rx8cited

Hello all,

I'm considering getting snow tires on aftermarket wheels and would
like to get some "first hand experience" on the impact of not
buying/installing the TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System)
wheel units to be mounted on a car with the TPMS system. Just to
clarify, MNAO calls the TPMS sensor that mounts in the wheel a
TPMS "wheel unit" - see

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...02-002-03.html

So can anyone who has installed aftermarket wheels without installing
the TPMS wheel units in the four wheels please tell me based on
"your firsthand experience" exactly what the TPMS warning light
and buzzer do? Do the TPMS warning light and / or TPMS buzzer come on,
stay on, go off some time after driving the car?

Has anyone bought a wheel/tire package from tirerack.com and had them
install the TPMS wheel units successfully? If so, please share your
experience with me.

I'm guessing the TPMS wheel units don't fit into all aftermarket
wheels correctly, so I either need to find wheels that the wheel
units fit in or skip the wheel units.

I wonder if Mazda service has a way of
disabling the TPMS light/buzzer?

Thanks in advance for any replies,
rx8cited

CraziFuzzy

They probably do not fit in all wheels, but they might fit in a lot of wheels... The TPMS is basically the inside portion of the stem (wish i had a picture) so itbasically bepends on how much clearance there is behind hole for the stem in the wheel.

eccles

If the TPMS sensors are not present, the warning light comes on and stays on. The audible alarm only sounds for about 5 seconds the first time it comes on. The ECU does not go into any sort of "limp home" mode - after the initial beep, the warning light is the only side-effect.

red_rx8

rx8cited, thanks for the link on the TPMS.

I've been thinking about snow tires and how I was going to do new cheap wheels with the TPMS. I've had a thought and a question. What about putting snow tires on the "stock" wheels, and somehow protecting the wheels from the salt with a protectant of some type. One guy told me that some people coat their wheels with vasoline, but here is my question: Is there a metal protectant out there that can be spayed on the wheels and last all winter and then taken off with some solvent? Something like the coating they spray cars with when they ship them across the ocean to protect them from the salt?

Does anyone know if there is such a self-do-it to protect the OEM wheels?

Speed Racer

I purchased a set of snow tires from TireRack and put them on a few days ago. For the first minute or two the car doesn't realize that the sensors are missing. Once it finally figures out that they are not there the TPMS light blinks continually and I have not heard a buzzer.

Before I installed the tires I thought that the light would be extremely distracting but I have found it to be pretty easy to ignore. If it becomes too annoying I plan on wiring in a switch into the TPMS circuit so I can disable the system or the light at the very least.

rx8cited

Hi. Thanks everyone for your replies.

eccles, you say the TPMS light comes on and stays on - is it on solid or blinking? Do you find the light distracting?

Speed Racer said his light blinks continually.

I called MNAO customer service to find out if it is possible to turn the TPMS warning system off - the fellow I spoke to said even if there was a way, no one at MNAO would tell me how to do it. My local service department did not know how to turn it off and they referred me to MNAO customer service.

Gary at Tirerack.com said they would not mount the TPMS wheel units for me if I had them shipped there .

Speed Racer, you mentioned wiring in a switch to disable the TPMS warnings if it becomes to annoying. Have you looked into this deep enough to know how you'd do it? If so, I'd love to hear your idea .

Anyone know if the 16" RX-8 wheels fit on a GT that comes with 18" wheels? Since the 16" wheels definitely accept the TPMS wheel units, I was wondering about having snow tires mounted the 16"s for my GT.

Thanks,
rx8cited

PS: red_rx8 you're welcome on the link.

Speed Racer

On a previous thread I asked Canzoomer to look at the TPMS circuit and his comments are below:

Wiring in a switch to disable the system is not going to be for the faint of heart. At this point I think it may be easier to disable the signal to the dash light than it is to disable the whole system. If I get it figured out I'll be sure to post pics and details.

As for the 16" OEM wheels it would be a nice clean solution but I would be shocked if they clear the larger front brakes. Right now I have 17" Kazeras mounted and it is a very tight fit.

rx8cited

Hi Speed Racer,

Thanks for being kind enough to repost that info on the TPMS control module location and your observation on the tight fit with the 17" wheels.

