPA one that works 95% of the time.

That said, I'd just ignore the light if it were me.
Nov. 29, 2010 11:58 p.m. Rustspecs13 New Reader

I worked at a tire shop for 3 years and fixed many broken tpms sensors.

Some have replaceable stems, I believe most hondas do, and the gasket will need replaced if its being removed after being on there for a while. If they are new, and haven't been driven in salt they should be ok. Dont let a idiot manager tell you not to use PB blaster (because it'll ruin the sensor!!!!) because any leaking air will push the penetrate out before it touches the sensor. And id doubt PB would do much to one anyway. But just treat it like a normal stuck bolt (except its fail-luminum and will break with a gust of wind) and work it in and out with pb blaster, and it should come off. If not like I said I think the stems are replaceable any way.

And DONT EVER use a METAL valve stem cap! Most of them will galvanize-weld them selves on and cause you to buy a new sensor or just replace the stem if you can even do that.

$144 isn't bad at all for tpms sensors. Just last year it probably would be close or over $300. $35 a sensor is DIRT cheap and like some one else said, its best for the winter any way. And its your wife. That could save buying a tire later if shes the kind to drive until the tire literally falls off.

You will need a tire shop or dealer to program them. If they need to be mounted find a place that will include mounting and programming them.

~Alex
Nov. 30, 2010 5:58 a.m. Feedyurhed HalfDork

I have mutiple sets of tires/wheels that I use so it would be silly (and expensive!!) to have the TPMS system on them all. So part of the time my light is on, part of the time it's not......I have learned to just ignore it.
Nov. 30, 2010 6:40 a.m. LainfordExpress New Reader

It looks like VW and soon others are going to ABS based tpms, where a computer just measures the rotational speed of the wheel and compares them to see if the tire circumferences vary because of low or high tire pressure. You reset on your own with some kind of brake pedal two-step. Not sure if it is an improvement or not, but at least you don't need any sensors and don't need to go to the dealer to reset. Man, all this because SUV driver's aren't smart enough to check the tie pressure, but thank goodness Big Brither has stepped in to save us from our own miserable selves.
Nov. 30, 2010 7:54 a.m. gamby SuperDork

Rustspecs13 wrote:

I worked at a tire shop for 3 years and fixed many broken tpms sensors.

Some have replaceable stems, I believe most hondas do, and the gasket will need replaced if its being removed after being on there for a while. If they are new, and haven't been driven in salt they should be ok. Dont let a idiot manager tell you not to use PB blaster (because it'll ruin the sensor!!!!) because any leaking air will push the penetrate out before it touches the sensor. And id doubt PB would do much to one anyway. But just treat it like a normal stuck bolt (except its fail-luminum and will break with a gust of wind) and work it in and out with pb blaster, and it should come off. If not like I said I think the stems are replaceable any way.

And DONT EVER use a METAL valve stem cap! Most of them will galvanize-weld them selves on and cause you to buy a new sensor or just replace the stem if you can even do that.

$144 isn't bad at all for tpms sensors. Just last year it probably would be close or over $300. $35 a sensor is DIRT cheap and like some one else said, its best for the winter any way. And its your wife. That could save buying a tire later if shes the kind to drive until the tire literally falls off.

You will need a tire shop or dealer to program them. If they need to be mounted find a place that will include mounting and programming them.

~Alex

OK--but if they get programmed once is that all they need? ...or do I have to get them re-programmed every time I swap wheels? (i.e.--will the car be able to recognize 2 different sets of wheels for the rest of its life?)
Nov. 30, 2010 10:22 a.m. iceracer Dork

My Fiesta has metal valve caps. There is a seperate fuse for the system. I Iwill have to do some experimenting. TR has a programmer available. $45 PITA