TPMS Light (not low pressure)

[TJD]

Background: 2006 Honda Pilot
New tires installed January, 2011
Starting in late April, 2011, TPMS light comes on after a few minutes/miles of driving - just the letters "TPMS", not the low pressure tire light. I've double checked the pressures and they're fine.

I'm assuming there's a faulty/loose/broken sensor in one of the tires as a result of the tire change. Anyone have any idea of how to determine which tire(s) are faulty? Are there any diagnostic tools (will a general code reader give any information?) that might yield more info?

Would it be worthwhile to go to a local Autozone or other such automotive shop that does free scans or should I suck it up and have my local stealership troubleshoot it?

[RSQ Pilot]

System problem...could be sender(s) in a wheel(s) or any of the 4 hub sensors. Tire shops can read a wheel TMPS sending unit to see if its transmitting, eliminate the 4 wheels and it leads to a hub sensor

[humanoid]

Maybe it's the batteries in the sensors themselves?

[deanmcneill]

I get the same thing on my '07 with 95,000 km (about 60,000 miles). Just started a few months ago, started intermittent so whenever I brought it to dealer during regular service... it didn't happen. Now it seems to come on after about 10km (6 miles) but I'm not too concerned anymore as my lease is almost up.... bet they'll figure out what it is (and charge me!) when I hand it back.

[TJD]

Update:

Went to Autozone last night... they only scan engine issues, so no codes showed up for the TPMS.

Went to local Pep Boys... they said they didn't have anything that could diagnose problems. I found that odd since they do tire work.

So, I went to my local gas station and proceeded to let the air out of each tire till the low pressure light went on (tire with the ! in it). The light goes on when the pressure goes below 24 psi. After getting the light to come on, I refilled the tire and moved on to the next wheel. Sure enough, the last wheel I tested (right rear), I let the pressure out to 20 psi and the low pressure light didn't come on. So, at least I know there's an issue with the right rear. Now I just don't know if it's the transmitter or the receiver.

Anyone know where the right rear receiver is located and/or what it looks like? I looked but couldn't make out what it was since I don't know what I'm looking for. I figured I'd check to make sure the receiver was still there and connected. Anyone have any diagrams related to this?

Thanks for the input so far.

[RSQ Pilot]

If you can't get to a tire shop with a TMPS code reader, swap a tire with a good sensor to RR, try the drop pressure test, should tell you if its the sensor or the transmitter.

[TJD]

Originally Posted by RSQ Pilot

If you can't get to a tire shop with a TMPS code reader, swap a tire with a good sensor to RR, try the drop pressure test, should tell you if its the sensor or the transmitter.

Awesome idea. I should've thought of that. Thanks!

[TJD]

Originally Posted by RSQ Pilot

If you can't get to a tire shop with a TMPS code reader, swap a tire with a good sensor to RR, try the drop pressure test, should tell you if its the sensor or the transmitter.

So, I ordered a new sensor from Tim a couple of weeks ago in the hopes it was the transmitter and not the receiver. I finally got the tires rotated today (suspect right-rear wheel was swapped with the right-front). Took the car for a quick spin and the TPMS light came back on. I returned to the tire shop, let the air out of the right-front tire and didn't get the low pressure light to come on. I instructed the tire guy to swap out the sensor and re-balance the tire.

I'm happy to say, I drove around for about an hour afterward and the TPMS light no longer comes on!

Costs:
Tire Pressure Assembly: ~ $38 (from Tim)
Tire Rotation: No charge, $10 tip to the tire guy
Labor on TPMS sensor change and balance: $12
Tip on above labor: $8
Total: $68

I'm assuming if I would've brought it into my stealership, I would've been starting at ~ $60 in parts cost alone for tire pressure assembly.

Thanks all for the advice, this definitely saved me some money! Hopefully this might help others with similar problems.

[rgillie66]

Most reputable tire dealers would be able to scan your sensors to see if they were all transmitting. Takes about 2 minutes. A tire dealer should have charged about $50 for the sensor and $12-15 for the install, and you would have been done in about 30 minutes instead of 3 weeks.

[TJD]

Originally Posted by rgillie66

Most reputable tire dealers would be able to scan your sensors to see if they were all transmitting. Takes about 2 minutes. A tire dealer should have charged about $50 for the sensor and $12-15 for the install, and you would have been done in about 30 minutes instead of 3 weeks.

As noted above, I tried my local tire dealer (Pep Boys) to no avail. Local Honda dealer wanted $60-something for the sensor alone. If I was lucky enough to find a tire dealer that could check and install, do you think they would've had an OEM sensor?

Even the tire dealer that I work with (All Weather Tire) didn't have the scanner... said it was too costly.

The 3 week wait was no big deal... the light has been coming on since April.

[rgillie66]

It would appear that tire dealers in NY aren't keeping up with the times. TPMS has been mandatory on all vehicles since the 2008 model year and was becoming increasingly popular for a few years before that, so a tire dealer that can't spend $1200 on a simple scanner is really not providing a complete service to his customer.

[Paramedicjoe]

I just bought my Pilot yesterday 05 with 93,000 will be finding a tire shop who can check the TPMS sensor. Thanks for the advice.