2011 Golf TPMS Issue

My Golf has the TPMS Light on. I had hit a puddle of water the other night and it popped on shortly there after. I stopped and checked all four tires and all were right within acceptable limits of each other.

Next morning I read through the manual. Inflated all tires exactly to 38 psi and then attempted to reset the TPMS sensors reset. It's not taken and the light is still on. All tires are perfect.

Any suggestions?

I don't think the puddle had anything to do with this. The TPMS signals are radio signals. Check the spare tire. I've heard of those getting low and sending a signal which sets off the TPMS light. Since it's in the storage well, it's usually forgotten.

I've got a 2011 with the rubber valve stems so I don't have the sensors inside the tires.

Then I believe this system works off the wheel speed sensors, comparing one to the other. You might have to remove the wheels and check the wiring for the speed sensors. These are located near the backside of the hubs.

Decided to take it to the Dealership and let them look at it.

Took the TDI to the Dealership.

Trip #1 at 07:00AM. Dealer took the car right in no waiting. The Tech bumped up the tire pressures, reset the TPMS and drove it about 10 miles. Light Off, declared all OK.

Drove Home and all was fine.

Drove wife to work and light came on again. Dang....

Trip #2 to Dealer 11:24 pm.... Most techs are at lunch. but Service Advisor find a pretty knowledgeable Tech and asks him about it. Tell us both that there is a Tech Sheet out on it and that needs to be followed.

I see another Tech get the Car and they have it for a little more than an hour and a half. Declared it was all set, same thing, procedure done small drive to ensure TPMS was set and then returned to me.

Drove home. Let the car sit while I did my yard work for the day. Drove out to pick up wife and TPMS Light came back on again. NOT HAPPY.

I really don't understand this. There are no other lights, NO ABS lights and no codes set from what they tell me. Makes me think that that the wheel sensors must be two channel sensors with the ABS being one channel and the TPMS being the other. I've called the dealer and will follow up with them on my next day off.

Sorry for your grief!

Which dealer are you using, Vincent or Dorschel?

Dorschel for now. The Service Writer I am working with has been VERY good. Talked with one tech named Shane on the second time through and he seemed very good.

I might just put the car up on my ramps and take a look at the sensors myself and see if I can find anything. If I were a betting man, I would say that either the TPMS reset switch is faulty or that my Passenger Front Sensor is bad.

warbird24 said:

Dorschel for now. The Service Writer I am working with has been VERY good. Talked with one tech named Shane on the second time through and he seemed very good.

I might just put the car up on my ramps and take a look at the sensors myself and see if I can find anything. If I were a betting man, I would say that either the TPMS reset switch is faulty or that my Passenger Front Sensor is bad.

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I'd check for a slow leak in a tire, pump them all up to 45 and double check it's staying at 45.

From what it sounds like the dealer has done so far is just pump up the pressure each time. Sounds like the techs didn't really explain what they did to it, ask them and see what they did. It's never good walking away from the dealer knowing that the tech "played around with it for a while" and it now works, you deserve details.

As for a sensor going bad, this is the same sensor that ABS uses (indirect TPMS!) so I'd imagine you'd also have an ABS code if the sensor is bad.

When you try reseting the TPMS with the switch, how long are you holding it down? I imagine it's kinda like the ESP button it, takes what seems like 5-10 seconds before it knows you didn't accidently hit the button reaching for change or something. Also doesn't the Indirect system take some driving around turns/speed changes before it learns the tires and radius are normal?

If your tire pressure does indeed stay at 45 PSI over night/couple days and you can't reset it with the switch, it needs hardware/software changing that either VCDS or the dealer needs to do.

Nope....It's not a leak. The tires every time they are checked are well within pressure of one another. The first time the dealer put in air, they stated that the tires were below pressure by 4 lbs each tire. This led me to believe that my tire pressure guage "Might" be faulty.

I really think that the wheel sensors are multi-channel. There are no ABS codes present so this is where I assume that there is a second channel for the TPMS.

As to the reset button....I've held it the appropriate length of time suggested in the Owners Manual. The One Tech I did talk to stated that there is a DIFFERENT procedure of reset that is not in the Owner's Manual. This does not use the VCDS system. The system is supposed to "chime" when it is reset. Mine is NOT doing this when I try it.

