you had me for a minute. then i saw your sig and loled.

 

You may be a perfect driver but the person who can't handle a skid may avoid crashing into you because of his/her ABS.

 

ah .. you were talking about abs .. i am in agreement with your statement then.
i thought you were implying tpms saved lives ..

 

Yes, was talking about ABS but I'm sure that TPMS has probably cut down a bit on high-speed tire blowouts that sometimes lead to accidents...

 

not having a radio in cars may keep someone from plowing into me also. i'm just not a fan of anti locks, can't stand tpms.

don't know how tpms and anti lock acting up at the same time are related, or if they are. just frustrated with crap i would prefer not to have to pay for causing me to leave the car at the dealership for a day or two.

 

I can relate. I had to replace an ABS accumulator on the last car I had at about 170K miles. That cost about $500 and the dealer had it for over an hour!

 

I’m coming around on the whole tpms thing. While I check my tire pressure every month or two, once, while on a long interstate trip, the light came on, and I stopped and found that my front-left had picked up a screw. Also, a couple of years back, while I was waiting while tires were being installed, a woman came in, said she had a light on her dashboard, and asked them to add air. They did, and the whole thing seemed routine, suggesting that people pay attention to that light, and that it makes a difference.

 

I have dedicated winter wheels and tires for each of my daily drivers, so my tire store has to reprogram the car for the new sensors twice a year. The Ridgeline is straight forward as I bought Honda sensors for the second set of wheels. My Prius takes a number of tries as it has aftermarket sensors on the second set. The guy at Discount Tire, where I bought the winter tires for the Fit, said he has two sets of wheels with cloned sensors. He said he swaps wheels and the car doesn't know the difference. I'll have to try that when I buy a set of summer wheels for the Fit this summer.

Despite the PITA of the Prius sensors, I got them sorted out this fall right before loaning the car to my visiting sister-in-law. When she returned the car the light was back on - because she picked up a screw in a front tire.

 

Can you find out the name of the company that makes them?


In my research I found a company called Orange TPMS. They make sensors which you buy along with a programming device which allows you to clone their new sensors with the sensors on the car now. Also some other cool features like being able to read battery life (iirc), and other diagnostic info. Supposedly their TPMS sensors also have a longer battery life than OEM. Sounds like a perfect solution.


The only problem I had with that company is that after numerous phone calls & emails, I never received a single response. I figured they went out of business or something, but I see their motorcycle TPMS kits still on sale all over.




Whenever you find out, let us know.

 

Honda TPMS royally makes me crazy. It doesn't have to be this difficult, but they made it that way. I have two sets of wheels and have an ATEQ device.

The ATEQ device, its bugs and poor support are also very aggravating. It took me a few seasons to get the ATEQ to really work correctly. It continued to work correctly for a few more seasons until now. It only screws up the car computer and causes it to blink the ( ! ) symbol. It also doesn't behave the way it used to when trying to change sensor numbers in the car. I would proceed with caution with the ATEQ. It doesn't scream "quality". And I have a pretty yellow Christmas light on my dash. Oh, yay.

 

Another interesting tidbit about TPMS...


I picked up a construction staple in my tire, so I had a slow leak... As I'm driving the TPMS light came on, but I didn't have time to plug it as I'd normally do since I was already running late (a few times in the past I've plugged tires right on the side/shoulder on busy NYC hwys). So I just got out the car, plugged my portable compressor (which lives in the spare tire well), and aired up the tire.

I get back to the drivers seat and the light is OFF.


I did not drive an inch, didn't even put the car in gear or remove the parking brake yet. I also did NOT shut the car off. Since I was in a rush, I just jumped out, pumped up the tire, and got back in.


I plugged the tire yesterday so all's good again.

The TPMS sensors must have been awake/active/transmitting a signal since I went over 28mph... what I found out is that the signal still transmits for an indeterminate amount of time afterwards even below the 28mph, since when I put air in the light went off without even driving.

 

That wasn't the TPMS light, it was the flat/low pressure light. Two totally different indicators.

It is common that if the tire pressure is set back to spec on Hondas/Acuras with tire sensors while the engine is running the TPMS light will usually turn off quickly. If not, a quick stint to 28 MPH or a little drive down the road will get the flat/low tire light off.