Driving without Tire Pressure Sensors

Sky_Render wrote: Ready? Here's how you do it. Get a piece of pipe. Drill a hole in it for a valve stem. Place all four TPMS sensors in the pipe and seal it at both ends. Use the valve stem to "inflate" the pipe to 36 psi. Put the pipe in your spare tire well. Done. Now you can switch wheels and tires to your heart's content.

Will not work for FR-S/BRZ, TPMS sensors require rotation of the wheels for sensing.

Leadfoot wrote: One strange thing about the Honda system (maybe others, too) is that you cannot turn off traction/stability control when the TPMS warning is active. The button on the dash to turn off VSA does not function. If you ever need to turn off traction control in the winter to extract yourself from a snow bank or burn through some ice, you won't be able to do this--unless you find the fuse under the hood.

That must be a real pain, as our '05 Odyssey's VSA system is very aggressive in cutting the throttle when it detects wheelspin on snowy surfaces. I usually turn VSA off in snowy conditions because it does a fantastic job of killing momentum. Thankfully, our Odyssey is pre-TPMS...

Vracer111 wrote:

Sky_Render wrote: Ready? Here's how you do it. Get a piece of pipe. Drill a hole in it for a valve stem. Place all four TPMS sensors in the pipe and seal it at both ends. Use the valve stem to "inflate" the pipe to 36 psi. Put the pipe in your spare tire well. Done. Now you can switch wheels and tires to your heart's content.

Will not work for FR-S/BRZ, TPMS sensors require rotation of the wheels for sensing.

That makes absolutely zero sense.

And here's yet another question about TPMS:

I was looking at replacement wheels for a Ford Focus or Fiesta (was considering a very low-buck model Fiesta and "moding it like GRMs car), and Ford Racing Products sells a Focus wheel that looks like a Euro / rally wheel, but it was factory installed on Mk II Focuses in Europe....anyway, the disclaimer on the website says that these wheels (which TireRack also sells) are NOT TPMS compatible. What could make a wheel incompatible with the TPMS sensors / system?

Well, this is what the TPMS sensor looks like on my Mustang. It just replaces the valve stem. I would have assumed that the Focus/Fiesta use the same part...

http://www.americanmuscle.com/tpms-sensor-2010.html

The wheels have a flat spot machines into them that the sensor sits in, if they don't have it the sensor actually can't be tightened down.

Nice thing is that the stem opening is a standard rubber valve stem opening so you can get by without the TPMS crap if you want to on a TPMS wheel.

chandlerGTi wrote: The wheels have a flat spot machines into them that the sensor sits in, if they don't have it the sensor actually can't be tightened down. Nice thing is that the stem opening is a standard rubber valve stem opening so you can get by without the TPMS crap if you want to on a TPMS wheel.

I'm not so sure that applies to all of the sensors. My TSWs don't have a flat spot machined into them.

Here's what I would do:

1. Acquire roll of black electrical tape.
2. Pull off a small strand, and stick it to my jeans a few times to reduce its stickiness.
3. Cut a piece large enough to cover the idiot light.
4. Remove in spring.

Vracer111 wrote: For the FR-S, if you run a set of wheels without TPMS sensors then TPMS light will begin blinking for a little bit after 20-21 miles of driving then remain lit. There is no beep or chime, just the dash light. If the TPMS does come on from exceeding the 20-21 mile one way range, it will go back off after spending the night in the garage with the factory wheels. So If you keep the factory wheels in the garage by the car and drive less than 20 miles one way then you will never see the TPMS light come on. Also, thankfully, the TPMS light being on has no effect on traction/stability system fuction - so its still capable of everything from full on to completely off.

This is the same as with my Transit Connect with the exception that it take ~30 miles to set the light off. I have been running without the sensors for a year now and every time I put it in the garage it resets the light if it is on.

Do all new cars have this?

Enyar wrote: Do all new cars have this?

Pretty much. All sold in the US for sure.

We had dissimilar metal corrosion cause the outer sleeve retaining nut to split on one of our sensors on the smart and it caused a rapid loss of air. I know this cause the sensor warning light came on!!

How stupid is it that the only flat I've had in over ten years was caused by a TPMS. There are repair kits depending on the brand. I have yet to install them on the smart. Light comes on, blinks a little, then stays on solid but not enough to be annoying. I replaced the front sensors with regular valve stems. Guess what? No problems with those!

GameboyRMH wrote:

Enyar wrote: Do all new cars have this?

Pretty much. All sold in the US for sure.

Mandatory in 2008 model year

Some automakers started early, our '06 model has them...

Motion does seemed be part of the equation so the pressure can does not work. Looks like with all1the hate for these there will be a market for a hack W

Rotation doesn't make the sensors work. The sensors have a relatively slow sample rate, so sometimes it takes a few minutes for the TPMS to register the pressure of the different tires. It can take up to 10 minutes, depending on the system.