I have been talking to my dealer about what to do about the tire pressure monitoring system when I put winter wheels / tires on my car later this year. They don't seem to be able to tell me much, other than they *THINK* the light on the dash will stay on constantly if the sensors are not mounted in the winter rims. My salesman claims that additional sensors for the FX models are around $400 each (per tire), but they don't have the info for the G35 yet -- they also don't have the 2004 technical manuals for the car.

The guy I talked to in parts / service says the light stays on in the 2003 Lexus models, and he just tells people to ignore it. This does *not* sound like an acceptable answer to me. Not to mention that the owners manual for the '04 G35s says that a chime sounds for 10 seconds. I don't want some idiot light glowing on the dash of my new car 4-5 months of the year or a chime every time I hit 20mph. I am also not willing to mount and dismount 2 sets of tires every season to swap the sensors between wheels.

This seems like a BIG problem for anyone who intends to drive a 2004 in the snow.

What can we do about this? Does anyone know how hard it would be to get into the instrument cluster and add a switch under the dash to the wire feeding the low pressure idiot light? As far as the chime, that may be more difficult because it is probably used for other things. I am really disappointed at Infiniti for apparently not thinking this through -- that, or my dealer for not having good info on cars that are already showing up on the lot (they have at least 2 2004 G35 sedans in stock).

Also, anyone who has taken delivery on a 2004 model -- does it look like there is a dedicated fuse for the pressure sensor module? (probably not, but it's worth a check) The owners manual does not give any details on the fuses.

BTW, does anyone have an e-mail address for Infiniti technical questions? When I go to their web site, they tell me to refer any technical questions to the dealer -- That clearly is not working out well in this case.

Thanks!

TurboFish
2004 G35 Sedan 6M -- Desert Platinum, Graphite Leather, Premium/Winter (on order for Nov '03)
1998 Volvo C70 Coupe HPT

 

Well, as much snow as they get in Japan... [img]/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/img]
I think that with such an early release of the '04 models, you're going to have to deal with little problems like this. They will manufacture spare sensors, but right now their focus was getting the new G out. I'm sure if you wait just a little while, they'll be out- hopefully before winter. I've got an FX as well, and it took them a while to get all the parts out after the production models rolled off the floor (ie. STILL waiting on a nosemask so we can take it on a 2k mile roadtrip).

As for getting behind the instrument cluster, I'm not going to touch that with a ten-foot pole, I don't want to screw you over accidentally! There are step-by-step walkthroughs to do so, though.

Talk to your service dept. manager and say you just want to talk to your service tech for a few minutes. If your dealership is anything like mine, there is one tech who is assigned to your car, and he will always be the guy you talk to. He'll know everything about your car, and can be very helpful. Brainstorm with him-- he'll know about the wiring of the G in general, an dmay be able to suggest a fuse to pull, a way to rewire it, etc. Best of luck, and let us know how it turns out--
G

2003.5 Black w/ Willow G35
Premium / Sport / Aero / Winter / Navi / Tint

 

Has anyone actually tried swapping wheels on an '04 sedan yet? I am looking to get winter tires for my wife's car, and this will probably influence whether I get a second set of wheels or not.

 

I posted this yesterday in a different thread:

>> I just put on a set of 16 inch alloys with Dunlop WinterSport SP2 tires today (225/60/16 will match the diameter of the stock 215/55/17s within 1.2%) -- I don't normally mount snows this early (normally 2nd week in November), but I wanted to put a few miles on the new tires to break them in before the snow really starts.

>> One piece of good news for those planning to put snows on the 2004 models: It looks like the tire pressure monitoring system completely ignores the fact the OEM wheels with the tire pressure tranceivers are not there when you swap out the wheels -- No lights, beeps, etc. This is good for installing snows, but it makes me question how you know the tire pressure monitoring system is actually working the rest of the time. You would think that the lack of any signal from the tranceivers would trigger some sort of warning as a failsafe.

Regards,


TurboFish
2004 G35 Sedan 6M -- Diamond Graphite, Graphite Leather, Premium/Winter
1998 Volvo C70 Coupe HPT

 

Hey, that is very interesting! Looks like they're betting on a quadriple failure as an unlikely event (common engineering practice). However, it would have been smarter (Legally) if they just leave the pressure warning light 'On' when all four sensors are off (not present) and 'Flashing' if at least one sensor's located w. abnormal pressure reading.

Thanks for the finding. I have no need to worry about getting a new set of wheels now.

