Sorry if this has been covered. I did a couple of searches and couldn't find it.

How long should it take for the TPMS light to come on when you are driving without sensors.

I bought a set of track wheels and tires a little while back. I have twice driven to an event 15 miles away and have not had the light come on. I didn't even think about it until this past weekend when I was driving to an event 60 miles away. The light came on probably 20 miles from my house while driving 75 mph. I almost pulled over to check my pressures when I remembered I don't have the sensors hooked up. Obviously, since the light never came on before, I completely forgot my track wheels don't have sensors.

Is this normal? That seems pretty useless if it is not going to report an error until I am far along my trip and driving on the highway. I can drive 28 miles to work and not have the light come on, either (didn't have time to swap my wheels back to stock after the event). What the hell is the point to the TPMS? Is this the same process if I had a low tire? Would I be driving on this low tire for a half hour at 75 mph before it even tells me?

 

about 30 miles of constant highway driving

 

My sensors come on after about 45 minutes on my summer wheels which don't have sensors. I believe if your stock wheels are low in air pressure the TPMS will signal almost immediately. I have had mine go off in the winter and it happened as soon as I left my house.

 

If the TPMS system gets no signal then it waits for a while before tossing up a warning. If it is getting a signal and that signal tells it that there is low tire pressure then it goes off right away. In my car it goes off several times each winter. If I remember correctly it is going off even before I put the car in gear.

 

good to hear.
Thanks for the info.