[longhornaccord]

These modern cars are too much. I rotated the tires on my 2015 V6 this weekend and when I got back in car and started it, the tire pressure light was on. Now this light hardly ever comes on. So I looked at the owner manual hardcopy and it said you must reset the TPMS each time you rotate tires. So I follow the procedure in the manual and get TPMS reset and light goes off and all is good.

I mean, how the heck did the car itself know that I had taken off the tires/wheels and rotated them? Is there some sort of camera or radar system it uses? Kidding, of course, but how the heck does it know if one of it's tires/wheels is removed?

 

[Hudouc]

That is interesting. I wonder if the car just saw that the wheel positions after you got back in the car didn't match the wheel position it remembered before the car was turned off. Patterns on the hall effect sensors from before didn't match the after.

 

[Miker]

That is interesting. I wonder if the car just saw that the wheel positions after you got back in the car didn't match the wheel position it remembered before the car was turned off. Patterns on the hall effect sensors from before didn't match the after.

this^^^^

The wheel speed per tire must be identified at least in the algorithm. Move the smaller diameter (worn) front tires to the back and viola!, TPMS light.

 

[Justinga99]

I had to recalibrate mine the other day halfway through our two hour drive. It's odd since it's not quite a sensor. 60K miles and never had to recalibrate it until now.

 

[WiiMaster]

But you don't have to replace TPMS sensors ever.

You win some, you lose some.

 

[slimm1469]

I defeated the whole TPMS system. I'll eyeball the tires thank you very much.

 

[jjpark]

If you drove the car after rotation then one of the tires is a bit more worn down in diameter then the one that was in it's place so the TPMS picked up on that. If the light was on after rotation but before driving. It's possible you spun the wheel while it was off the ground and the sensor picked up on that thinking it had a different diameter tire?

 

[meowcat]

I've rotated my tires myself 13 times. (every 5,000 miles) never had a TPMS light come on.

 

[MackDawg]

I hate all TPMS systems. Not ready for prime time. I also will check my tires myself.

 

[zroger73]

The Accord uses an indirect tire pressure monitoring system that uses the wheel speed sensors to compare the rotational speeds of all four tires and measure the peak resonance frequency of the front tires.

Indirect tire pressure monitoring systems have been around for decades. They work on the principle that the diameter of an underinflated tire will be slightly smaller causing it to rotate slightly faster than the other tires. No two tires are exactly the same size and have exactly the same pressure so the these systems must be placed into a learning mode that establishes a baseline for the difference in rotational speeds before a low tire can be detected. Replacing one or more tires, rotating them, or adjusting the pressure all change the rotational speed which is why the system should be recalibrated.

Early indirect tire pressure monitoring systems were unable to detect a condition where all four tires were equally underinflated such as occurs with temperature changes. This was solved by adding the ability to measure the peak resonance frequency of the front tires. As the volume of air inside a tire changes, the peak resonance frequency changes. Think of the pitch difference that occurs as a basketball is inflated to different pressures and bounced - the higher the pressure, the higher the frequency.

By comparing rotational speeds and measuring the peak resonance frequency, the tire pressure monitoring system can deduce that any number of them are significantly underinflated from the point that the calibration was performed.

Automobiles with direct tire pressure monitoring systems measure actual tire pressure using a sensor in each wheel. These system do not require a reset or calibration since the low tire warning will clear once the tire is reinflated.

 

[longhornaccord]

Re-calibrating the 9th Gen Accord TPMS has been very easy on my car. Just push the dash button and it resets and never comes on in my car, except when tires are rotated or changed. the TPMS light does not come on when I add air to my tires.

 

[sequoiasoon]

If you keep both front and back at the same pressures normally, and you have even tread wear, rotate often, then you might not need to reset it ever.

If you have 1-2 pounds more in front and then rotate it might trigger as they heat up or you get a cold day.

Dealer overinflated mine and triggered the TPMS they had 5-6psi more than I use in all 4.

 

[zroger73]

If you keep both front and back at the same pressures normally, and you have even tread wear, rotate often, then you might not need to reset it ever.

The owner's manual says:

You must start TPMS calibration every time you:
• Adjust the pressure in one or more tires.
• Rotate the tires.
• Replace one or more tires.

There are no exceptions listed for this procedure.

 

[sequoiasoon]

Most of my rotations are at seasonal tire swap so I do the calibration then anyway.

 

[shintony]

I hate all TPMS systems. Not ready for prime time. I also will check my tires myself.

