2006 TPMS light came on - I don't have TPMS!

[1oldbanjo]

I have a 2006 Base model that is stick shift. It has the upgrade that allowed Cruise control and electric windows - it does not have ABS or TPMS. The car has 205,000 miles on it and it still looks and runs great - it is a wonderful car.

I had to replace my heater core, and the job was pretty intense and as you know - just about everything on the dash had to be removed.

The car is back together and runs fine - but the little yellow warning light that looks like a tire with an exclamation point next to the fuel gauge has come on. I don't have TPMS or the switch that can turn the warning light off.

I looked over the wiring really carefully when I put it back together and I didn't see any unplugged connectors that I missed. There are a few unused ones that were likely for accessories I didn't order - but they don't have any matching plugs anywhere near them that would indicate I missed something. There is one unused connector on the left side down with the rear hatch button but no switch to hook it to, there is a connector down at the bottom of the center console that is unused, and there was one by the radio that was curled up and had white tape wrapped around it.

The battery ground wire was disconnected for 2 days while I did the work, and when I reconnected the cable and started the engine the TPMS light was on. I disconnected the battery and it did not change anything when it was reconnected and the TMPS light is still on. I have driven the car about 50 miles and everything else works and the car drives fine - I just have this annoying TPMS light on!

My Haynes repair manual wiring diagram has nothing that shows there is a TPMS sensor anywhere - in fact it does not show any wiring diagram for ABS or the TPMS system. I have not yet taken the car to someone with a scanner to see if there is any kind of fault code recorded.

I realize a piece of black tape will hide the TPMS warning light, and a with a bit more labor I could take the TPMS light bulb out of the instrument panel - but both of those are kind of admitting defeat.

Can anyone help me decide where to look for a TMPS module or what connector I might have missed when putting the car back together? It would be very helpful if I knew where to look for a TPMS module if they were still installed in the wiring on a car ordered without ABS or TPMS.

Thanks in advance for you help - I am not having any luck resolving this on my own - the fault could be anywhere under the dash.

Dave

[SSizler]

Your Vibe uses a cheap form of TPMS with the ABS brake sensors checking for the same amount of rotations of each tire.
If a tire goes low it will rotate faster and trip the TPMS light.
After it is tripped you must reset it. (at least I had to on mine)
I think the reset process is in your owners manual, or maybe I found it online.
I don't have that info right now, but will post it later when I get home if no one else steps up before then.

[SSizler]

I looked it up for you now.
Page 332 of the 2006 owners manual:
Do not reset (initialize) the system without first correcting the cause of the low-tire condition.
If thes ystem is reset when the tire pressures are incorrect, the system will not function properly and might not alert you when a tire is low.
To reset (initialize) the system:
1. Park the vehicle at a safe place and apply the parking brake. Turn the engine off.
2. Turn the ignition to ON with the engine off.
3. If the low-tire pressure warning light is on, push the SET (reset)button for a few seconds.
The reset button is on the instrument panel to the left of the steering wheel. The low-tire warning light should go off.
4. Press and hold the SET (reset) button until the low-tire warning light comes on and flashes on/off three times.
The tire pressure warning reset button starts the reset(initialization) process.
If the low-tire pressure warning light does not flash while you hold the reset button, thes ystem might be malfunctioning and needs service.
See your GM dealer for service.
The system completes the reset (initialization)process after driving at vehicle speeds of at least 19 mph (30 km/h) to 62 mph (100 km/h) for more
than one hour.
Do not push the SET (reset)button while driving. If you do the initialization process is cancelled.
The initialization process can take up to approximately one hour of driving under the following conditions:
• The vehicle speed is between 31 mph(50 km/h) and 62 mph (100 km/h).
• The roads are dry, smooth, and straight.
• The number of passengers is one or two (including the driver).

There is more TPMS info in the manual. but this is the reset process.
Good luck!

[SSizler]

Also, you state that your Vibe does not have ABS, but I will bet it does.
The TPMS button was only installed on Vibes that had ABS.
You should have a mass of brake lines connected to the ABS controller on the passenger fender well under the hood.

[1oldbanjo]

Thank your for your quick response.

Really - there is nothing on this car that can measure wheel speed or tire rotation. I do all the maintenance on this car and I have done the brakes several times, installed a 6 speed transmission when the 5 speed bearings got noisy, installed a new mid exhaust pipe, rotated the tires something like 20 times, and I am absolutely sure this car does not have a functioning ABS or TPMS system. There are no sensor discs on the wheels, there are no wires/sensors running from the car chassis to anything on the rotors or rear drums......there is no switch on the dashboard to "reset" the TPMS. My dashboard has room for 4 switches on the bottom left side of the dash.....1 is the rear hatch release button, 2 are just blank pieces of plastic, and 1 is a coin holder......if this car had TPMS the reset switch would have replaced one of the blank plates (there is an unused wire connector behind one of those plates). The wheel wells have little plastic clips where wires would have been installed if there were ABS sensors...but none of that wiring was installed at the factory. (I tried a jumper wire across the 2 terminals of the unused plug to see if it would cancel the TPMS light as if there was a switch installed there - it did nothing and the light remained on).

