Hi fellow F-Freaks- Ok so i got the yellow exclamation mark this morning, just checked tire pressure and they are hovering at just over 30 PSI, so what gives ? What i have not checked is the spare..is there a connected sensor to the spare by any miracle..i assumed those come on high end wheels like lexus etc.

your advice is cheerfully accepted.

Zero2Hero
PS also how do you turn the light off?

 

Just over 30 psi could be too low. The number I recall is that it triggers "around" 29 psi. Add to the fact that whatever you're using to measure the psi could be off by one or two might be enough.

This reminds me of the time I lowered the PSI in a Nissan Pathfinder during winter in the hopes of gaining as much traction over the ice as I could. Came out the next day to find the tire completely flat. Apparently, it cooled off enough that there wasn't enough pressure to hold the bead, which then let out all the air.

So... why not just add some air and see if the light goes away? If nothing else, I wouldn't go lower than the recommended 33 psi. Regardless of road conditions, suffering harsh bumps is better than having to suddenly change a tire because the bead decided to let go.

PS. the only way to turn it off is to pump in enough air to maintain above the threshold or to disable the entire system completely.

 

Needs air, the TPMS sensors are expecting 33 psi. Fill them and then drive above 19 mph for the sensors to turn back on and turn the light off. Or you've got a sensor that's dying and isn't reporting a number anymore.

 

A dying sensor will trigger the TPMS letters themselves.

 

UPDATE: Many thanks to both of you..turns out i pumped a tad over 30 psi and indeed the light eventually went off..i'm running the slightly larger 205/50R-16 on the stock sport rims,,is 33 psi the recommended pressure (for Cali driving)?

 

33 psi is Honda's recommended for general driving.

One reason to avoid being "just a tad" over 30 psi is the sheer annoyance that when the temp dips (in SD, temp difference between day and night is just like the saying "day and night" where its sweltering during the day and "freezing" at night), it can be more than 10, 20 or even 30+ degrees difference. And there's a general consensus that the PSI reading drops about 1 per 10 degrees. So, it can easily trigger it again after a cold night. And if you don't warm it up enough, it'll stay on.

Going with 33 psi gives you a little bit of breathing room before it triggers the TPMS, Cali road or not.

Depending on the tires themselves, even going higher is probably better still. With 205/50/16 Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires, I hated how it felt on turns with only 33 psi. I had to pump them up to 38 psi to get rid of the "wobbly" feeling.

Beyond that is the realm of hypermillers, of which I am not... so that's up to you.

 

I would personally recommend that everyone buy/invest in a quality tire pressure gauge like a Longacre or similar. One of these gauges that measures 0-60 psi will cost $50-$65, but will be a one time investment if you take care of the gauge properly. If you use the gauge on multiple cars in your family, you will quickly see the value of the purchase. An inexpensive gauge can be off several psi and that can lead to several obvious serious problems.

I had a gauge for years that I paid $10-$12 for when I purchased it. I always took care of the gauge and made sure I didn't drop the gauge in fear the accuracy would be adversely affected. When I put tires on my wife's Accord several months ago, I took my trusted gauge with me so my buddy at the tire shop would put 32 psi in the tires according to my gauge, and I would know what pressure I was starting with. He ended up showing me that my gauge showed almost 5 psi lower than his higher quality shop gauges which each showed the same pressure. I have since bought a Longacre gauge for myself and took it back to the tire shop and confirmed it matched the shop gauges. I then purchased a second Longacre gauge for my son last Christmas.

I think everyone knows that tire pressures will fluctuate due to several factors especially a temperature change. You will benefit from checking tire pressures at least every season change. For most of us that could be a couple times a year, or several times a year depending on where you live.

 

My 2009-2011 FIT service manual says:
1.) TPMS low pressure light comes on when below 25 psi for 15" wheels
2.) TPMS low pressure light comes on when below 27 psi for 16" wheels

So, it seems that the TPMS sensors are all the same no matter what the FIT's original factory wheel size (15" or 16") but the TPMS Control Unit (TCU) 'knows' that this specific car should be looking for more than 25 psi because it came from the factory with a 15" wheel, etc.

Service manual says that after the alert comes on, that a 15" wheel / tire system has to be filled to at least 29 psi and a 16" wheel / tire system has to be filled to at least 30 psi and driven faster than 28 mph to erase the alert on the dashboard.

So, if you're running non-standard tires like wider or higher profile, the TCU doesn't know or care. It's looking for 29 psi per wheel / tire system no matter what you're running and that 29 psi could be too high or too low for the tire you have and cause wear / traction issues over time.

Also, unknown to me, is how accurate the TPMS units are individually. Maybe one's electronics is sending a signal that represents that the tire pressure is 24 psi but it's really 26 psi. I don't know if it's possible and if it happens or how often but I also know that any two handheld tire pressure gauges never agree, so all of the above should be viewed as 'guidelines', and your results may vary.

 

Hats off to all of you for sorting me out - i think i will pump up to 35 psi and see how it handles.