[rcarlton]

I recently had my front passenger side tire replaced by Discount Tire (Monday). I now have same brand and size but a newer model tire since the factory tires are now discontinued (1,100 miles on car, Continental Procontact TX factory, new tire Procontact). I didn't expect them to calibrate the TPMS so I did it in the parking lot. Turned the error message off for a few miles...but, it came back on. Checked tire pressure at home and found the new tire had 40 psi. Corrected it and checked the other tires which all had correct pressure. Started calibration again in the morning before heading to work, one mile of city driving and a mile or so of tollway driving at 70 the light came back on. Looked closely at the manual which said calibration takes 30 minutes of cumulative driving at speeds between 30-60 mph. Figured that was the problem since I drive only about 2 miles of city streets, the rest at 70 mph and my commute is 28 minutes. Drove quite a bit at lower speeds today (Saturday) and I still get the error light. Tire pressures are all correct. I plan on taking it to the dealer soon but was hoping someone may have an easy solution.

 

[Mr. Natural]

Are you getting the low pressure message or is it the system problem message?

 

[andrew28]

I recently had my front passenger side tire replaced by Discount Tire (Monday). I now have same brand and size but a newer model tire since the factory tires are now discontinued (1,100 miles on car, Continental Procontact TX factory, new tire Procontact). I didn't expect them to calibrate the TPMS so I did it in the parking lot. Turned the error message off for a few miles...but, it came back on. Checked tire pressure at home and found the new tire had 40 psi. Corrected it and checked the other tires which all had correct pressure. Started calibration again in the morning before heading to work, one mile of city driving and a mile or so of tollway driving at 70 the light came back on. Looked closely at the manual which said calibration takes 30 minutes of cumulative driving at speeds between 30-60 mph. Figured that was the problem since I drive only about 2 miles of city streets, the rest at 70 mph and my commute is 28 minutes. Drove quite a bit at lower speeds today (Saturday) and I still get the error light. Tire pressures are all correct. I plan on taking it to the dealer soon but was hoping someone may have an easy solution.

An indirect TPMS typically relies on wheel speed sensors that the anti-lock brake system uses. These sensors measure the rate of revolution each wheel is making and can be used by on-board computer systems to compare with each other and to other vehicle operation data such as speed.

Based on the rate of revolution of each wheel, the computer can interpret the relative size of the tires on your vehicle. When a wheel starts spinning faster than expected, the computer calculates that the tire is underinflated and alert the driver accordingly.

So, an indirect tire pressure monitoring system doesn’t actually measure tire pressure. It’s not electronically processing the same kind of measurement you might see with a tire gauge. Instead, an indirect tire pressure monitor simply measures how fast your tires are rotating and sends signals to the computer that will actuate the indicator light when something in the rotation seems amiss.

Advantages of Indirect TPMS
- Relatively inexpensive compared to a direct TPMS
-- Requires less programming/maintenance over the years than a direct TPMS
-- Less overall installation maintenance than its direct counterpart
Disadvantages of Indirect TPMS
-- May become inaccurate if you purchase a bigger or smaller tire
-- May be unreliable when tires are unevenly worn
-- Must be reset after properly inflating every tire
-- Must be reset after routine tire rotation
https://www.bridgestonetire.com/tread-and-trend/drivers-ed/tire-pressure-monitoring-system-how-tpms-works

The tpms light might be on cause one of your tire is brand new and all 4 of them are now sort of unevenly worn. I think the dealership has a way to "reinitialize" the tpms since you have tires with different tread depth right now.

 

[rcarlton]

Do you think 1,100 miles would make that much difference in tread height? It takes about 3,500 miles to wear a tire 1/32". I would guess I may have worn 1/128" at most. How would it sense that?

 

[hasarad]

1,100 miles shouldn't be enough to throw the TPMS off. There should be no need to re-calibrate after the tire is replaced. It may take a few miles, but the system should reset back to normal. I've bumped my pressure up from factory-spec to 40 all around with no warning lights. Your dealer should be able to run diagnostics on the system to determine why the warning is coming up. Since you're replaced a tire via an outside company, they may try to charge you for the diagnostics. I hope not. If it were me, I'd find some free time and try to re-calibrate again and follow the manual instructions to a "T."

