Mitsubishi Outlander Tire Monitoring System

bracan455bracan455 Member Posts: 5
I just bought an aftermarket wheels not from Mitsubishi. Does anyone know how to turn off the Tire Pressure monitoring system (TPMS)? Is it worth purchasing the TPMS and having it installed on wheels. I have it on the steel rims which I am using for my Winter tires.

Comments

  • biscuit_xlsbiscuit_xls Member Posts: 194
    There is no easy way to turn it off because it is a government mandated safety device.

    If you buy new sensors you have to take it to the Mitsubishi dealer for service, they will charge you $50-$100 to calibrate the vehicle to the new sensors. If you switch back to your old sensors you would need another calibration. That's *IF* the dealer has the special equipment needed to calibrate the car.

    Unfortunately there is no easy way to do it.
  • bracan455bracan455 Member Posts: 5
    Thanks for the quick response. Is the $50-100 per tire so total of $200-400? I guess with the original rims that came with the outlanader where I put my winter tires on that has the TPMS, once I put them back during the winter it will take away the error message correct?
  • biscuit_xlsbiscuit_xls Member Posts: 194
    It's $50-100 to calibrate all 4.

    Correct, if you change to steel wheels with no sensors you will get a TPMS warning, if you put the original sensors back on the car the computer will recognize them without needing to be recalibrated.
  • bracan455bracan455 Member Posts: 5
    Thanks again.
  • mtmsimplemtmsimple Member Posts: 7
    Just found the non OE replacement TPMS sensor from Belle Tire yesterday. they said it can be compatible with car computer with same warranty. and price will be 40% off comparing with original. (the brand name seems Orange...something, i forgot the whole brand name exactly.), wish it can help. Jason
  • bracan455bracan455 Member Posts: 5
    Is Belle Tire only in the US? I'm here in Toronto Canada and I'm not sure if they have a branch here.
  • comem47comem47 Member Posts: 399
    I have a 2007 LS and the TPMS indicator seemed to point to a fault with the passenger front tire this morning (upper left on display). Note the temp outside was 7 deg F when I got in. I drove a few miles and it did not go out and all tires looked good by eyeball. Getting home I check them all and noted all were lower than normal but very close (all 26 lbs except the opposite corner of the fault light at 25 lbs). I re-inflated all to the 32 recommended and the fault light did not go out. I then poured hot water on the valve stem and still light stayed on (even after turning the car off/on)Then reading the manual (I know it's cheating! ;-) ) it said to drive the car a few miles and sure enough the light went off within 1/4 mile. While reading the manual it said that ice buildup in wheel wells, or an RF device on the same frequency, or low sensor battery can also cause faults. My question is this: Is changing these batteries something you or I can do or are we forced to go to a Mitsu dealer to change a battery (and possibly recalibrate) each time? Is so, I'd rather pay them to disable the thing as I don't want to be $$ bled to death or have the display obsessing over a problem that doesn't exist (it really is persistent and you have to hold down on the display button to get to other displays and one time it didn't even allow me to change with the display locked in the yellow warning mode like when you are low on gas).
  • comem47comem47 Member Posts: 399
    To answer my own question I suggest everyone read this article and be very careful when having your tires changed. Once again I can see the lobbyists got the government to push a new mandatory standard on all of us because of the few dummies that never examine their tires.

    While the batteries are designed to last about 10 years the cost is substantial if a shop damages one and tries to get you to pay (up to $300/sensor!!!). They suggest servicing the sensor with new gaskets every time a tire is changed for an additional $8/tire and no mention about reprogramming costs.

    Your government at work, NOT!!! (milking us in the name of vested interests)

    BTW: the programming tool for Mitsubishi type TPMS (Bartec Tech 400) retails for $2500 each so it's hardly a "do it yourself investment" like cheap OBDII scanners at around $50. ea.

    We are all commodities to be milked dry of our money. First the heath care system and now this!!!