THX723

 

I just watched the forums for someone selling a set of sensors. The ones out of the 350Z will work, too. Got all four of them for $250. I'll be putting these in the 18" Coupe rims I have on the way for next summer.... current going rate for the sensors is around $300/set.

2004 6MT Sedan, Obsidian Black
Premium Package
Sport Tuned Suspension
Aero Package
Infiniti DVD Navigation System

 

Yeah at $250-$300 it's reasonable.

If I understand how the system work correctly, there's more to it than that, however. Even if you have a new set of sensors on the new wheels the system will not function correctly. That is not untill you 'teach' the system to recognize the new sensors by going through a 'learning' routine, which is not possible by the owner, as it requires the CONSULT II computer hookup to car. What a bummer!

I suspect A LOT of owners who bought these new sensors don't even realize their monitors are not working, since the warning light will remain 'OFF' as mentioned in the orginal post.



THX723

 

That's correct quadruple failure of all *four* wheel sensors.
I'm 99.99% sure there's only one receiver for all the sensors, which is why it needs to be 'trained' initially the *four* unique signatures as well as which of the *four* corners they're located. Otherwise, it would be funny if it picked up the tire pressure of another G that drove up next to you ... god, imagine at last week's SoCal. meet of 70+ Gs :O On board monitor would go nutz!!! LOL!

THX723<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by THX723 on 10/28/03 08:39 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

These tire pressure monitors are for IDIOTS! Or at least, people who are oblivious behind the wheel. I know that I can quickly feel the impact of even a 5 lb pressure loss in any tire. That 5 lb pressure loss could be enough to cause a real problem with the handling balance of my car, and hopefully I will notice it before I have a problem. Modest pressure loss like this is really noticible when turning or sometimes when braking hard. Our tire pressure monitors don't kick in at ALL for these modest pressure losses, which is frankly what a tire pressure monitoring system would be really useful for. The units in my 04 G only kick in when the pressure is so low, my car would be noiticibly squirming all over the road.

Q: What's the point?
A: To satisfy some politicians' knee jerk reaction to the Ford Explorer/Firestone fiasco. Only problem, is that politicians, as a rule, understand NOTHING about automotive engineering.

It was modest pressure shortfall that caused the Firestone problems, and these tire pressure monitors do nothing to stop it. All they do is add useless cost to my car.

Now if we had a true tire pressure monitoring system, that could detect and display pressure to within 1 lb.; now THAT would be something. Several aftermarket systems can do this, and most high bucks race cars are required to have these. Think of the fuel savings on a national basis if people knew if their tires were a couple of lbs. down.

04 G35s 6MT BS Aero Kit/Nav/Prem
Warning: Objects in Mirror Are Losing!

 

Amen. I agree completely w. ya there RacerX. My exact thoughts.
I too can feel the minute pressure variations exhibited by each tires and even more so in the race car.

THX723

 

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

Most people, I will assume, would probably look at the monitor, and see their tires a little low,

<hr></blockquote>
I agree. Only problem, the monitor in an 04 G won't show them when a tire is a little low. It will only display an "Idiot Light" when the tire is so low it's ready to roll off the rim. Kind of like the "Oil" light. It dosn't go on untill you're 2 qts. down; and already doing damage.

They don't call them "Idiot Lights" for nothing!

04 G35s 6MT BS Aero Kit/Nav/Prem
Warning: Objects in Mirror Are Losing!

 

http://www.dingking.tv/family.asp?fam_id=ZACP&CAT=

 

Not in mine, my light comes on when I am down just a couple of pounds, this last week, it got colder at night here, the next mronig my light and alarm came on, I checked the pressure, it was at 28 all around, pumped it up to 30, light went off!

Brilliant Silver/Graphite '04 Sedan

 

I agree w/ abq-g35,
My sensor went off as I left for work yesterday morning. I was only a block away from home so I went back home to fill the tire up. The pressure was 26lbs before I filled the tire back up to 30. I'm very in tune with my car and could not feel or see the difference in 4lbs of pressure. I would like to see the person who can, especially on city streets at 25mph.

In fact when the sensor went off I initially did not belive it and thought it was the sun spots setting off the reciever.

04 Sedan. Desert Platinum, Premi Pkg, sport tuned.
Racing and pacing and plotting the course.

 

Had my winter tire/wheels on since Nov 12 without any TPM dash lights going off. On a trip this weekend it triggered and stayed on until the car was shut off. On restart, no light. However, on the return trip home the light went on again. Seemed to happen on the X-way at just about the exact same place. Coincidence? Anybody else having problems?

___________________________________
2004 | 6MTs | Diamond Graphite/Graphite