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How can I disable the tire pressure monitoring system on my 2009 Mazda 3 so that it doesn't warn me upon starting the car and doesn't maintain a yellow warning light on the dash if it can't detect the wireless sensors?

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  • As far as I know you cannot. Replace the sensors as the batteries in them have died.
    – Moab
    May 22, 2018 at 19:23
  • The system never worked well as the sensors are integrated with the air valve stems and often leak. It also makes it more difficult to switch between summer and winter tires; rather than putting my winter tires on a second set of cheap wheels and swapping wheels, I end up having to swap tires on the same wheels. I figured I'd save some money, have more reliable valves, and seasonal tire swapping easier.
    – rcampbell
    May 23, 2018 at 18:47
  • You may be able to trick the tpm control module. Check to see what’s going on on terminal 2b of the cluster. I’m not sure what to expect but if you had a known good car to compare against you could work something out.
    – Ben
    May 24, 2018 at 1:58

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In the United States, it is illegal to work on someone's vehicle, render TPMS non-functional, and return it to the customer. As such, no shop or dealer will ever do this for you.

It's perfectly legal for you to do it yourself.

Now that that's out of the way...

Some vehicles can have the TPMS disabled by physically removing the module and coding it out of the computer system. My 2008 BMW is this way, as its computer system was designed prior to the TPMS requirement and was sold in markets without it, and the TPMS was added on later.

From searching, I don't believe your Mazda is designed in a way for this to be possible. If that's the case, you would have to devise some kind of hardware to either trick the TPMS module, or modify the module to always report OK regardless of actual sensor state. Either way, this is probably not a worthwhile endeavor - the effort required far exceeds the benefit.

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Replace any dead sensors and relearn the sensors. If you want to take the cheap route, remove your cluster and put black electrical tape over the light.

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  • dash bulbs aren't designed to be on constantly. In a few months at most it will be burned out.
    – John Lord
    Jul 26, 2018 at 5:25
  • My RAV4 hybrid dash has a READY "bulb" that is on all the time and an EV "bulb" that is on during electric drive, about half of the time. Furthermore, I have driven few months with the TPMS "bulb" continuously on (didn't know that my car has a hidden trick that can be used to reset the TPMS after a DIY seasonal tire swap). Neither "bulb" has burned out, probably because they are LEDs and not bulbs!
    – juhist
    Apr 22, 2019 at 12:37
  • Even with traditional bulbs they can last many years of always being on whenever the car is on, and LEDs will last the life of the car, more or less, regardless of use.
    – cscracker
    Dec 19, 2019 at 18:45

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