GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I just purchased a 2008 Vibe. I also just purchased 4 aftermarket aluminum rims and snowtires from Tirerack. Thanks to the members of this forum who turned me on to Tirerack.The problem that I'm having is resetting the TPMS. I've read in this forum where it shouldn't matter since the sensors are in the ABS. This is also true for the 2008 as I can figure, but I just can't get the TPMS to reset. I took it to the dealer and the service manager came out to help. He took one look at the wheels and said that they weren't original equipment and the TPMS could not be reset.This just doesn't seem to make any sense if the sensors are really in the ABS. I'm afraid he might be right since reset doesn't work. I've followed the manual exactly and driven over 50 miles on dry roads(as suggested in an earlier post).Any help would be great.thanks

Did you buy bigger rims/tires.

Sorry Man, I won't be any help until this summer when I can get the 18's on and see if I have the same problem..

I keep hearing that the TPMS is tied to the ABS system. Well, I have an 08 Vibe without ABS. How the heck does my TPMS work? The manual shows a pretty strange TPMS reset procedure. I also read that using metallic window tints could interfere with the 'sensors'. I will go read that part again at some point. I noticed that the valves on the steel wheels are mounted on a small metal piece that sticks out about a half inch. Could those be sensors? Anyone have info on this?

Quote, originally posted by vibolista »I keep hearing that the TPMS is tied to the ABS system. Well, I have an 08 Vibe without ABS. How the heck does my TPMS work?I believe this is a change made for the '08 model year. At least up through the '06 models the TPMS system was based on the ABS sensors and was only offered in conjunction with the ABS option. That system just looks at the rate of wheel rotation and if there's a pronounced change in the relative rate of one of the wheels the warning light comes on. With that system there isn't any physical sensor in the wheel or tire. (I think the '07s use this system as well.)But on the '08 model Matrix (and probably Vibe as well), the TPMS uses sensors in each wheel and is independent of the ABS.

I hate these stupid TPMS systems on the cars now. not looking forward to having to swap out 3 diff sets of tires on the new car.

Likewise, AKLGT. These systems are for drivers who may not pay much attention or perform normal safety checks on their vehicles from time to time. The only time I think TMPS might be useful, would be if you are losing air while you drive. But, if you actually pay attention to the car and how it drives and behaves, you should notice that something's up. That should be warning enough to make you pull off somewhere safe and take a look. I've also heard that TPMS sensors can fail, and are not inexpensive to replace. I plan on a set of alloys and don't look forward to the possible extra cost it might cause. I'll eventually find all this stuff out as we get closer to Spring.

oddly enough I've had people come in with shredded tires who said "oh the tpms was on but I was ignoring it."DUH Anyway did the new Vibe switch to a TPMS located in the valve stem? If it did then you can't re-program unless your new rims have a TPMS valve stem. Thats how the subaru TPMS is and I hate it. There is no way to program/reset unless you come into the dealership. While that may seem ok, it just wastes my time. I get countless calls every cold morning because (removed) someone forgot air weighs less in cold weather and 32 psi now dropped to 28psi.Does your TPMS light flash or just on steady? If its on steady, its detecting sensors but they are not sending info or need to be reset. If its flashing, then its not detecting the TPMS at all.I'd contact your local dealership and pick the service advisor's brain. Its free. It shouldn't matter on the size of tire.. a wheel is a wheel. ABS and ABS TPMS only require the tires to all be the same size since it uses motion/ tire rotational speed vs the other tires to determine lock up or tire pressure issues.

Quote, originally posted by vibolista »Likewise, AKLGT. These systems are for drivers who may not pay much attention or perform normal safety checks on their vehicles from time to time. The only time I think TMPS might be useful, would be if you are losing air while you drive.The ABS-based TPMS in our first '06 Vibe did detect a slow leak before we noticed any problem. Glancing at the tires didn't reveal a problem but I checked the pressure and found one was down by about 8 psi. Looked more carefully and found a nail in the tread. We probably would have noticed it anyway before it became a more serious problem, but the TPMS was helpful.

