thirstyturtle
New member
After driving on the interstate for about an hour this morning, my TPMS light started flashing. After 30 minutes or so I pulled over to check my tires. All were at 36 paid. Light is still flashing...any ideas?
TPMS Light Randomly Started Flashing
- Thread starter thirstyturtle
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
NJshadow93
New member
also check if you have a nail in a tire. my sister's RAV4 had the same thing, tire pressure was fine, took it to STS Tire where they were rotated last in case they messed something up. they checked and found a nail in one tire.
BlackWorksInc
New member
This applies to pretty much ever TPMS system out there. If the Light is steady you have a pressure issue that the system is recording/seeing. If it is blinking, there is a fault in the system, usually a miscommunication issue caused by a dead/broken sensor.
Have you had the tires replaced recently? If not, the batteries in the sensors may have died.
Try letting out a few PSI in all 5 tires with the vehicle on, I have seen sensors occasionally get stuck in sleep mode randomly on customers cars from time to time.
So this also happened to me last night on the highway. I checked all the wheels, pressures are good, spare is fine. I pulled the battery just tried to reset. Still flashing. So it's really malfunction of the TPMS system? What's the best way of fixing this? Ignore flashing light (annoying)? Stealership? Any tires company can fix? Or just bypass the TPMS system?
Thanks all.
Thanks all.
berettashot117
New member
bypass it man. Cut the wire that gives power to the bulb. Just keep an eye on your tires from now on
Best idea I've heard yet concerning this PITA TPMS crap.
I went to home depot and bought some wire splice and did the bypass by connecting the pink/black wire to the white/black wire from the TPMS module under the glove box. TPMS light no longer flashing and went away.
Now the concern i have is: Will there be any long term consequences of this doing? Any problem with ECU down the road? Im just afraid the light went away for now, but the ECU will somehow interpret this negatively and throw CEL.
Thanks.
Now the concern i have is: Will there be any long term consequences of this doing? Any problem with ECU down the road? Im just afraid the light went away for now, but the ECU will somehow interpret this negatively and throw CEL.
Thanks.
berettashot117
New member
no. TPMS is separate from everything. that's why it has it's own light. and I'm pretty sure all the wire splice does is remove power to the bulb
Yes, this is an old thread, but my noob status prevents starting a new thread, and this one is close to my issue.
Driving through a snowy slushy Thanksgiving, the TPMS light started to blink, and continued to the rest of the trip. After, I took it in for an unrelated alignment (already scheduled) and they tested the TPMS, and said all 4 sensors were bad and needed replacement. (It sounded odd to me that ALL 4 would go bad on the same trip, and told them so.) Soon following, the weather cleared enough to run the T4R through the car wash, and the light stopped flashing. Washing the suv fixed it.
For a while anyway. It's doing it again, and another shop reports the same thing, all 4 sensors are bad. Seems to me there is a common denominator to this system, and that is likely the problem. But I'm a bit at a loss of likely places that may be. Any good, affordable ideas, that don't include disabling the light?
Driving through a snowy slushy Thanksgiving, the TPMS light started to blink, and continued to the rest of the trip. After, I took it in for an unrelated alignment (already scheduled) and they tested the TPMS, and said all 4 sensors were bad and needed replacement. (It sounded odd to me that ALL 4 would go bad on the same trip, and told them so.) Soon following, the weather cleared enough to run the T4R through the car wash, and the light stopped flashing. Washing the suv fixed it.
For a while anyway. It's doing it again, and another shop reports the same thing, all 4 sensors are bad. Seems to me there is a common denominator to this system, and that is likely the problem. But I'm a bit at a loss of likely places that may be. Any good, affordable ideas, that don't include disabling the light?
NinjaOne
New member
New sensors are $30 - 60 each depending on aftermarket or OEM. That is parts alone, you'll also need to factor in the cost of removing and remounting the tires (typically $10-25 each)
The other thing is, it could be the master unit (which would explain why they all four disappear at once) Throwing new sensors at it wouldn't fix that, that unit is $400 iirc
Disabling the sensor takes 5-10 minutes and is reversible. Basically just unplugging or cutting a cable.