This may be helpful to you if you decide to disable the control module:

Dash Center Panel Removal Tip
http://www.finishlineperformance.com...s/9-13-03.html

regards,
rx8cited

eccles

I've only done it once, and I thought I remembered it staying on constantly, but I can't see that mine would operate any differently from Speedy's, so I'll aver to his more recent recollections. I do remember that it wasn't distracting, but this was under autocross conditions where my concentration was 100% focussed on the track - it's possible that under normal driving conditions it may be distracting to some folks.

Speed Racer

I have had my winter tires on for about a week and to be honest the blinking light has been pretty easy to ignore when your eyes are on the road.

It is just the thought of having to ignore a warning light that bugs me and that will probably motivate me enough to wire in a switch to disable the system.

alex

what I'm most worried about is if the CEL light indicating another system error while I just assume its the TPMS system. I would rather have the TPMS disengaged through the computer and not through the front console.

Is this possible?

alex

ps: I just assume the blinking CEL light is a "minor" problem while a solid CEL is something bad.

VividRacing.com

I have had myh 19s on now for almost a week. No audible alarm. Nothing at first. Takes like the first 5 miles for the sensors to realize that something is amiss. The yellow light blinks every 2-3 seconds and will do so till the car is truned off. The next time you drive the car it's the same pattern. Nothing at first then blinking light till the car is truned off. That's it.

eccles

The CEL and the TPMS indicator are two separate lights.

alex

doh! need to read my manual on this. So, the "!" blinky thing, is that the TPMS thing? I was totally thinking that the TPMS icon would've been some type of tire-looking icon.

So, what I've been ignoring (hopefully) was the TPMS light, right?

Alex

eccles

The TPMS light is a yellow tire cross-section with an exclamation point.

alex

whew ... thanks eccles for the clarification.

alex

leegina

Has anyone taken the dash (where the gauges are) apart to tape up the flashing icon for the TPMS? I at least want to tape it up to not have an additional light on and blinking for that matter. But I have taken a quick peek at the dash and cannot find any screws to remove to get behind the clear plastic that houses the guages.

red_rx8_red_int

I can't help you remove the dash, but why not just put the black tape over the clear plastic? It's easy to put on and easy to remove.

leegina

Because at angles you can see the light. I am a stickler for things looking clean and just sticking tape to the clear plastic is not enough. Thanks for the suggestion though! It would just bug the hell out of me.

rx8cited

hi leegina,

I'd also be concerned about the tape's glue residue and what it might do to the clear plastic. I have not seen anyone post that they were able to disable the TPMS light by taking the dash apart. I bit the bullet and spend $400 on the sensors. What kinda of wheels/tires do you have?

good luck,
rx8cited

leegina

I just ordered Volk GT-7 in 19's but they are coming mounted and balanced and I am nervous about breaking them down and the stock 18's to swap out the sensors. Usually tire installers dont like to touch wheels that you did not buy from them unless they charge you an arm and a leg. I read that they will accept the sensors but it seems easier to just tape over the cluster because I do not have a way to lug 8 wheels and have them swapped out and unmounted and remounted balanced and all seems like it will be about 200 just to do that. But I might bite the bullet and do it to be trouble free. My wife is thinking the cheap route also and telling me a light wont bother me. RIIIGGGHHHHTTTT

rx8cited

Which tires?

leegina

Well I am going to bite the bullet and do the smart thing and transfer the sensors. It is a pain trying to get the gauges out. Now I got to go clean them because of all the smudge marks.

leegina

I got the Hankook 275-30-19 and 245-35-19 sport K104. I wanted them because I have the Hankook on my Mazda 6 -lowered on 18'' and the ride is nice. I have 225-40-18 pretty low profile and rides smooth as hell and I had a hard time believing that the ride would not rattle my teeth. But what I love about the tires is they are on the smaller side and usually if one person rubs with BF Goodrich these wil give you about a 3-4 more MM of room.

amartin

Wouldn't it be easier to find out which signal causes the TPMS signal into the display controller for the dash to trigger??

It's gotta be a cmos level GPIO input to some chip... going low (or high..whatever), the display controller toggles power to the warning light.. That seems like the easiest fix where-- in reality, its going off, but the driver simply doesn't see it flashing..

-- Aaron