My brake master cylinder is a simple/standard affair - with a dual piston and a plastic reservoir - the brake lines go straight to the calipers and rear wheel cylinders (drum brakes) without passing through any form of ABS controller.

The warning light came on as soon as I turned the key on, and stayed on before I rolled the car out of the garage. Previously the little light would come on when the ignition was switched ON - but then go out......now it stays ON. It has never done that before, and it wasn't doing it when I pulled it into the garage 2 days earlier. The warning light came on and stayed on as a result of something I disconnected/bothered/tripped when I had the dash apart.....I really just don't know where to even begin looking. I was very careful to look to see that nothing was left unplugged.....but perhaps I missed a connector somewhere. Something has triggered that light to stay ON......it is not tire pressure (I just checked them and three were exactly the same and the other was 1 pound less, and the light was triggered while the car was stationary in the garage.

I don't know if the base car without TPMS had a module installed in the wiring harness...even though none of the ABS wiring was installed at the wheels. Something is connected to the warning light in the dash - I suspect it is a computer but I don't know what triggered it or how to reset it without any button!

[1oldbanjo]

One thing just occurred to me that might have some merit.

When I disconnected the battery, and then unplugged everything under the dash - is it possible that the computer and other "smart" parts may have lost some settings and gone back to a "default" setting? Maybe the cars without TPMS or ABS need to be told not to look for that hardware - as it doesn't exist on this model.

Perhaps I need to run it by the Pontiac or Toyota dealer and see if their manuals have any process for restoring settings after doing major work that requires disconnecting the majority of the under dash wiring.

It is possible that when the car is turned on and the TPMS light flashes....it is looking for something. When it cannot find it - the light stays on. Maybe reprogramming is necessary to delete that thought process!

[SSizler]

OK. I just read my owners manual more thoroughly and it confirms the TPMS uses the ABS system.
So, you confirm you don't have ABS, or the TPMS reset button, just the low tire warning light on the dash, which is a TPMS feature.
Then the only thing I can think of is the TPMS reset button "wire" may be energized somehow?
My next question is, does your "hatch release" (your description - I think is is a glass release) button work?
Maybe the wire for the TPMS reset switch got plugged onto the glass release switch and the glass release wire is hanging free?

[1oldbanjo]

I had that same thought.......the rear hatch button works fine.

Thankfully all the connectors are unique and only plug into the "correct" matching part. They come in lots of different colors and lots of different shapes and sizes....it doesn't appear it is possible to connect the connectors to the wrong place. The hatch button switch won't plug in to the other connector.

[1oldbanjo]

I am leaving town for Christmas with family and will be gone for a week....I likely won't be able to see any new posts until I get back.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

[zbyers]

I am leaving town for Christmas with family and will be gone for a week....I likely won't be able to see any new posts until I get back.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Is it the one picture he's showing/working on in this video? You definitely would not have sensors in the wheel; that didn't happen until 2008 Vibes as an option. If you have TPMS, it would use the ABS sensors.

Is this a Canadian spec Vibe or anything? Or do you know if the cluster was ever replaced? I don't think any of mine have ever had the TPMS light, unless it actually had TPMS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5dMQuBKKgA

[1oldbanjo]

The light that came on is the same one shown in the video - however that is where the similarity ends. My car does not have any TPMS switch/button or accessories that would allow a reset. There is no button on or under the dash related to a TPMS system.

The car has the original instrument cluster, it is located in Kentucky. The car has been well maintained and I have done all the work on it - with the exception of the passenger air bag recall. I ordered the car as I wanted leather seats and a manual transmission - I could not find a car like that anywhere. I still have the window sticker, and it does not list ABS or TPMS as being included on the car, and I specifically remember not ordering it with those options. The TMPS warning light has never stayed on prior to this event - it may have done the initial "test" when you first turn the key on, and then gone out within a few seconds. The car has 205,000 reliable mile on it and it runs excellent.

I don't know what - but something has happened when I unplugged electrical connectors and moved the dash pieces to provide access to the heater core. Connectors under the dash and also at both sides of the door pillars had to be removed to allow the metal dash support "beam" to be moved out of the way.....that included removing the connectors to the computer under the glove box.

I can remove the upper dash, glove box door and door pillar covers pretty easily - then look for any connectors that I might have missed. I did look carefully as I was putting the car back together - but I could have missed something. I was hoping somebody might be able to help direct me to a potential source of the problem (it is not related to me not being able to find a TPMS switch.....as my car does not have one).

[joatmon]

You might try reaching out to Derf. in viewtopic.php?p=522221&hilit=2006#p522221 he said he had a set of 2006 factory manuals, maybe he can find something in there about the TPMS system that could help you narrow down where to look