My shop has not been able to get the TPMS light to go out. They have installed 4 new sensors and synced them with the car. Still the TPMS indicator stays on. The car has been driven 20+ miles and pressures are set to spec. IS this essentially a trouble code and can it be cleared with a scan tool? I'd rather not bring this old car into the dealer at significant cost, and the only reason I need this to be cleared is so I can turn off the traction control / assist when we have slippery roads (otherwise the car stalls out when the wheels spin). Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks

 

A scan tool is normally free to use at your local auto parts store. They can clear the code for you if you need help with that.

 

Thanks, I will give that a try. Not sure why the shop couldn't do that

 

Most shops don't program the car. They will just clone existing sensors. I don't think that light can be cleared that easy. It must not be able to connect to at least one of them.
I changed and programmed my Fit with 4 new tpms myself.

 

A typical auto parts store scanner might clear the code temporarily, but will not reset the TPMS in the car computer as needed.

There are two TPMS indicators:
1) Yellow triangle (indicating one or more tires has significantly lower air pressure than the others (5-pounds or more differential, in my experience).
2) Only TPMS letters are illuminated. Midway through the reset process, the TPMS letters may flash on and off. This indicates that the car still needs to be driven 5 miles or more and at least 50mph.

Reputable tire stores should have a tool capable of activating and reading TPMS sensors, and then updating the car computer via OBDII.
The first time a local tire store did the summer-to-winter changeover and attempted to do the re-programming, their tool was not able to successfully update our 2013 Fit Sport, and the TPMS indicator came on again after a few miles of driving, and remained on.

Some dealerships charge outrageous amounts to scan and reset the Honda TPMS. We change over summer wheels and tires to a separate set of winter wheels and tires. I often do the changeover on my driveway, so twice a year, I need to re-scan the sensors and reset the TPMS. I purchased the ATEQ Quickset X from TireRack.com about 4 years ago when I purchased the winter wheel and tire set from them. It's 'hobbyist' quality, but it 1) activates sensors, 2) scans them, and 3) uploads the information via OBDII cable successfully.

On the chance that your shop hasn't worked on many Honda Fits, I'm providing the process I use with the ATEQ Quickset X.
Each wheel TPMS sensor must be individually activated and scanned in a particular order: (Driver's side) Left Front; Left Rear; Right Rear; and Right Front.

Then the Quickset X must be connected to the OBDII port, and the scanned sensor information is 'uploaded' to the car computer with the car running.
At that point, the TPMS light begins flashing.

Then the car must be driven for at least 5 miles, and at least 50 miles per hour for those 5 miles. Stoplight-to-stoplight in town won't do it.
When these steps are successfully completed, then the TPMS light will go off and stay off.

 

I got the older version just called the ATEQ Quickset without the X to program. I then bought the Foxwell NT1001 as a scanner. Now I would do it different given the Foxwell tools that can do both got cheaper.

edit:
Also I never experienced the 5 miles of driving thing to get the TPMS to work. After install and programming the sensors they need to enter sleep mode (basically keep the car off for 5 minutes), then as soon as you drive over 20mph the light turns off.

 

I got an ATEQ VT41 to program my '08 with new sensor IDs, but it's not having it. No trouble collecting the IDs from the new sensors, but when I do the OBD update, it says "TRANSFER ERROR TRANSFER FAILURE". It does clear the original IDs (shows FFFFFFF for all tires now). I've tried it both with the ignition on but not running, and while running, same results. Any idea what could be blocking it?

 

I'm just gonna run through some ideas here:
-Turn key to on, then plug in device (don't plug in before and don't start the car)
-Not sure if it is confusing hex and decimal numbers, the car uses hex, so check that (see my pic how the front tires are in hex and rear decimal, with a check mark to change them, for an example.)
-Maybe it really is as simple as a poor connection, like dust or something in the OBD2 port. Unlikely because it read fine, but couldn't write, still just blow it out.

 

Also double check the VT41 works with the Honda Fit. I can't find a list that shows it.

 

Thanks for the quick response! The selection menu lets you pick Honda --> Fit --> 2008 (separate from the other model years). So at least it appears to be supported. The IDs can only be supplied to the tool via scanning. I tried blowing out the OBD port with some compressed air, and then connecting the tool after turning the ignition on (not running), but still get the "TRANSFER ERROR" message.

They sensors are pre-programmed Denso 42753-SWA-A53, which as near as I can tell are correct. With another scan tool, I tried activating each of them and confirmed the TPMS module can "see" them. Feel like there might be something special about the '08 that I'm missing, but not sure what it might be.

 

The problem looks like this, except there is no "Unlock ECU" option for Honda:

 

A small bit of black electrical tape will take care of it. Check your tires cold in the morning. 35-37psi is good. The warning light is helpful for those who don’t check their tires.

 

I couldn't find a compatibility guide for your scanner. It is common that when not fully compatible that it can read the sensors, but not write. The ATEQ Quickset I use you don't need to do any ECU unlock.