Manually Registering TPMS
 

Since I've owned my 2004 Performance model (bought it used in 2005), the TPMS never worked. The gauge always displayed "--". I took it to the dealer and to a tire shop and nobody could get them working. So today I finally got around to trying the method below that I had copied to a doc file a while back and it totally worked. I'm amazed that I went so long without trying it. Anyway, you might have seen instructions around the web and I found that the location they said the connector was in was totally wrong for my 2004 Z. These are the steps I followed, including a bit of extra info because there is some wiggle room as to what actually needed to happen.

Error codes are included at the bottom of this post. I can't recall where these came from so just be aware that they may not be 100% accurate.

Original instructions modified with my experience (photos at the end):
1) Set different tire pressures in each wheel per the FSM (post 78 below):
FL 37 PSI
FR 34 PSI
RR 31 PSI
RL 28 PSI

Others have had luck with the following pressures:
FL: 34
FR: 31
RR: 28
RL: 26

2) Perform the OBD3 procedure (a. thru f. below) to reset and put the TPMS into learning mode - TPMS warning light should be blinking if done correctly.
a. Locate the Tire Pressure Warning Check Connector (See the screen capture of my 2004 service manual, red boxes). I was able to do this without removing anything but others have removed the dash per these instructions (thx 'gt3').
b. Straighten a paper clip and push it into the back side of the connector under the wire (see photo)
c. Find a decent location to ground the paper clip to. I chose to just take some wire and loop it around a bracket that connects to the chassis (see photo).
Ignore the red and black wires. I just used some scrap that had three wires in it; I just stripped one wire in the cable.
d. Loop the other end of the wire over the paper clip to ground it to the chassis. I let gravity keep it connected so don't twist the wire around the hanger because you'll need it free in the next step.
e. Turn on the car. (you have to START the car, not just turn it on. You can enter programming mode while ON, but it will exit when you start the engine to begin driving. So start the engine, then tap ground to activate learning mode. --Thx 'Armlocker')
f. Now unhook the wire from the paper clip and touch it to the paper clip over and over until the tire warning light starts flashing on the dash. (NOTE: at this point I left the wire unhooked, thus the connector was no longer grounded).

NOTE: Per post 138(thx icer5160): [Take] the time to "make" a tool for this job. All you need is some spare wire (3.5' for ground and another 3.5' for connector), a toggle switch, paperclip, and some shrink tube. It took me about 10-15 minutes to make the tool so I could break and connect the circuit to ground comfortably from the driver's seat

3) Drive vehicle around at speeds greater than 30 MPH (original instructions say 40 Kph) until the TPMS warning light stops blinking and turns off. (NOTE: I drove for around 5 minutes with the stereo on. Nothing was changing but I kept hearing these beeps that I wasn't sure if they were in the music I was listening to. Not sure if I was doing it wrong, I rehooked the grounded wire over the paper clip again and drove for another 5 minutes. As I pulled into my street I heard a couple more beeps and then suddenly the warning light in the dash went away and I had pressure readings. So I am unsure if you need to have the connector grounded the whole time or just need to do pleanty of driving before the system registers all the tires.)

Note a short time later, the TPMS warning light should go on and stay on (since one or more of your wheels will be lower that 28 PSI.

4) Clean up your wire and paper clip mess and reinflate your tires. The warning light should turn off with a little more driving
once the system knows your tires are inflated properly.

Additional notes from other members:
Info on doing this on a 2007 with a Consult III (post #123, below). Thanks 'patrickoneal'!
Instructions and photos for locating the connector on a 2005 model (post #113, below). Thanks 'Shane4367'!
Link to photos for 2006 model (post #74 in this thread).
Info on doing this on a 2007 (post #52, below). Thanks 'pedroosan'!
Notes on buying aftermarket sensors that work (post #135, below) with this method. Thanks 'PlainWhite350z'!

Photos:
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...ualCapture.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...02_resized.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...907_resize.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...11_resized.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...916_resize.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...18_resized.jpg

Error codes (Again, these are not verified by me):
Diagnostic items detected when··· Check item
15 Tire pressure value (Front LH) Front LH tire pressure drops to 181 kPa (1.8 kg/cm, 26 psi) or less.
16 Tire pressure value (Front RH) Front RH tire pressure drops to 181 kPa (1.8 kg/cm, 26 psi) or less.
17 Tire pressure value (Rear RH) Rear RH tire pressure drops to 181 kPa (1.8 kg/cm, 26 psi) or less.
18 Tire pressure value (Rear LH) Rear LH tire pressure drops to 181 kPa (1.8 kg/cm, 26 psi) or less.