    Anyway here is the URL (may have to cut and paste into browser)

    http://www.amysgarage.com/tpms_what_is_this_new_tire_pressure_monitoring_system_- all_about.shtml
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    The TPMS system saved me from a lot of hassle when I got a flat on the last rental car I had back in September. Thanks to the idiot light, I had time to get the screw out at a service station and the tire patched, instead of having to change the tire myself or worse, have a blow-out. I wish my current older cars had the system.
  • comem47comem47 Member Posts: 399
    Good for a rental car but not good for us that hang onto their cars for several years. We're talking about $1200 in sensor cost for all 4 corners when the batteries fail. I've done quite fine looking at my own tires over the years. If you get a bad flat destroying the tire and sensor you're not talking about say $150 anymore to replace just the tire but $like $450 for both (less any other fees the place wants to charge you). One more thing forced on us (no choice to "opt out".) The "sweet spot" in cars is now 1994 (pre OBDII so no needing to get whole exhaust/catalyst/sensors where Emissions testing is mandatory) I passed on getting my stepdaughter a nice '96 Saturn because the exhaust work alone would have been $900 on a $1000 car. She now has a low miles '94. One can argue about the need to be "green" (Emissions) but this tire thing is needless cost if the consumer is footing the bill. (recurring cost of $8 minimum/ per tire change for o-rings less recalibration cost.)
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    I drive them forever. Both my cars are over 10 and I still wish they had TPMS. I tend to get a flat a year. I don't see any cheap car parts out there anymore, but TPMS sensors will probably come down a bit since all the new cars have to have them. eBay has aftermarket ones for $43 now.
  • comem47comem47 Member Posts: 399
    But the key to lower priced sensors is getting your local place to install them for you because they'd rather install their own at jacked up prices. I was able to buy an OBDII scanner for my wife's Durango and my Dakota for $50 when we owned them and successfully diagnosed and purchased the correct upstream and downstream O2 sensors cheaply at separate times when the time came for each and precheck that I'd pass emissions and not have a gun to my head to get through Inspection. I don't have access to a tire machine or $2500 TMPS scanner so I'm forced to pay the piper when the time comes to meet a GOV standard that mostly benefits the tire shop/dealers. Over my 35 plus years of driving I've only destroyed a few tires (forced to drive off an unsafe highway and a sidewall cut---both I was very aware of without TPMS and TPMS wouldn't have saved nothing). I've had many other slow leaks that I've always caught by eye in time to fix. Just don't see the rewards to the forced cost that was decided for me.(It should have been optional, not mandated and.If it doesn't work you won't pass inspection until it does even if the tires are all inflated correctly and it's a sensor or circuit problem) I've seen too many times where people are told the Field Replaceable Module is the whole PCM asm at many hundreds of $$.
  • solowalkersolowalker Member Posts: 118
    I just bought 4 new 225/60/18 Yokohama YK520's for my 2007 XLS at Discount tire this morn....They charged me $8 for the TMPS sensor rebuild kits like you said.....There was no need to reprogram the sensors. Sensor batteries were fine ....... All systems are GO... :)

    PS...I only got 27,000 miles to the wear bars on the OEM Goodyear LS's...They were GOOD for a little over a year... :( .hence, the name.. : :D
  • batman47batman47 Member Posts: 606
    I am the fellow that drove a brand new Outlander XLS V6 2008 to Deadhorse in Alaska. After having a traffic accident in Edmonton, Canada I managed to get my USA insurance to pay for the repairs (It took 2-months). The rear alloy was a little damaged and a new alloy (7-spoke) was bought + other spare parts. The Mitsubishi technician re-set this new wheel in order to eliminate the “warning message” in the control facia.

    Now I am in Panama (Central America) to ship the Outlander to South America and the car has 24K miles. I changed the stock tires (Goodyear 225/55R18) for Yokohama YK520 (225/55R18) after 16K miles. In Panama I got a cut (2”) on the side of the rear passenger tire that made it unusable. I took off this wheel and replaced with the “little damaged” alloy (from Edmonton) and then this annoying warning message icon “tire needs service” appeared on the information screen.