You can always ignore the warning and just reset the system. Just having the system doesn’t hurt even when it doesn’t work.
I found the system to be quite useful. I check tire pressure every month but when the tire gets punctured and lose small amount of air, TPMS noticed me as little as 30kPa drop of air pressure. When rear tire get punctured it’s difficult to feel it until it loses a bar or so.

My Accord haven’t give me a false alarm yet.

 

[sequoiasoon]

You can always ignore the warning and just reset the system. Just having the system doesn’t hurt even when it doesn’t work.
I found the system to be quite useful. I check tire pressure every month but when the tire gets punctured and lose small amount of air, TPMS noticed me as little as 30kPa drop of air pressure. When rear tire get punctured it’s difficult to feel it until it loses a bar or so.

My Accord haven’t give me a false alarm yet.

I don't know if it's on the Accord or if all Honda's (and other brands).

My daughters '08 Honda CRV states in the manual that if there is a TPMS system problem it will not allow you to turn off the stability control. This means that it will not allow you to spin the wheels if needed to clear tire from snow/mud. I don't know if that applies to low pressure or just system issue. The CRV has wheel sensors (dumb version no dash pressure readout) and that generation only holds 4 so needs reprogram for summer/winter. If you don't reprogram in about 15 miles the TPMS (system) light comes on, not the low pressure tire/exclamation point one. First time that happened I tried the VSC off and it would not turn off.

The Accord being an indirect system might still allow the stability to be turned off if the light is on. I have not tried that yet. Maybe in the future if it turns on and I remember.

I used to not like the systems for the added cost of sensors/reprogramming etc. Now I like having them. Mine have all alerted me from nails while driving and allowed me to pull over in a safer area so I could check. Accord as indirect through ABS sensors, Pilot and Renegade with dash pressure readout and location, CRV and Forte with sensors bit no dash readout.

 

[zroger73]

Same thing with the 2006-2014 Ridgeline - if there's a low tire indicate or a problem with the TPMS, the stability/traction control cannot be turned off. The 2017-2023 Ridgeline will allow you to "turn off the stability/traction control", but turning it "off" doesn't actually turn it completely off - it just raises the threshold at which it activates.

 

[shintony]

I don't know if it's on the Accord or if all Honda's (and other brands).

My daughters '08 Honda CRV states in the manual that if there is a TPMS system problem it will not allow you to turn off the stability control. This means that it will not allow you to spin the wheels if needed to clear tire from snow/mud. I don't know if that applies to low pressure or just system issue. The CRV has wheel sensors (dumb version no dash pressure readout) and that generation only holds 4 so needs reprogram for summer/winter. If you don't reprogram in about 15 miles the TPMS (system) light comes on, not the low pressure tire/exclamation point one. First time that happened I tried the VSC off and it would not turn off.

The Accord being an indirect system might still allow the stability to be turned off if the light is on. I have not tried that yet. Maybe in the future if it turns on and I remember.

I used to not like the systems for the added cost of sensors/reprogramming etc. Now I like having them. Mine have all alerted me from nails while driving and allowed me to pull over in a safer area so I could check. Accord as indirect through ABS sensors, Pilot and Renegade with dash pressure readout and location, CRV and Forte with sensors bit no dash readout.

I don’t like direct TPMS sensors as well, too much trouble on tire swaps. The indirect has no added cost other than maybe a few lines of code in ECU to trigger warning light when wheel speed become different than the calibrated ratio. Although it doesn’t tell you which tire is low, I can always pull over and measure myself.

 

[sequoiasoon]

I don’t like direct TPMS sensors as well, too much trouble on tire swaps. The indirect has no added cost other than maybe a few lines of code in ECU to trigger warning light when wheel speed become different than the calibrated ratio. Although it doesn’t tell you which tire is low, I can always pull over and measure myself.

My '19 Pilot with direct readout on dash picks up the sensors in the winter or summer wheels right away in correct position. No issues. Even rotating them to different spots. My summer rims came from a friends Ridgeline with the sensors already in them. Never needed to program them.

My son's '10 Forte with sensors but no readout picks up right away no issues. I had one bad one that Costco replaced with their house version when I had the snows mounted 3 years ago.

 

[zroger73]

The indirect has no added cost other than maybe a few lines of code in ECU to trigger warning light when wheel speed become different than the calibrated ratio. Although it doesn’t tell you which tire is low, I can always pull over and measure myself.

I've never understood why automakers don't allow indirect tire pressure monitoring systems to display which tire(s) are low. It knows, so why not let the driver know?