 

[insightfully]

While it may not be 'needed' at a 1k mile difference, the manual does recommend that the TPMS is recalibrated after inflating, rotating or changing a tire, which is what rcarlton correctly attempted. For troubleshooting, it would be helpful to know answer to Mr. Natural's question regarding which TPMS message is coming up.

 

[andrew28]

While it may not be 'needed' at a 1k mile difference, the manual does recommend that the TPMS is recalibrated after inflating, rotating or changing a tire, which is what rcarlton correctly attempted. For troubleshooting, it would be helpful to know answer to Mr. Natural's question regarding which TPMS message is coming up.

Good point, didn't realize the car has 2 different TPMS warning lights.

 

[rcarlton]

Here is the error message: 20190311_163856 by rcarlton1, on Flickr

 

[andrew28]

Here is the error message: 20190311_163856 by rcarlton1, on Flickr

That's the TPMS "problem message" not the TPMS "low pressure" message according to the image @Mr. Natural attached. You need to bring it to the dealer.

You mentioned Continental so I assume you own a touring insight? Are you sure the replacement tire size is 215/50R17 91H? Even if it is the same size, I wonder if different speed rating matters for the indirect TPMS...

 

[andrew28]

That's the TPMS "problem message" not the TPMS "low pressure" message according to the image @Mr. Natural attached. You need to bring it to the dealer.

You mentioned Continental so I assume you own a touring insight? Are you sure the replacement tire size is 215/50R17 91H? Even if it is the same size, I wonder if different speed rating matters for the indirect TPMS...

I just realized your signature mentions touring insight and I thought your replacement tire was the Purecontact(should be ContiProContact as you mentioned in OP) with different load index/speed rating but same size. The ContiProContact does match exactly to the ProContactTX from size/load index/speed rating plus even better traction. So I'm not sure why the TPMS is giving the "problem message". Now to get some sleep...

 

[rcarlton]

Dealer told me to try the triple calibration. Run calibration 3 times in a row within seconds. Supposed to be in the manual somewhere. Couldn't find it. It did not work.

 

[andrew28]

TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) continues to report a problem when there is none. We replaced a tire due to sidewall puncture a couple of months after purchase of car. Replacement was same brand, size, etc except it was not the type of low mileage tread that manufacturers put on new cars in other words it was a typical after market consumer tire. Honda dealer says to their knowledge only fix is to buy new tires 2 at a time or even 4 at a time to avoid TPMS warning. This is not a new problem with this type of TPMS system. In a form email Honda offered no solution to this problem when we filed complaint on their website. We knew nothing about this problem when purchasing this new vehicle. We are otherwise very satisfied with the car. Very frustrating. - Marshallberg, NC, USA

NHTSA ID Number: 11181522
Incident Date September 28, 2018

I found a nhtsa.gov complaint filed by another 2019 Honda Insight owner with the same issue. Try contacting Honda corporate at https://owners.honda.com/help/customer-relations. It has been 6 months since the above customer reported it. Maybe Honda has a solution for this now?

 

[insightfully]

I found a nhtsa.gov complaint filed by another 2019 Honda Insight owner with the same issue. Try contacting Honda corporate at https://owners.honda.com/help/customer-relations. It has been 6 months since the above customer reported it. Maybe Honda has a solution for this now?

Traction quality difference in the new tire sounds like a common factor mentioned between rcarlton and the quoted nhtsa complaint.

 

[insightfully]

Dealer told me to try the triple calibration. Run calibration 3 times in a row within seconds. Supposed to be in the manual somewhere. Couldn't find it. It did not work.

I haven't seen a "triple calibration" recommendation in the Insight manual. I've only seen mention to repeat steps if a "Calibration Failed to Start" message appears. This CivicX forum thread mentions what you described as being a "full reset" of the TPMS.

