"TPMS will activate only when the vehicle is driven at speeds above 16 MPH"

from 350Z Owner's Manual

bill

 

That's not entirely true. When I fill the air in my tires I sit there and wait about 20 secs or so and the gauge will change. Afterwards, it'll adjust itself again once I start driving around. I do this back and forth once or twice until the numbers stay where I want them to be.

 

I'm just quoting the Owner's Manual. If you disagree, your argument is with Nissan, not me.
I'm not questioning your observations, but I generally find Owner's Manuals a good source for correct answers.

bill

 

Well I'm not really arguing per say, I'm just letting you know what my experience is with this thing. I'm not going to sit here and say I know more than Nissan that built the damn car. All I am saying is the sensors will change the reading without moving, but you should still drive it around afterwards to get a more accurate reading.

 

I'm also guessing that they dropped the specific read out because of excess warrranty work. When fairly new, I took mine in twice because I would get the --*-- reading on a tire and pulled off the freeway to see if it was flat. It was fine. They changed it, but it happened again say once/mo. It would start working on its own after stopping for a few minutes. Except for those instances it was accurate and I like it.

 

? read this https://my350z.com/forum/engine-and-drivetrain/260222-our-first-2007-350z-vq35hr-baseline-dyno.html

 

^LOL

Well, I find the figures inaccurate typically (not by much) and think the (!) lights is just as useful. Even with the TPMS reading on my 06 I still check the pressure with an actual guage frequently.

 

I bled air out of the left sides (front and rear) when I got my Z in 03. And (in MY case anyway), the lefts are on the bottom, coicidentally the numbers that are pointed to by the little arrow in the display. I realize that this arrow has a different meaning, but in MY case that lines up and helps me remember.

I keep saying MY case because I don't think that there's anything hard and fast about which is which. I get the feeling that if you switched transponders from left to right , the readout might be opposite.

This REALLY sucks though about Nissan taking this away. I had this in '03 when NOBODY did and now that its the law (or soon to be - can't remember when), they "dumbed-down" the system to look just like everyone else.

Good thing I still have my GPS to provide driving distraction!!!

 

I think the notice in the owner's manual is true IF the car's been stopped for a significant amount of time (whatever that is). My understanding of how they work is that they sense the pressure and send (via RF) the pressures to a control unit in the roof. They run on battery, but to keep the batteries from running down, they only turn on when the wheels start turning. When you stop (even at a long traffic light), you don't want the system to shut down again, so there's a delay for powering down the system.

If you drive to a gas station to get air, the system will still be running when you put the air in and the readout will change, especially if you keep the engine running during the process.

 

I'd have to say, I'm pretty thankful for being able to see the actual pressure values. My warning light came on, and I thought it was the malfunction light again. Had some problems in the past, with the light coming on, when the tire pressure was ok.

Apparently, I hit a nail going back to work from lunch yesterday, the warning light came on, and it showed the pressure in my rear left was at 32lbs and the right was at 20!