    After looking for 2-weeks for an equivalent 225/55R18 I gave up (There are no tires 225/55R18 in Panama). A Mitsubishi dealer told me (In spite he is selling Outlanders with wheels 18”) that it will take 2 weeks to get me the Goodyear 225/55R18 from El Salvador. In the mean time the car was with the “little damaged” alloy from Edmonton. So I went to a Toyota dealer in Panama City and after some deliberation I agreed to buy a set of 2-tires Yokohama Geolandar G91A (Stock for the RAV V6) which is 235/55R18. I thought that after putting the new tire on the alloy that was working OK before the side cut the warning message “Tire Need Service” would go. Not at all. It is still there to my annoyance. Will somebody give some rational reasons what is going on?

    Before the cut on the side of the rear tire I rotated the tires according to direction on the owner’s manual and everything was OK. It appears that if a tire manages to become fully flat this wheel/tire needs to be re-set again and because I cannot have the software and the connections for re-setting the car’s computer I am obliged to look for a Mitsubishi dealer to do the job. However, I was told in Panama that all Mitsubishi cars in this country the wheels do not have a TPMS and therefore there is no need for special software.

    Is there a way to disable this TPMS for the time being until I returned to the USA? By the way the Outlander XLS V6 so far I may say the car, in spite of all the bump and speed humps along the way, is still very good.

    Any help much appreciated.
  • comem47comem47 Member Posts: 399
    I think the problems you are having are due to slightly different rotational speeds of front vs rear. The very problem you are having is what I originally posted my objection to TPMS being mandatory in the US. You already know about the tire difference and have taken action. Now you are forced to live with an annoying and persistent warning about it.

    I know, stupid me, we all need to be protected from ourselves and pay accordingly because of the lowest common denominator in intelligence. Oh how did we ever live without this? :P

    It's one thing to slap your wrist about a fault, but another thing that the user can't reset or disable it on their own once acknowledged. (vs hunting down a Mitsu dealer to do this $$)

    :confuse: :sick:
  • batman47batman47 Member Posts: 606
    TPMS information in the ETACS-ECU is just for 4-wheels. The information for the original 4-wheels is stored in the vehicle computer memory. When another wheel replaces any of these 4-original wheels, then the warning message will appear in the instrumentation cluster. I think this is also valid when the original spare tire replaces any of the normal size tires. The message will be there all the time until the original wheel returns to its place. I bought a full size alloy wheel the same as the original including its tire/rubber. I got a very bad cut in one of the original tires a few months after. I replaced the cut tire with the wheel/tire that I had bought some time ago (instead of the proper spare tire) and the message appeared in the cluster. The message only disappeared when I put back the original alloy wheel tire with a new rubber. I was told by the dealer that the vehicle computer will recognize only the wheel ID numbers that have been already stored in the computer memory and it will only recognize 4 wheels.
  • comem47comem47 Member Posts: 399
    Don't you just love how they are forcing you more and more to pay for service that you don't really need. I've always inspected my tires and don't need a computer to tell me one is going down. When you go to get new tires mounted and balanced the man gets to hold out his hand and ask for more. I'm beginning to think my only purpose is to open my wallet wide so that others can profit. (lobbyists at their worst) It's not really for our benefit, rather theirs:

    http://tirereview.com/Article/59497/selling_safety_tpms_valve_stems_and_service_- more_than_just_good_business.aspx
  • batman47batman47 Member Posts: 606
    It is against a Federal mandate to disable the TPMS in the USA. Anyone that may perform a job to disable the TPMS in a vehicle can be put in prison. However in Europe the TPMS is not compulsory and Mitsubishi doesn’t install TPMS on any of its vehicles assigned for the European Market. This may be true for all other car manufacturers as well.

    Vehicles from manufacture year 2007 must replace their original TPMS for a new one in the manufacturer dealership in 2013 when the TPMS ceases to be operative (battery has a life of 5-6 years). This means millions of cars. The TPMS Federal mandate has created too much controversy that there is a strong opposition to this law in the USA. There are not clear evidences that TPMS save lives just for use it.
  • busta4busta4 Member Posts: 35
    I have a 2007 outlander. In 30,000 miles driven and a four tire replaced/upgraded, I have never seen a light go on indicating low tire pressure. Should I assume that this feature is not working in my vehicle? thanks for any info you might have.
  • comem47comem47 Member Posts: 399
    So long as you see the TPMS light up briefly during the power up test when the ignition is first turned on your OK. Looks like a 'U" with treads on the bottom.

