My low tire pressure alert went on. I checked the tires and the pressure is fine. The alert went on just after driving on a very bumpy road. Can I bumpy road cause the alert?

 

I have found the "passive" TPMS system in my 2016 EX to be highly unreliable.
Nearly ANY long highway drive-hour or more- and the light will illuminate.
Sometimes in mixed driving.

Safety First means I have to check it.

My advice?
Invest into a good tire PSI gauge and be ready to use it.
Also read up on how to calibrate the system and reset the light when it does illuminate. Because it's going to happen.

 

Thanks much

 

I'd be curious if you continue to have a problem.
Mine is primarily (there are exceptions) but primarily during long highway road trips.

I tried to get it looked at under warranty but was frustrated. The dealership wanted $140 just to try to diagnose the problem, which would only be refundable if it turned out they found a defect they could attribute to a manufacturing defect. Otherwise it was just goodbye $140 just for them to supposedly look at it.

Couple that with my Service Advisor didn't even seem to know the new Honda Fits have a passive TPMS system, as he kept telling my how it was probably one of the pressure sensors in the tire stems.
I had to tell HIM the vehicle didn't work that way. So I was really not for handing over $140 to a service center that didn't even know that fundamental thing about the system they were going to investigate.

Your's is still under warranty, if it continues to be a problem you could try. You might have better luck than me.

PS.
Always check your tire pressure if the light illuminates. Personal safety dictates you can't assume it's false.
Which is why I did buy a good, easy to use and see Tire Pressure Gauge.

 

 

A little pricey, but very neat looking papago valvecap tpms with 4 tire pressure display. I've never had any issue with the passive tpms. It's only ever gone off when the tire pressure was below 29ish, and rightfully so as i like to keep my tires at around 36psi.

The reset procedure is also straight forward and i imagine the 2015,16,&19 have a similar procedure. Just be sure to allow for proper calibration.

 

I have had the same issue 4-5 times. System works by checking for differences in wheel speed

I have three sets of wheels for my car. At first I thought it was great, no need for multiple TPMS and having the dealer recalibrate at wheel /tire switches. I soon found the system sucks. Issues like you described trigger it. Unevenly worn sets of tires trigger it. Driving at highway speeds after a wheel/tire change trigger it. After a wheel tire change my car requires multiple resets for the system to learn, especially at highway speeds. Seems to learn better if not driving over 40mph?

 

I would venture as far as to say you are more the exception than the rule.

 

 

It seems like for most people, they either have the problem or they don't.
Because in my case, every TPMS illumination has been false. Has had NOTHING to do with the actual PSI of the tires. Which in every case has been fine.

Unfortunately, that TPMS symbol can't be ignored. When driving, I can't assume when it illuminates that it is false. For safety sake, I HAVE to pull over and check. Which has made the unreliability of the system a real pain.

I suppose I could force the issue, and demand Honda pursue a solution. I'm still under warranty. But given the number of posts here of people that are experiencing the exact same problem, along with the Dealership Service Center's total lack of seeming understanding or desire to help, I kind of have chalked it up to just a inevitable quirk of the system.

On the "positive" side? Yeah, it makes me check the PSI...whether I want to or not.

Out of curiosity, you say you have never experienced it?
Have you gone on many long highway road trips? That's the scenario where I'm almost guaranteed to get a false illumination. If I've been driving at highway speeds for over 1/2 hour to an hour or more.
In mixed driving, I can go almost indefinitely without the symbol illuminating.

I realize that you ONLY hear the squeaky wheel. That is, people don't typically create posts or threads to tell everyone their TPMS is working fine.
But I have been involved in enough threads within Fit Freak, to realize that I'm clearly not alone with this problem.

I almost feel like Honda has some level of production defect here, and there should be a Service Bulletin or Recall for those of us that seem to of gotten the "Cry Wolf" version of the system.

 

I used to dream about how wonderful it would be to have TPMS but considering all the problems people seem to have with it I'm glad I don't have it on my 2018 LX (cdn) Fit. I check my tire pressures maybe once a month and I anticipate seasonal temperature changes by over inflating several pounds just before the colder weather starts to arrive. I've had no issues at all to date with these tires although I haven't put on a lot of mileage.

 

I fully agree that it would be aggravating to have the light come on, only to check and find out your tire pressures are correct. I've just never experienced it on either of our cars (my wife's Kia has the valve stem sensors)
I've taken this car to PA, to MI a couple of times and the Gulf coast of AL 3x, I'd say 500+ miles each direction from our suburban Knoxville location. Virtually all highway/freeway dring@70+ mph, stopping only for gas/food/bathroom.....not an issue ever. And, in my daily driving 'round here (a small suburban city, lot's of hills and curves, less stop signs and traffic lights than what one typically expects of city driving, guess it falls under "mixed,") same deal.
Having the warning light for no reason would annoy the **** outta me, and yeah, safety first, ya gotta check, because, hell there ain't nothing between you and the road 'xcept your tires. Shitty problem for some folks, hopefully Honda will address it. But, by the same token, I can understand folks being hesitant to bring it to the dealer and have to pay the diagnostic fee and have them supposedly find nothing wrong. Having read of all the other various problems folks have had with this car (we bought it CPO with 40000 miles on it), it's been trouble free for us for the couple of years we've owned it.....am wondering if the previous owner got all of the niggling problems fixed and traded it in because of the troubles....who knows? It's a Jan '15 build, iirc.

 

I used to see the TPMS light occasionally on the OEM tires driving both around town and on road trips. Sometimes it went away with a reset but most times I had to find a hose. Once it was the real thing, a bonafide flat. I got new tires in June and have seen it only once, on the day after the tires went on.

 

This pretty much mirrors my experience, except the light has never come on since I got new tires (Michelins) 5000 miles ago, 4400 of which was a road trip. Before that I got a few false positives and some real tire problems. I also check monthly.

 

Interesting.
Unfortunately or Fortunately....
I'd say I'm about a year away from really needing to think about replacing the OEM tires. They actually have been functionally pretty good. I've been surprised.
So I won't be able to immediately test the hypothesis that there is some connection to the false alerts and the actual tires themselves.

I guess just logically, since my tires aren't losing air...I find it hard to believe their replacement would bring about a change. But....I'd be really happy if it did solve the problem.

 

When I first got my 2015 EX last year, the TPMS light came on on the Grapevine driving back from LA. I stopped any Tejon Ranch and discovered I had picked up a piece of machine rod on the road and was going flat fast! I put on the spare, hobbled to a service station and was quickly back on the road.

This incident trained me to always take the TPMS seriously, but for the first few months after that, I was getting false alarms a couple times a week, especially on the freeway. I finally broke down and got a decent digital tire pressure gage and started dialing in exact tire pressure and keeping an eye on it. Zero problems with TPMS since then. Added bonus, I started tweaking tire pressure for long road trips and have seen better gas milage as a result.

 

Do you suggest a good PSI tire gauge?

 

I got this one:


What I like about it is you can over inflate, then use the bleeder valve to easily set the pressure exactly where you want it.

 

in each of my cars i keep a cheapo pen type gauge because i never know when i might need it and the battery could be dead.
i also keep a small air compressor in each of the cars and that also has a tire pressure gauge.

at home i have a battery powered digital pressure gauge.

 

My TPMS light comes on nearly every time I have a modest to long length highway trip. I always check (at first, more urgently now that I've stared to distrust it...) and the PSI has been within spec on all four tires each time. Getting very close to ignoring it altogether...