rgwebsterthree

I am new to this forum and thought I would share this. I did a search but could not find any previous posts about this. If there is I apologize for the duplicate posting.

I have had my 06 350Z for a little over a year now. A few months ago while on a road trip my TPMS lost communication with one of the sensors and the light blinked and went steady. After 10 minutes it cleared and read again.

The other day it came on again and I lost the rear right pressure readings. Light blinks then goes steady. I read on this forum that these sensors have a life span of about 6-7 years...so it would appear that all of mine may be starting to fail soon. At $80-$120 a pop I decided to look for a way to disable the light. Search high and low and could not find anything other than a suggestion to put tape over the light. Now I did not know if they meant over the light on the cluster cover or what. I decided to take the cluster apart and put electrical tape over the LED on the circuit board.

This was an easy project and took me about an 1.5 hours. I just wanted to share some of my findings for those of you who would like to do this as well. What is great is that this is not a permanent solution and can be reversed.

Before starting this project drive the car to get it up to normal operating temperature. Then park the car and at idle, note where the tach, fuel and temperature needles sit. If you have a camera or cell phone take a picture. The reason is because to get to the LED on the circuit board all the needles have to be removed. Also, prior to starting this project set your shift light on your pod gauge to activate at 2500 RPM. Also set the pod to show your digital speed.

Now perform the following:

1. Remove the instrument cluster from the car. This is very, very simple to do. You can search and find a how to. But simply remove the four screws from the lower steering column plastic. Pop the lower plastic off. Now you will see 4 10mm bolts holding the cluster. Remove the four bolts and unplug the cluster.

2. No you have to disassemble the cluster. This is very easy to do. You will see the screws necessary to do this. I wish I had taken the time to take pictures but I did not. Sorry. Once you get the actual panel away from the housing you will need to "pop" the needles of. I used my finger nails and a small screwdriver. What I did was grab each side of the needle and gently "wiggled" while pulling it up. You may need to use a screw driver to help also. Just take your time. They are pressed in so they will feel tight coming off. But they do come off. Once all the needles are off you can separate the panel to get to the circuit board side with the LED's. Now take two pieces of electrical tape and cover the little LED for TPMS sensor. If you are not sure which one it is...look at the gauge face. It is easy to tell. Thats it! Now put the panel together.

3. Here is the tricky part. I am not sure if there is an easier way...but this is how I did it. I assumed that I could just put the needles back on by setting them against the little stop post and then gently press them on. When I did this and started the car I could tell the needles were way off. So to set them I did this:

A. Start the car and get it warmed up to operating temperature with the panel plugged in. I just plugged it in and let it rest on top of the column. Once it is warm take your tach, fuel and temp needles and press them on gently as indicated from your notes or pictures you took. Don't press them too far or they will rub against the cluster face and hang. Now the speedo is a little tricky. I set this while driving the car. I got a long flat road and set my cruise control for 50mph. You can choose what ever speed you want. Once your digital speedo holds at 50mph (my example) reach and gentle press the needle on. Now to test that the tach is reading right. I adjusted my speed until my red shift light went from blinking to steady. This is where i set it to light at 2500 RPM. The needle should read 2500 RPM. If not pull over and remove the needle and get the car to maintain cruise control speed until the red light is steady and then gently press the needle on at 2500 RPM. That's it...return to home base.

4. Re-assemble in reverse and install on car. Turn on the car and now you will not see the TPMS light at all. I realize that this does not fix the problem. But it does allow me to replace the sensors when I can budget them in and not have this annoying light.

If there is an easier way of doing this please share. I could not find any how to's on this so I thought I would share.

122554

iTrader: (9)

$23 a piece

http://www.revolutionsupply.com/appguide.aspx

bmccann101

iTrader: (16)

yeah.. lots of things id do before i removed the needles.. that always ends up being a pain.

Awesome find on the 23 dollar thing tho.. nice. I had to ebay mine used.

DavesZ#3

iTrader: (26)

Why go through all that trouble to disable an important safety feature rather than fix it?

BrickyardZ2003

Where was that $23 fix when I had to replace one of mine?! Haha I would definitely go for that... While I survived easily without TPMS before this car, I love being able to check my tire pressure on the fly without even getting out of the car!

Waiz

iTrader: (57)

+1

It's there for a reason

Spike100

I would be concerned about the liability when you deliberately disable a piece of safety equipment. It’s one thing to ignore a malfunctioning safety device, but becomes a more serious issue when you deliberately disable automotive safety equipment.

Think about it. You certainly would not remove the seat belts from a car.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is serious about tire pressure monitoring systems. The agency is charged with implementing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 138 that would require tire pressure monitoring systems to be installed in new passenger cars and in new light trucks and multipurpose passenger vehicles.

--Spike
_______________________________________
EDIT: My point is that you never should disable a safety device or protective equipment on your car. Doing this opens you to liability, reduces the value of your car, and could possibly involve you in a criminal case. Don't do it.

aqe040466

why would you do that on your Z just take it in any tire shop and they will reset that light or replace the TPMS sensor battery in 350Z tires.

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

Didn't know the battery was replaceable and how can they reset the light if you still have a faulty sensor ?

aqe040466

Then replace the faulty sensor, but its pretty much its the battery that is dead and must be replaced. I read an article that the battery can last at least 8-10 years.