Sunday I had a new set of tires put on my Civic. They told me that one of the four Tire Pressure Monitoring System sensors was bad and that they’d have to order me a new one. I drove home that day with the TPMS light on, which was expected.
This morning I went back to the shop and they replaced the bad sensor. However, after resetting, and doing whatever else it is they did with the handheld computer thing a half-dozen times, the Low Tire Pressure Indicator light is not only on, but blinking. (The TPMS light is off). They drove it around, they checked it with their computer thing again, they plugged in the handheld thing to reset it, went around and did something at each of the tire stems multiple times, but no matter what they did, the light wouldn’t (and won’t) stop blinking.
“If it doesn’t stop on its own, you might have to bring it to a Honda Dealer.”
Seriously?
I used to have an old Aurora that would turn on the engine light every time a reading went slightly out of whack, and after so many ignition key turns (on and off) the light would turn off on its own. Is that the case here? Or is this light going to blink forever until I go to the Honda Dealer?
blinking means a fault somewhere in the system. You probably will hav eto bring it to a dealership. That said, you might still be under warranty … . are you?
Off to the dealership you go! I’m actually glad you mentioned it though…See the car I have is the first car I’ve ever owned with a tire pressure sensor light on it and in a couple of years I’m going to have to get my tires changed and this is definitely something I’ll keep in mind when getting new tires put on my car and if I decide to go to a tire store chain rather than the dealership.
It’s a 2008. We bought it used about a year and a half ago, so I doubt it is still under any kind of warranty.
I may end up just putting a piece of electrical tape over the light. I’ve already paid $75 to the tire store for the new sensor–I’m not paying Honda another $100 to take a look at it.
Was the tire pressure monitor system working before the tires were replaced?
It sounds like they broke a sensor while mounting a tire and charged you for it.
From Alldata; “After rotating the tires or replacing a tire pressure sensor, drive the vehicle for at least 40 seconds at a speed of 15 mph (24 km/h) or more, and all the sensor IDs are memorized automatically.”
The system should program the new sensor automaticly, if they installed the correct sensor.
The TPMS was working before the tires were replaced. He said that one of the stems had a valve stuck in it that he couldn’t get out (or something like that). I’ve also been told to drive for at least 20 minutes on the highway, which is what I’ll do on my way home from work tonight. It didn’t occur to me to think “you know, all of this was working fine until you guys took it all apart…” He said the thing was bad, and I believed him.
I purchased new rims and tires for my civic. I also purchased new sensors for the new rims. I had problems with the light staying on until I found out that the dealer never programmed the new sensor numbers into the system. The car will not automatically learn the new sensor numbers.
