This started somewhat recently. I get to a spot near a small airport and my TPMS sensor blinks and sometimes turns solid.

My air pressure is fine. I just checked it to adjust for the cold weather.

Anyone else experienced this? They been fine for years.

I spend most of my working days in a hangar at the local airport. My car is parked either next to, or inside, the hangar, and I drive it around the airport (the car, not the hangar). I have never seen any TPMS warnings.

Year and model of vehicle? I think all TPMS sensors are powered by a battery in each unit. The battery life is normally about 8-10 years. It is possible that your battery is failing in one or more of the sensors.

Definitely possible. If it only does that in that spot. You might intentionally lower the pressure in a tire one at a time to make sure the system is working overall. If you google it, you get hits on others asking the same question.

quote:

Originally posted by Gene Hillman:
Year and model of vehicle? I think all TPMS sensors are powered by a battery in each unit. The battery life is normally about 8-10 years. It is possible that your battery is failing in one or more of the sensors.

I’ve suspected that the TPMS of my 2018 Hyundai Sonata is powered by induction, rather than a battery. The reason I think that is because I have to drive a ways, at fair speed, before it begins reporting tire pressure. This article appears to support my surmise:

“… Most dTPMS are battery powered. Some sensors employ a wireless power system, based on electromagnetic induction, resembling that used in RFID tag reading. This makes the sensor more lightweight…”

www.microcontrollertips.com/wh...ring-gets-smart-faq/

Dont forget to test the spare tire if it also has TPMS.

Mine went out a couple years ago, Im planning on bypassing the blinking light and just check the tire pressure manually like I normally do.

2010 Forrester. It’s possible it could be going bad and even the slightest interference now bugs it. Driven the route for years.

Three original sensors went bad over 6 months in an '08 Impreza.

Discount Tire was under $200 for the three, including a 6yr/72,000 mile warranty. Too bad I had the dealership replace one for $109 two years earlier.

I had the valve stems replaced on my '10 a year ago at Discount Tire. Didn't notice any problems, but they said they needed replaced.
Is it possible that the spot the light comes on is the same distance from your point of departure or is there a turn in the road near this point?

What airport?

TPMS usually operates on 315 or 433 MHz. The only aviation systems nearby those frequencies are the ILS (glideslope) at 328mhz. It could be your airport has an ILS and your TPMS is erroneously picking up some multipath causing your tire sensor to malfunction.

quote:

Originally posted by BlackTalonJHP:
I had the valve stems replaced on my '10 a year ago at Discount Tire. Didn't notice any problems, but they said they needed replaced.
Is it possible that the spot the light comes on is the same distance from your point of departure or is there a turn in the road near this point?

Same distance from my house. Just a rural airport for small planes. Could be a coincidence and it’s a distance thing. Seemed to start after a flat repair.

Since you mentioned flat repair. Do all 4 tires match and have you rotated them so the diameter matches as close as possible?
You would know if you get vibration in the steering wheel at higher speeds.

Also if you drive on the spare tire remember to move it to the rear and disable the all wheel drive system via fuse box.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BlackTalonJHP,

Tires match, rotated regularly and worn even. The spare is a doughnut.

quote:

Originally posted by pbramlett:

TPMS usually operates on 315 or 433 MHz. The only aviation systems nearby those frequencies are the ILS (glideslope) at 328mhz. It could be your airport has an ILS and your TPMS is erroneously picking up some multipath causing your tire sensor to malfunction.

UHF communication, used by military aircraft, is in the 225 to 400 MHz band.

I have at least one bad sensor on my 2005 Nissan Frontier, and it triggers after driving a certain distance, like 20 miles or so.

Never comes on during shorter trips, and resets after the ignition is turned off, and doesn't come back until that 20 mile distance is driven in a single outing.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by pbramlett:

TPMS usually operates on 315 or 433 MHz. The only aviation systems nearby those frequencies are the ILS (glideslope) at 328mhz. It could be your airport has an ILS and your TPMS is erroneously picking up some multipath causing your tire sensor to malfunction.

UHF communication, used by military aircraft, is in the 225 to 400 MHz band.

V-tail,

You are correct that the military uses that range for voice. However, ILS glidepath for military and non military is at 328-356mhz range. The localizer that we tune in is in the VHF AM Spectrum.


https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files...-0335.40_01MAR14.pdf

UPDATE AFTER SUGGESTIONS HERE


As an update, it seems to be more time/distance related when temps are around 32. I went another way and it started blinking approximately the same time/distance. It blinked for 1 Mile, was solid 2 miles then went off.

I would guess this started close to 10 minutes into each trip and a few miles.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
UPDATE AFTER SUGGESTIONS HERE


As an update, it seems to be more time/distance related when temps are around 32. I went another way and it started blinking approximately the same time/distance. It blinked for 1 Mile, was solid 2 miles then went off.

I would guess this started close to 10 minutes into each trip and a few miles.

When air temp is 32F, air pressure in tires is much lower than when air temp is say 80F. Check your air temp when it's cold out and see what it is. Might just be the TPMS sensors doing their job.

In 2017 I replaced all the sensors in a 2007 Corvette which needed new tires. All the sensors were working properly but the tires were coming off so it seemed the smart time to do it. I found good new sensors on the internet for a lot less than I could buy them locally. You are either at or near the end of life of your sensors if they are original to your car. You could check the build date of the car on the tire pressure decal and may find that it was built in 2009 or early 2010.

The cause may lie with a cold wind, solar flare, spoiled milk and / or many other should-be-irrelevant factors.

The notion, invention and requirement of TPMS is stupid. If the warning light comes on, stop and look at the tire (and, better, quickly check the pressure with a simple pencil gauge). If fine, keep driving. That has worked for me for the last 50k miles of the 162K miles driven on my Tundra.

If my comment offends an engineer involved or infatuated with the development of TPMS, I’m sorry. But, you should have applied your talent toward something more valuable.

I feel better now. Everyone take a sip and get back to decorating the tree and holiday cheer!