Noticed something Odd with TPMS

Stevens03 · February 5, 2012

Well, a while back I rotated my tires/whees to front back. I never did the relearn process because I never saw a dash light. I thought all was good till yesterday when I check my tire pressures just to see where they were at and found.. When the dash said front,... it was really reading the rears... and the rears where reading front.

So in the end, they were still reading... but in the "wrong" location. I thought that was interesting...

Coolmaker · February 5, 2012

Have exactly the same thing going with mine. Just ordered the tool to do the re-learn...

cracked_up · February 5, 2012

During the learning process you start LF, RF etc... this tells the computer the location of each tpms so when you rotate they will still read, just not the correct location. I think there are some vehicles smart enough to see them automaatically but not any GM's. Maybe someday they will be able to figure that one out!

travis73 · February 5, 2012

Just did mine,I did the relearn just by letting air out,had to let out about 10psi in each tire before the horn chirped,but it worked none the less witout a relearn tool.

Coolmaker · February 5, 2012

Just did mine,I did the relearn just by letting air out,had to let out about 10psi in each tire before the horn chirped,but it worked none the less witout a relearn tool.

Sounds like the early 11's will work that way. However, late 11's and all 12's have to have the relearn tool. At least according to GM, that is why they came out with an inexpensive tool. Or at least, that is what I read on their site...

cparks555 · February 5, 2012

Mine are the same, found out while trying to put air in the wrong tire.

waumo1 · February 5, 2012

My Sierra was built 02/11 and the manual said you had to have the relearn tool but the air out method worked fine.

The Jeep and the Challenger you just rotate the tires or even change to winters with different TPMS and it learns

while you drive.

Stevens03 · February 6, 2012

I don't really care really... with no relearn and it still reads.. I'm ok with that. I'm glad I don't have the yellow dash light lit. After winter, I'll rotate the tires again...

SouthCo · February 6, 2012

YOu didn't get a dash light because the computer doesn't care what sensor is at which corner of the truck. As long as it reads all 4 you are good. Like you noticed they read in the wrong place. Like NUKE_1 said, you relearn in order from driver front, to passenger front, to passenger rear, to driver rear... so computer will associate that sensor with that location. So if you move driver front to driver rear, you get no light but if you driver rear goes flat the DIC will say it's the driver front. That's why some relearn everytime they rotate so the DIC knows what tire is at which corner. It's not necessary.

Coolmaker · February 6, 2012

My Sierra was built 02/11 and the manual said you had to have the relearn tool but the air out method worked fine.

The Jeep and the Challenger you just rotate the tires or even change to winters with different TPMS and it learns

while you drive.

My 2012 will not work with the air out method... ;(

waumo1 · February 6, 2012

My Sierra was built 02/11 and the manual said you had to have the relearn tool but the air out method worked fine.

The Jeep and the Challenger you just rotate the tires or even change to winters with different TPMS and it learns

while you drive.

My 2012 will not work with the air out method... ;(

I did have to air the tires up to 40+ PSI before starting the proceedure and then continue letting air out a lot longer than I thought it would take before I got the horn beep. I also tried the "let out a quick burst and wait" method suggested by others and it did not work for me.

It seems GM is going backwards with their electronics, I was surprised that the Chrysler TPMS system was completely automatic and seems to work well with no intervention.

Coolmaker · February 6, 2012

My Sierra was built 02/11 and the manual said you had to have the relearn tool but the air out method worked fine. The Jeep and the Challenger you just rotate the tires or even change to winters with different TPMS and it learns while you drive.

My 2012 will not work with the air out method... ;( I did have to air the tires up to 40+ PSI before starting the proceedure and then continue letting air out a lot longer than I thought it would take before I got the horn beep. I also tried the "let out a quick burst and wait" method suggested by others and it did not work for me. It seems GM is going backwards with their electronics, I was surprised that the Chrysler TPMS system was completely automatic and seems to work well with no intervention.

None of the above has worked on my 2012.. ;(

Big Whiskey · February 6, 2012

During the learning process you start LF, RF etc... this tells the computer the location of each tpms so when you rotate they will still read, just not the correct location. I think there are some vehicles smart enough to see them automaatically but not any GM's. Maybe someday they will be able to figure that one out!

This! Also, if you have your tires rotated at the dealer, they should update the sensors to the correct location for you.