 

[rcarlton]

Got back from the dealer. Had to go back 3 times this morning. Tried the triple calibration again, headed home. Failed to work, turned around, back to the dealer. Waited over two hours, they said they reset the computer. Headed home, TPMS came on again. Turned around and headed back. Because the replacement tire is a Procontact and the other three are Procontact TX there is a difference in the tread. This creates a different frequency from the tread which the sensor picks up, resulting in the warning message. At least that is their explanation. Discount Tire will order me the exact tire and replace it free of charge. Problem not resolved yet, new tire will be in later in the week.

 

[insightfully]

Got back from the dealer. Had to go back 3 times this morning. Tried the triple calibration again, headed home. Failed to work, turned around, back to the dealer. Waited over two hours, they said they reset the computer. Headed home, TPMS came on again. Turned around and headed back. Because the replacement tire is a Procontact and the other three are Procontact TX there is a difference in the tread. This creates a different frequency from the tread which the sensor picks up, resulting in the warning message. At least that is their explanation. Discount Tire will order me the exact tire and replace it free of charge. Problem not resolved yet, new tire will be in later on in the week.

Sorry you continue to have difficulty, but thanks for keeping us updated.

The traction (tread, rolling resistance) difference does sound like the common theme in your issue and the one reported to NHTSA where they said "Replacement was same brand, size, etc except it was not the type of low mileage tread that manufacturers put on new cars; in other words it was a typical after market consumer tire."

Conditions aren't "exactly" the same if the tires don't have the same properties as the other tires, and it sounds like the dealer suspects this difference to be the cause as well.

 

[maynyrd150]

This system seems to be very sensitive. I bolted on a brand new set of snow tires, all the same, and had to recalibrate. I suspect it also uses the GPS signal to check speed. How else would it have known the tires changed? The new ones were all the same and brand new.

 

[insightfully]

This system seems to be very sensitive. I bolted on a brand new set of snow tires, all the same, and had to recalibrate. I suspect it also uses the GPS signal to check speed. How else would it have known the tires changed? The new ones were all the same and brand new.

The sensitivity is intentional, as the intent is to detect early condition changes that could be problems. The manual is clear in stating that TPMS calibration is needed after adjusting pressure, rotating, or replacing 1 or more tires.

The indirect measurement system uses the ABS/VSA sensors (not GPS) to monitor tire status. It uses changes in rotation and resonance to detect tire pressure. This article provides some comparison of the 'old' and 'current' Honda TPMS: The Difference Between Direct and Indirect Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems | College Hills Honda Blog

 

[maynyrd150]

With my new snow tires, recalibration only took after I initiated it directly prior to pulling out on a straight section of highway on my long commute

If all its doing is checking the ABS wheel speed sensors, then how did it know my new OEM tires of all the same diameter are now new snow tires of some new probably different diameter but consistant amoung the four? It really must be nuanced data. It would be interesting to see each sensors data charted before and after. At first I was annoyed that I wasnt able to see actual pressures, but so far it seems reliable and long term it will be nice not having to fiddle with TPMS senors.

 

[insightfully]

With my new snow tires, recalibration only took after I initiated it directly prior to pulling out on a straight section of highway on my long commute

If all its doing is checking the ABS wheel speed sensors, then how did it know my new OEM tires of all the same diameter are now new snow tires of some new probably different diameter but consistant amoung the four? It really must be nuanced data. It would be interesting to see each sensors data charted before and after. At first I was annoyed that I wasnt able to see actual pressures, but so far it seems reliable and long term it will be nice not having to fiddle with TPMS senors.

Traction conditions change between the tires when cornering, so it doesn't seem surprising that the calibration would need to based on straight sections with consistent conditions. A minimum driving speed is also needed to trigger measurement, because the system doesn't monitor the tires when driving at low speeds (p472).

Maybe I'm giving Honda and the car too much credit, but I think the tire data from the immediately prior drive is stored. TPMS is based on detecting differences, so a new measurement would need to be compared to something prior. I don't have experience with it, but perhaps an OBDII reader (discussed in other threads) could show you the actual data that is collected and used by the car.