The other thing is, it could be the master unit (which would explain why they all four disappear at once) Throwing new sensors at it wouldn't fix that, that unit is $400 iirc
Disabling the sensor takes 5-10 minutes and is reversible. Basically just unplugging or cutting a cable.
unevolved
Member
Probably worth just replacing them. Sure, they're annoying, but they work. Fact is, if you get a flat while driving, or your spare loses air, it'll let you know before you'd find out otherwise.
Any tire shop can replace them. Should be about $30-45 a piece. It's common for all of the to die around the same time, they've got the same batteries, they were installed at the same time, they're doing the same thing, etc.
LOSTR4
Member
I threw a toggle switch on mine and have them turned off as I'm not ready/needing to swap tires anytime soon...Once new tires are needed I'll toggle it back on and be good to go...easy fix and inconspicuous!
LOSTR4
Member
The sensors are inside the tire on the inside of the wheel...the TPS ECM is under the glove box on the passenger side...it is a wireless signal that is received by the ECM from the TPSs...I don't think water could fault them unless you flooded the interior of the car...batteries wear out and need replacing and sometimes that's all it can be...but in this case, one must swap out the TPS sensors and relearned them to the ECM...did you end up checking the spare too?
LosT4R, Maybe wasn't clear: The problem was FIXED after running it through a car wash, so water/washing it fixed the TPMS light, for several months.
The TPMS light initially started blinking during a trip in a slushy snowstorm over Thanksgiving. Cleared up about 10 days later when weather allowed running the T4R through a carwash. In between, shop claimed ALL FOUR sensors were bad.
I don't see how ALL FOUR sensors went bad at the exact same time, and ten days later, ALL FOUR sensors fixed themselves at the exact same time following a carwash.
My scientifically curious mind says something else is a factor here, and the lazy diagnostic work done by the shop missed something. But if the sensors are inside the tires, and the computer is inside the suv, I'm not sure what washing the underside of the T4R could have fixed. This simply does not make sense to me.
But now the light is blinking again, and once again we're told ALL FOUR sensors are bad, so they ALL went bad at the same time again. hummm.
The TPMS light initially started blinking during a trip in a slushy snowstorm over Thanksgiving. Cleared up about 10 days later when weather allowed running the T4R through a carwash. In between, shop claimed ALL FOUR sensors were bad.
I don't see how ALL FOUR sensors went bad at the exact same time, and ten days later, ALL FOUR sensors fixed themselves at the exact same time following a carwash.
My scientifically curious mind says something else is a factor here, and the lazy diagnostic work done by the shop missed something. But if the sensors are inside the tires, and the computer is inside the suv, I'm not sure what washing the underside of the T4R could have fixed. This simply does not make sense to me.
But now the light is blinking again, and once again we're told ALL FOUR sensors are bad, so they ALL went bad at the same time again. hummm.
LOSTR4
Member
That is a strange sequence of events...I apologize as I misread your post describing the car wash event...I literally had the same blinking lights and thus threw a toggle switch in and band-aided the problem...when I get new tires I'll swap out the TPSs and hope for the best...
As far as why it's working now? Who knows!? Perhaps the car wash cleaned off some debris/mud and opened up better transmission to the ECM? Far cry to what it could be but if you rely on those sensors perhaps you should swap them out...if you manually check and visually check your tires weekly at least, I'd consider the toggle switch on the TPS ECM and not think twice about it!
As far as why it's working now? Who knows!? Perhaps the car wash cleaned off some debris/mud and opened up better transmission to the ECM? Far cry to what it could be but if you rely on those sensors perhaps you should swap them out...if you manually check and visually check your tires weekly at least, I'd consider the toggle switch on the TPS ECM and not think twice about it!
unevolved
Member
Intermittent behavior can be explained by failing batteries. The temperature fluctuations could be causing the voltage to rise and drop below minimum levels for sensor function (very very minor changes), explaining the weather-related behavior.
Still, though. TPMS batteries last about ten years at best. It's a common thing. I feel like you're overthinking this.
Similar threads
