TPMS
 

Is there any reason for these things, and if not, how do I get rid of them? From what I understand they only tell you if you have a significant loss, which I suspect any of us would sense right away. I check my tires regularly and can tell if one gets at east a few pounds down while driving. I want to order a set of wheels with tires mounted and these things are complicating that process.


Can I break the bead on my new tires and mount the OEM ones I have now? Do they have to be programmed again? How about just taping over the light on the cluster? Can I program them out with a tune?

If you go to a big name shop (like America's Tire/Discount Tire), they won't let you drive off on wheels without TPMS sensors working (a.k.a. sensors on wheels and no TPMS light). If your wheels are loose and you tell them off-road use only, they will probably put tires on and let you go. It's a mandatory safety feature on newer vehicles. Mom&pop/privately owned small shops don't really care.

TPMS on the FRS/BRZ is direct pressure monitoring. It knows directly the PSI in your tires. It switches on if any of the tires is under 25 psi, or if it can't communicate with any sensor (no sensor signal/missing sensor/sensor out of range, or sensor out of battery). I'm not sure what the refresh rate is.

Yes, you can pull the TPMS off of your wheels and put them on any new wheels that are compatible with TPMS sensors.

You do not have to reprogram any sensors unless you replace any one that is already paired with the car.

There are tools that allow you to pair new sensors to the car (See ATEQ Quickset or CARISTA App). Otherwise, you have to do it at a tire shop or dealer.

It's technically not kosher to disable the TPMS system, though it is possible that it can be done with a "tune" using off-the-shelf tools (I'm not familiar with this route).

The light gets annoying. Others have put tape over it or taken the bulb out but it's a hassle.

One of my sensors broke but I couldn't tell which one unless I manually let air out of each one to check. In the meantime I cleared the TPMS light with techstream but it kept coming back eventually.

When I finally got new tires I just replaced the broken one.

I'm also running aftermarket wheels and yanked the OEM ones from my wheels, they're expensive. About $45 for the lowest and average in store for $90.

The TPMS on these cars is a bit more of a pain to deal with, but it's also quite a bit better than your run-of-the-mill. It is actually very helpful. I check my tire pressures regularly and am religious about it with temperature changes and other, and it's still caught me out a few times such as slow leaks due to a road hazard. These are things you may not be able to feel in the car and the TPMS can very much save you.


You are welcome to raw dog it, but be aware that TPMS has improved a lot and it no longer requires "significant changes" to trigger. If you have more than a 3psi difference side to side, it triggers. If any tire drops below 25psi it triggers. It is altitude adjusted. It has memory so that significant pressure changes can cause a trigger. Slow leaks (consistent pressure change over time while vehicle is operating) are triggered. At no point did my tires ever drop below 30psi on my gauge any time my TPMS went off, but it detected several interesting pressure changes which were worth knowing about.


Don't discount it out of hand based off a misunderstanding of how it works. It's not the 90s anymore, dawg.

Well, their name will tell you that. Tire Pressure Monitor Sensors monitor your tire pressure.

If you're already ordering a new set of wheels with tires mounted, you don't need to do anything to get rid of them. Just don't install them on the new wheels? The light will be on all the time, but:

If you're confident that you can monitor your tire pressure without the TPMSs, then what's the issue? Just install the new wheel/tire set and ignore the light.

Yes.

Not if you're re-using the OEM set. If you get a new set of sensors installed in your new wheels, you'll need to have them paired to the car. The car only stores 1 set of IDs at a time.

If you're monitoring the pressures yourself, what do you need the light for? Tape it if it bothers you. :iono:

Not that I know of, but I don't know for 100% that you can't.

With a ScanGauge (and probably other devices) you can monitor both the temperature and the pressure at each individual wheel. The pressure changes in .3 psi increments and is updated every few minutes. Having said that, be forewarned that trying to get all wheels to stabilize at the same value may drive you nuts.

The wheels will never stabilize at the same value because they will not be at the same temperature. But you can do the math to match temperature-adjusted pressures, which should more or less match what getting the to same mark on a dial gauge on each wheel would be.

I have the light on for 4 months of the year when running my winters. After 2 or 3 days I don't even notice it anymore. In fact when I put the summers back on I then think something is wrong for a couple of days since I have got so used to the light it's absence seems weird.

I was expecting to deal with this light.


I bought JDM OEM 16" wheels. Got tires installed Tuesday. They asked if I was going to buy sensors/use old sensors from the 17's/roll with the light on. I said I'd roll with the light on.


I just installed the wheels tonight and went for a quick drive (only 5 minutes or so) and figured I'd check torque again after. The TPMS light was not on at all during the drive.


Does it only come on after the car is fully up to temp? Or after hitting a certain speed?


Not sure why it didn't come on, so just curious. The light has come on before, I saw it last fall on a cooler day when one tire got down a few PSI. So I know it's not covered or removed.

If your original tires/wheels are within range, the car will pick it up and will not trigger the light for not detecting sensors until you either go a certain distance or hit a certain speed. I noticed this as well, because the tire shop had not correctly programmed the new TPMS sensors in my first set of wheels. I ended up buying an ATEQ Quickset and doing it myself.

Took a few hours to go on for me, I don't use them.

I don't need them. I have a device called an air gauge.

Yeah, took a longer drive on Saturday. Light was off when I left (since the original wheels are sitting in the garage), and took about 15-20 miles of driving before it came on.