I just got my first z (04) and I noticed when I an going on a trip after about an hour my tire pressure light comes on... I stop and check my tires and they are fine, I still have stock rims and tires. The next day they go back to normal and the light goes off. Do i need new tires? Is it the sensor?

 

check your tire pressures in the guage on top of the middle console (Left guage of the 3) by clicking the top silver button on the right side of the guage pod behind the steering wheel. If your tire pressures are flirting with being on the low side, driving and temperatures can cause the pressures to increase and decrease enough to cause the light to come on. I think they should be around 35 psi to keep the light from coming on. Also, you can take them and have them filled with Nitrogen to ensure better inflation so they don't fluctuate as much.

 

the come on if one of the tires goes below 30 psi.. so i don't know what you consider "fine"

 

your light is on because your tires are low. fill them to 35 psi, drive around for a few miles, and your light should go off

 

At that age the batteries may be going out on you. Thats what happend with my 03. The PSI never changed but the light would come on after driving for ~20 minutes, it was due to the old batteries. New TPMS cost a grip though so be prepared.

 

Try checking ur tires with a digital gauge, they work a lot better.

 

Wrong

 

The problem is that you don't have any sensors on those wheels. Chances are pretty good that the previous owner took them out. If the system doesn't get a signal from any sensors for a 30-45 minutes period, it will trigger the yellow (!) light on the dash and you will hear a beep.

Next time you're driving the car around, after a minute above 20 mph, check the triple-meter to see what pressure it's showing - my guess is that you'll only see "--".

The good new is that for about $100-$150, you can buy a set of used ones from somebody here (https://my350z.com/forum/wheels-tires-369/) in our Marketplace. Get a tire shop to install them then take the car to a dealer to get them registered to the system and all will be good again.

Try reading the Top 100 Questions thread (link in my sig), it explains this and many other common problems seen by new owners like yourself.

 

Hey, I didn't look at the anwsers very closely but I didn't notice anyone telling you of the upper threshold of the TMPS. When I first got my Z the dealer had a lot of air in the tires and the often run at 38-40. This was a big deal until I made a long drive (LA to Vegas) where I ran into your problem. About two hours into the drive I got the beep and didn't know what it was. After a few minutes I notice the pressure was over 40 PSI (the beep threshold is about 40-42). I since have run the pressures in the lower range and it works well. Watch out for winter temps, they generally get lower because colder temps don't tend to ballon as much as the summer temps. So long story short, keep the tires in the TMPS thresholds of 28-40 psi.

 

The tire pressure alarm goes off when the pressure drops below 28 psi, there is no alarm for "overpressure". The whole reason behind TPMS is that underinflated tires tend to overheat and ultimately fail.

My OEM tires, on long highway trips would regularly climb to 41-42 psi and I've never seen the alarm go off. I believe you have some other problem.

 

Fill it up to 42-43 and you'll find out something you didn't know. Its also possible your system is different in some way but I assure you there is an upper threshold that will cause a stock systems to trigger.

 

Also if I'm not mistaken, it makes sense that the pressure built up and not went down as others are assuming. The OP stated this happened after 1 hour of driving. Long periods of driving on tires will cause them to rise in pressure unless it has a nail. As well, the fact he stopped to check the tires would lead me to believe they were not low. So unless the system is completely malfunctioning, it has to be high pressures.

 

At least on an '06, that is definitely not the case. I'm doubtful it is the case with any Z.

 

I love it when people make statements on things they have never witnessed before.

I assure you, the long beep occurs, and then the PSI measurement pops up on the HUD/gauge. My '05 has done this twice, the same way it does it when the pressure falls below 28 psi.

 

I've seen indicated pressures of over 45psi on all four tires on the '06 on the TPMS display on the multi-function display. No beeps. No TPMS lights.

Zazz, you will please note that I said it is definitely not the case on an '06 and that I was doubtful (look up the word) that is was the case on other Z's.

You could be correct on the '05 but I seriously doubt it. Please provide at least a single reference that shows that the TPMS system will warn of an over-inflated tire. Don't bother looking in the owners manual because there it very clearly states that the system warns of low tire pressure.

 

I know what the system is made to do, but I also know what I WITNESSED. If you choose to disagree that's fine.

 

I can't confirm it on the Z, but other Nissans the light will flash if the pressure goes above 60psi. It happened to an Armada once..

 

I spoke to a tech about it and he thinks it was a temperature parameter. He said when a tire starts at a cold 38-40 PSI and heats up it becomes very hot and by the time the pressure reaches its hot psi and raises +4 PSI it trips a heat parameter under certain circumstances.

 

Okay I see what davesz is saying it has the "----" when I try to read my pressure on the gauges... So I'm thinkin the sensors were taken out. I am about to get bbs rims and I haven't really picked out any tires yet but when I do I will make sure to get those sensors put in. My boyfriend just says that I drive bad and must hit all the pot holes on the road to make them do that so ... HA! He's wrong!

 

Same thing happened in my '05. Light would come on after about 20+ minutes of freeway driving. Ended up being a bad sensor that they replaced. Hasn't happened since.