I am thinking about putting a full size spare tire and wheel in my 2012 MDX and getting rid of the mini-spare. If I get the same 18" wheel and Michelin tire which came standard on the car, could I put a TPMS sensor in the spare?

I am wondering if I do put a sensor in, would it be read by the car or cause any faults or tire lights to come on? The only reason I would do this is so I could do a five tire rotation and not having to install/remove the sensor from which ever tire was going into the spare location.

I know there is no setting for the spare tire PSI in the tire readout on the dash. Anyone know if a fifth TPMS in the spare would cause problems?

 

The tpms automatically connects wireless. I'd assume having a 5th sensor with the same frequency would cause the computer to sync between all 5 and choose 4 to display.

 

I may be wrong, but I believe you should be fine. From my understanding, the TPMS receivers are located at each wheel to monitor each specific tire. Therefore, having a 5th TPMS sensor should not disrupt this sequence due to the distance/ synced rate from the wheel receiver.
Once your TPMS is synced to the 4 mounted wheels a 5th sensor should only sync when mounted to the vehicle, replacing the reading from the wheel that was removed.

I hope that helps.

 

SlimTL, that's what I was thinking also. I was hoping to hear from someone who actually did it. I'll give it a try in the next week or so if I can pick up a spare wheel and tire.

If it doesn't work, I'll just take the TPMS out and use it strictly as a spare.

 

I am interested in doing the same thing in my RDX.

It would be interesting if you set the PSI of the spare differently (maybe 38-40 PSI, easier to take the air out later) for a week or so to see if the TPMS might pick up the spare tire sensor randomly or locks in on the spare? It would be interesting to see if it makes a difference if the spare tire valve stem/TPMS is pointed towards one of the tires or front/back bumpers. I'm thinking if there is a problem you may have to keep the spare tire valve stem/TPMS pointed toward the front or rear of the car to further the distance from the MDX wheel well mounted TPMS sensor?

 

One of the answers I received on another forum pointed out that the sensors only become active once they start rotating when the car is driven. Until then, they are "asleep" to prevent the self contained battery from depleting.

The spare with the sensor would never turn on to transmit a signal since it is in a stationary position. Hence no worry about it sending an extra signal to be picked up.