The Vibe still has the old system, not valve sensors. It's just a pita to reset.http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=31416Opps, I was WRONG, the '08's do have the RF System. See my later post in this thread.

I'll go to the dealer service adviser... now I'm curious. Since I don't have ABS, does the TPMS work off a vestige of the ABS system? And why would metalic window tint be a problem? Interesting. I sure hope that alloys won't be a problem.

No. I purchased the same size rim, albeit aluminum. The originals were the steel. I ordered them from Tirerack. It was a set Tirerack recommended for the 08 Vibe. The tires are the highly rated Dunlop snow tires, M3 I think.As I said earlier, my Pontiac service manager said the TPMS couldn't be reset without the OEM tires/wheels. I don't know if I should completely believe him or not. He almost seemed bothered that I asked him and he wasn't very willing to go into any kind of discussion or explanation on the situation.A piece of black electrical tape over the warning light might just be the ticket for winter driving. Although I hate to lose that feature as it's helped me before in other cars when I've picked up a nail on the highway...

Quote, originally posted by eweaver66 »No. I purchased the same size rim, albeit aluminum. The originals were the steel. I ordered them from Tirerack. It was a set Tirerack recommended for the 08 Vibe. The tires are the highly rated Dunlop snow tires, M3 I think.As I said earlier, my Pontiac service manager said the TPMS couldn't be reset without the OEM tires/wheels. I don't know if I should completely believe him or not. He almost seemed bothered that I asked him and he wasn't very willing to go into any kind of discussion or explanation on the situation.A piece of black electrical tape over the warning light might just be the ticket for winter driving. Although I hate to lose that feature as it's helped me before in other cars when I've picked up a nail on the highway...tell your service advisor that he needs to help you because his commission is based on how helpful he is to you. Also remind him that you can take your business to another service advisor for help and he just lost one more customer (for at least 36K miles!). If he's not helpful, hit him where it hurts most: his pocketbook!

The 2008 Vibe base Canadian model has sensors in the valve. Its not ABS based. The valves cost $200 each.To run 15" snow tires its an additional $800 if you want to keep that TPMS. A small square of black electrical tape fairly well covers the dash warning lamp on the fuel guage and you can see the rest of the guage fine. The lamp flashes a few times at startup then is a steady glow. There is no beep sounds.Anyone know of a way to disable the warning lamp?

What I didn't want to hear... Xpensive valve sensors. When you ordered your wheels from TireRack, didn't they ask you if your Vibe had TPMS? They should. I'm surprised that they would not tell you that your wheels might not be compatible with your TPMS system. What a pain and what a ripoff! $200 a sensor? Seems really steep.

I ordered the tire/wheel combination on-line from Tirerack. It did prompt me to order wheel sensors. I assumed it was bogus after reading all the posts on this forum stating that the sensors were in the ABS and not on the valve stems.I believe the cost was more like $350 total for all four wheels. Even this was more than I would pay for a feature I'll only be using 4 months of the year. I always keep a close eye on tire pressure anyway. Love the Vibe even without TPMS working. The light does flash a few times and then is lit solid after that. No big distraction.

Wow, the Canada cars do have the RF type sensors..... 88974915 is the part #.Oh boy, the US cars for 2008 do too.. Same Part #. $169.54 each US.

Okiedoukie, here's what tirerack sez about this sensor thing. "if you want your TPMS to operate, you will need to purchase factory type sensors for $87.25 each. No charge for installation with a wheel purchase" Whoopee! only $87.25 each or $349.00 for the set. NOT expensive at all! Right? I think the little piece of electrical tape to cover up the light is looking really good right now. That would save me about $348.99. Anyone know how to defeat the light? Of course I will HAVE to check my tire pressures each week, like I already do. And I guess I'll go ahead and look at my tires once in a while, too. Duh!