"TPMS" Light on after new tires - Cause?

boater7

Two weeks ago I bought 4 new tires form my 2008 Honda Fit Sport, then had an alignment. A week later, the "TPMS" light - not the (!) light indicating low pressure - came on and stayed on.



The manual says to take the car to the dealer. I instead took it to the tire shop. Their tech ran a handheld device over each tire then told me that the batter was dead in 2 of my 4 sensors. The tire store will install new sensor - for $40/each. When I questioned why the battery would die right after getting new tires, the tech says that the tires are "learning" which takes more battery juice than sending the signal.



Is this BS? I'm thinking the tire shop could have damaged the sensor. Shouldn't the sensor batteries last 5-10 years?

Bladecutter

Tires don't learn anything.
Try inflating the tires to a couple psi over the car recommended pressure (say 35 instead of 32), and then drive on the highway for about 10 minutes.

I have a lazy sensor on my Altima that I have to do this with every time I rotate the tires.

BC.

shadowfax

The only time TPMS needs to "learn" anything is when you replace the sensors. You didn't. So there's nothing to learn. I have trouble believing your batteries are dead. My '07 Acura's sensors are on the same batteries it shipped with, and are showing no signs of draining any time soon. TPMS is an incredibly low-power system that does not send a continuous or heavy datastream, so the power use is about as close to nil as you can get.

BTW, you can get a new TPMS sensor for 23 bucks. So not only did they break your sensor, but they want to charge you labor to fix the mistake.

I think the tire shop messed up your sensors.

(edit)

Having missed the part where it took a week for them to come on, I'm still suspicious as to the lifetime of your batteries. I would take it to the dealership and ask them. Unless you drive a lot you're probably even still under warranty for them.

Xebadaih

If it took a week to come on, it wasn't anything the tire shop did. If they had broke a sensor it would have come on immediately.

shadowfax

Whoops. Missed the week-later part. I'll edit my post accordingly.

the same mountainbike

The below doesn't necessarily help you with your problem, but it hopefully will give you some added info to argue with:

http://www.hondatpms.com/