    If you want to be sure then lower one tire about 10 lbs and it should go on (I have an air compressor in the garage so it's no biggie to test and then re inflate, but otherwise you can assume it's working)

    <img src=http://www.drivenautocare.com/blog/uploaded_images/tpmsdisplay1bw2-748303.jpg"
  • toomanyfumestoomanyfumes Member Posts: 1,019
    I've always kinda wondered if my systems working because I never saw a light come on either on my "07. I do check my tire pressure occasionally, so maybe they've never been low enough.
    2012 Mustang Premium, 2013 Lincoln MKX Elite, 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander.
  • comem47comem47 Member Posts: 399
    I did have mine go off once when the temp was very cold and I added a few pounds all around and it has been happy ever since. (and no, it was not obvious by looking at the tires).
  • anna966anna966 Member Posts: 1
    I just had to change my 2 front tires . I got geo 51 my old tires were geo 33. They had first put them on the back but went back 2 days later because i was all over the road and was getting dizzy. Then they put them on the front. I woke up this morning with a flat on my rear passanger geo 33. Merchants is telling me that it is my tpms. Does that give you a flat? Now they want to charge me 146.00 which actually costs more than the tire. Any suggestions??? btw, driving on my small spare.

    Thanx
    Anna
  • hammerjackshammerjacks Member Posts: 2
    Vehicles from manufacture year 2007 must replace their original TPMS for a new one in the manufacturer dealership in 2013 when the TPMS ceases to be operative (battery has a life of 5-6 years).

    Where did you get that information?? Currently, you are not even obligated to have TPMS functioning if you replaced either rims or tires.
  • batman47batman47 Member Posts: 606
    The TPMS rest firmly on the alloy wheel surface. Wheel rotation does not modify the TPMS sensor. Changing the tire may damage the TPMS sensor but this is because inexperience technician.

    TPMS is not responsible for tire flat. Change your garage (tire service) somewhere else. Check that the flat tire does not have a puncture. Replace the flat tire with the spare tire and take the flat tire (& wheel) to an experience tire service.
  • batman47batman47 Member Posts: 606
    I think in the USA and some other countries (included Europe from 2012) the TPMS is compulsory. If they do not operate properly your car insurance may not oblige to pay to you for any accident. Police may fine you if you have a TPMS LED light ON. After 3-years your vehicle may not pass the annual car revision.

    Do a Google search about TPMS liability.
  • hammerjackshammerjacks Member Posts: 2
    I don't know about Europe or the rest of the world. I live in US, and here as the law is written, you are NOT required to have TPMS functioning on a different set of rim and/or tires. I suggest you do due diligence prior to posting erroneous information.

    This IS the from the law: "Based upon the above information, we now believe that there is not a sufficient basis to require vehicles to comply with FMVSS No. 138 with all replacement tires. While the number of tires expected to be incompatible with the TPMS is small, such a requirement would nonetheless raise significant practicability concerns. Because no one is certain which tires, either produced now or in the future, will cause various TPMSs to malfunction, it is not practicable to require vehicle manufacturers to certify that the TPMS will continue to function properly with all replacement tires."
  • batman47batman47 Member Posts: 606
    Sorry if you feel I mislead members. That was the reason I used the word &#147;I think&#148;. However this segment of a text I copied from a source:

    In the United States, the Firestone recall in the late 1990s (which was linked to more than 100 deaths from rollovers following tire tread-separation), pushed the Clinton administration to legislate the TREAD Act. The Act mandated the use of a suitable TPMS technology in all light motor vehicles (under 10,000 pounds), to help alert drivers of severe under-inflation events. This act affects all light motor vehicles sold after September 1, 2007. Phase-in started in October 2005 at 20%, and reached 100% for models produced after September 2007. In the U.S., as of 2008 and the EU, as of November 1st 2012, all new passenger car models (M1) must be equipped with a TPMS. For N1 vehicles, TPMS are not mandatory, but if a TPMS is fitted, it must comply with the regulation.

    I hope this must clear the concept.
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