Is it lighting up for an individual corner or just a general fault? New sensors do not need to be programmed at all. The car just recognizes them automatically.

 

Most likely the batteries in the sensors are going dead. You would need to replace the sensor and stem together and the battery is not removable. A good tire shop will have a TPMS computer that can check to see what sensor is bad.
I have an issue with my winter set of tires and wheels where the TPMS light comes on after about 5 minutes of driving. It will then stay on for the duration of my trip. When I replace the tires, I will get 4 new sensors and have the tire shop install them at that time.

 

I just see a general TPMS light go on, it does not tell me which sensor is bad.


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A good tire shop will have a TPMS computer that can check to see what sensor is bad.

 

Thanks carguy07 and RallyD!! I will stop by pep boys over the weekend and see what the issue is.


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TPMS without any of the 4 'tires' lighting up means the TPMS battery is going out. Those have a 10 year lifetime and a 04 would mean it's going out.
I have the same problem but until I need to change my tires, I just make sure its full of air.

Each unit is $30 online ($50+ at the tire center) , and most likely you would have to replace 4. ($120).

That's why I didn't bother right now, just waiting for the tires to go bald.

 

tpms light on means there is a FAULT hard code fault in the TPMS system. you need to pull codes (with a newer scan tool "professional") and see what is faulty

 

As far as I know cbsevenfiftyk the TPMS system and the 'Code' system are separate.

the only tool that can read TPMS signals is a bit expensive and can only be read from the tire stem right? (Not plugging into the OBDII)

That's how I know mine are bad, the local tire shop brought out their scanner and found out 3 out of 4 of my tires aren't responding.

 

As forbin404 mentioned, lifespan on the batteries is roughly 10 years, so I would suspect the battery. I had the TPMS light come on (when the weather got colder in the fall). As I was soon to be mounting my winter wheels/tires (with their own sensors), I just ignored it. Since the winters have been on, no more light.

FYI to the original poster - the TPMS sensors are self initializing - there's no need for the dealer to reset them to your specific vehicle.

 

I just started having the same issue now on my '06. I'm almost ready for a new set of tires but I'm not looking forward to the unnecessary expense of new sensors. These MDX's have a lot of unnecessary options that I would have happy not having. Is there a way to disable the system? I don't need the TPMS and have done fine without something like this with all the cars I've owned. The damn warning light is annoying and a bit distracting.

 

TPMS is federally-mandated... So I wouldn't call it "unnecessary".

The sensors are about ~$30. Not a terrible expense, considering your vehicle is 12 years old.

 

Thanks it's not a terrible expense but nonetheless a significant expense that could be better spent on real necessities. I disagree with a lot of federal mandates. I've done without a lot of their meddling necessities over my lifetime. I don't need some stupid little device to tell me tire pressure is low. I can easily see a tire is low on pressure before the system tells me.
This is why I will never ever buy a new car again.

 

 

Naw, more like this...

 

Clint rules!

I like the TPMS. Has let me know several times over the 12 yrs that we’ve had the X that something was up with the tire pressure. Once when we were traveling and drove over a large nail. Allowed me to stop before the tire collapsed and the rim rode on a flat tire. But hey, it’s a free country.

Wouldn’t recommend disabling a safety system and can’t garantee what other circuits could be affected but you could try pulling fuse #9 drivers side under dash or #11 passenger side - 9 feeds the TPMS indicator and 11 feeds the TPMS control. Or you could pull the bulb that lights the indicator. Or, cover it with a piece of black tape.

That being said, the sensors are about $25-$30 each on rockauto and I’ve found Costco and America’s Tire will replace them for free when buy tires. The sensor is usually $45-$60 each if you buy at the tire shop. If you have a lot of tread left, you could pay a shop to dismount the tire, install it, and rebalance the tire. (Or ignore the indicator.)

 

The issue with tpms is that the sensor battery in each tire is only good for about 8 or so years and with the first gen mdx passed that they will start losing charge and the tmps will error on and off, mine shows tpms status for the first few minutes of every drive and after that it errors out. People have driven on the roads without tpms for over 100 years so not having tpms is not a big deal for me personally especially since we have a spare tire unlike some cars out there...