21 Transmitter no data (Front LH) Data from front LH transmitter can not be received.
22 Transmitter no data (Front RH) Data from front RH transmitter can not be received.
23 Transmitter no data (Rear RH) Data from Rear RH transmitter can not be received.
24 Transmitter no data (Rear LH) Data from Rear LH transmitter can not be received.

31 - Transmitter checksum error (Front LH). Checksum data from front LH transmitter is malfunctioning.
32 - Transmitter checksum error (Front RH). Checksum data from front RH transmitter is malfunctioning.
33 - Transmitter checksum error (Rear RH). Checksum data from rear RH transmitter is malfunctioning.
34 - Transmitter checksum error (Rear LH). Checksum data from rear RH transmitter is malfunctioning.

35 - Transmitter pressure data error (Front LH). Air pressure data from front LH transmitter is malfunction.
36 - Transmitter pressure data error (Front RH). Air pressure data from front RH transmitter is malfunction.
37 - Transmitter pressure data error (Rear RH). Air pressure data from rear RH transmitter is malfunction.
38 - Transmitter pressure data error (Rear LH). Air pressure data from rear LH transmitter is malfunction.

41 - Transmitter function code error (Front LH). Function code data from front LH transmitter is malfunction.
42 - Transmitter function code error (Front RH). Function code data from front RH transmitter is malfunction.
43 - Transmitter function code error (Rear RH). Function code data from rear RH transmitter is malfunction.
44 - Transmitter function code error (Rear LH). Function code data from rear LH transmitter is malfunction.

45 - Transmitter battery voltage low (Front LH). Battery voltage of front LH transmitter drops.
46 - Transmitter battery voltage low (Front RH). Battery voltage of front RH transmitter drops.
47 - Transmitter battery voltage low (Rear RH). Battery voltage of rear RH transmitter drops.
48 - Transmitter battery voltage low (Rear LH). Battery voltage of rear LH transmitter drops.

52 - Vehicle speed signal error Speed signal is not detected.
53 - BCM failure about TPMS malfunction in BCM

There's now an affordable tool which will accomplish the same thing... http://www.ateq-tpmsreset.com/ Tirerack sells them for about $135

nice job

Great post!!! Stuff like this is what makes this site worth coming to!

Thank you!

nice! Mine has been messed up ever since I got my wheels put on.

Nice write up. Seems kind of difficult but ill give it a shot this week.

Sweet. I'll have to give this a try tomorrow on my '06. Thanks for the write-up!

Well, the process outlined above definitely worked, but unfortunately it worked so well I found my TPMS throwing a code, which tells me the two sensors are probably dead.

Oh well. At least now I know why I'm getting the light, and can plan accordingly. Thanks again for this writeup! :)

Well I tried this yesterday. I got as far as clearing the ECM. Unfortunately I cannot find the place to stick the paper clip (or hanger as my idea). The bottom of mine looks a little different than your ccar.

Thanks for this! I reset mine with partial success this afternoon. I found out my aftermarket wheels that I bought used had sensors in them already, so I did this procedure and twice it identified the front as rear and rear as front...but no more light on the dash!

Looks complicated, is the OBD3 procedure that pedal pumping, on-off sequence?

It is not

1) find harness under dash
2) plug paper clip in harness
3) ground a wire to the vehicle
4) tap paper clip with ground wire to initiate programming
5) drive with ground wire touching paper clip.

I re-did the procedure this evening, making sure the RF had the most air, then LF, then LR, and finally RR. That solved the problem. Found all of them in the correct location. Thanks again!

how do you know your TPMS is throwing a code?

I just got a 2007 350z and i know the wheels are not the original wheels but they do have the TPMS, How did you read your code?

*i know first post, I've been trolling for a while* :thumbup:

Do you seriously not know what the clues are something is throwing a code?

Hint: The Pressure Warning light on the dash lights up. (sound familiar--maybe like the check engine light when there's an ECU code?)

The process outlined above will cause the light to flash a given code (ever checked an OBD-I or non-OBD car when it throws a code?) which you then pair up with those listed in the FSM.

Not exactly rocket surgery.....

^^^ I'm not dumb. I know how to tell if its throwing a code.

but I was looking at the repair manual and rather than flashing it was giving real codes (like letters with numbers) and each code stood for something.

anyways the dealer reset mine for free when I took it in for a recall...:thumbup:

will this work on a 06??

I ran across this video on the Schrader website.

http://www.schrader-bridgeport.com/i...=38&Itemid=117

Check out Chapter 14 - "TPMS Relearn - Nissan 2008" about 32 minutes in. It seems to demonstrating a similar procedure to what is described above.

Dang, don't bash the guy, he was asking us because we might know something he doesn't.

Btw its "rocket science".

Or brain surgery.

Or if you're being tongue-in-cheek, it's rocket surgery.