I hit a pothole driving home Friday night. About 15 minutes later my TPMS dash light started to flash. The tire pressure via the dash was offline. The next morning I aired up all four tires and tried to reset the TPMS via the button in the glove box in my Camry without success. Some investigation told me that flashing TPMS light means a sensor is not working. Makes sense since the tire pressure on the dash was offline. Driving home just now I hit another pothole. The TPMS light on the dash went off and tire pressures are back on the dash. Crazy. At least it's fixed for now. I guess until I hit another pothole.
TPMS sensor craziness
- Thread starter Leo99
- Start date
Leo...STOP HITTING POTHOLES!!! 
You got that right!Leo...STOP HITTING POTHOLES!!!
Leo99, thanks for the laugh.
You beat me to it with your "I guess until I hit another pothole."
You beat me to it with your "I guess until I hit another pothole."
How did cars ever get along without TPMS for a hundred years?
Tires went low or flat without alerting the driver.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
Now you know how to reset it when it stops working: find another pothole.
In fifty years of driving I had two flats which TPMS would have done nothing for. I ran over a couple of screws.
Patman
Staff member
I have had a number of instances where I got a nail in my tire and my TPMS alerted me that the pressure had gone down by 5psi so I was able to get it fixed right away before things got worse and potentially damaged the tire beyond repair. At just 5 psi low it’s not obvious by looking at a low profile tire that it is low on air. I would certainly rather be told early that I’m losing air than to just come out to a completely flat tire or a tire with 10psi in it. I would rather spend $30 on a tire repair than a few hundred for a new tire because it got ruined by being driven while way too low on air. Just because you have never needed one doesn’t mean it isn’t useful for many others.
With the speeds that people drive nowadays and how badly they care for their vehicles, tpms are life savers IF they pay attention to them. We share the road with the ones who ignore warnings, and just maybe the powers in charge should upgrade the tpms to include alarms that are harder to ignore. Progressively louder audio alarms buried in the dash in inaccessible locations, and progressively longer start delays come to mind as ways to get their attention. Maybe these upgrade alarms could also trip if the oil light comes on for even a brief time. Usually a vehicle with low oil trips the oil light for a brief time at first when the low oil only does not get picked up because of the angle or g force the vehicle temporally experiences. A smart alarm could stay tripped until the oil is topped back up.
I wonder if there is a connector loose under the dashboard. That said, it could just be a bad sensor and you managed to whack it like we used to do to TV's in the bad old days.
My kids are slowly learning to ignore the light in my car, as my winter tires don't have the sensors. I should get out the black tape and fix that.
My kids are slowly learning to ignore the light in my car, as my winter tires don't have the sensors. I should get out the black tape and fix that.
People actually looked at the condition of their vehicle before driving it(?) I’m amazed they can even remember to put gas in it occasionally…
GM actually has (had?) the right answer-on the Express a big green warning comes up for the TPMS in the middle of the speedometer, pretty hard to miss.
Not possible in New Jersey!Leo...STOP HITTING POTHOLES!!!
I don't think so. I think for many that most never gave it a second thought and at least the TPMS serves as a reminder. I've always checked mine manually well before TPMS existed. I do like the ones that show the actual pressure on the screen though, it's convenient.