I called the dealer and left a message this morning. I work Retail Management so my schedule is a little odd. Not sure when I can tell them I'll bring it in again. Should be sometime next week.

sounds like it's in their hands now, just don't take it back knowing "they just played around with it and it now works" get details something either needs to be recoded/programed or replaced.

740GLE said:

sounds like it's in their hands now, just don't take it back knowing "they just played around with it and it now works" get details something either needs to be recoded/programed or replaced.

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I didn't fall off the turnip truck this morning....LOL I just like giving any service folks the benefit of the doubt. I talked with two techs and they were knowledgable. As a Former Aircraft Mechanic and First Sergeant, I know when people are snowballing me. This time around I want to SEE the procedure, understand the procedure and make sure THEY understand it also.

I really feel that it's a loose connection or a faulty sensor.

warbird24 said:

Dorschel for now. The Service Writer I am working with has been VERY good. Talked with one tech named Shane on the second time through and he seemed very good.

I might just put the car up on my ramps and take a look at the sensors myself and see if I can find anything. If I were a betting man, I would say that either the TPMS reset switch is faulty or that my Passenger Front Sensor is bad.

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I also talked to shane one time I was in. He seems good. Said he browses tdi club also. I have 2011 golf without sensors. Awhile back around 4000 miles I had the light come one. I live out west of rochester in the country so I just pulled over and checked all 4 tires to find they were perfect. So I reset the light and was fine for a day then it came back reset came back reset and now I have 12000 and haven't seen it again. Idk what the hell its problem was. Tires never lost air and everytime it came on I was just cruising steady. Didn't even hit a bump. ??? Hope your issue goes away

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Well, Mine is STILL doing this. Back to the Dealership. I've got a loaner for the day or more.

They have broken down each tire and wheel and found nothing with the beads. Have done resets and checked all wiring, all okay. Their latest deal is filling with Nitrogen and trying that. I HIGHLY doubt that will do anything.

I really do believe that there are TWO channels in the ABS/Wheel Sensors and while ONE side is okay, most likely the ABS side due to no problems there, this second side is what is giving the problem. Two sets of tires, two sets of wheels....My Winter Set and then the Factory set and we have lights on both sets. All tires have been rotated and all tires have been gauged for depth and all are in normal parameters, which I could have told them because I did the same thing before I brought it to them.

All this TPMS hassles because a few idiots with Explorers rolled and flipped them because of improper tire pressures.......Argggg

Ever resolve this?

I am experiencing the exact same issue on 2012 SportWagen TDI (no TPMS sensors -- works off of ABS only). "Check tires!" warning upon start, TPMS light continuously on, and reset switch does nothing (no flashing TPMS light followed by chime to ack reset)... The dealer checked pressure and tried unsuccessfully to reset using button and VAG late Friday. It's at the dealership for the day today for further troubleshooting.

One of the off-duty techs mentioned to me on Saturday that they have seen several "TPMS modules" (behind glove box, connected to the reset switch) fail with the new "sensor-less" systems lately.

visortgw, So far after a few weeks, all seems well. They did fill the tires with Nitrogen, or so they said. Part of me thinks they turned the light off in the dash! LOL!
I do my weekly check and the tires have been spot on and no lights. Car has been handling well and tire wear is fine.

As far as I know looking over my documentation there have been no parts replaced.

warbird24 said:

visortgw, So far after a few weeks, all seems well. They did fill the tires with Nitrogen, or so they said. Part of me thinks they turned the light off in the dash! LOL!
I do my weekly check and the tires have been spot on and no lights. Car has been handling well and tire wear is fine.

As far as I know looking over my documentation there have been no parts replaced.

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Thanks for the update. For my car, the dealer determined that there were issues with the contacts between the TPMS reset switch and the harness behind the glove box -- this most likely was a result of the replacement of the glove box itself shortly after the delivery of the vehicle (misaligned hinges causing "screeching" noise). The tech straightened the contacts as much as possible, and he was able to reset the system. They have ordered a replacement switch which is scheduled to be installed on Thursday. In the interim, the light has come back on twice since late Monday with only minimal driving, but I was able to verify pressure and reset both times. After the second reset, I had a longer stretch of driving, and the light has not returned.

I'll have the tire light come on when I switch over to snow tires or all seasons and its usually because the pressure has dropped on the set that hasn't been on the car.

Each time I'll fill the tires to within a psi or so, turn the ignition key and hold down the TPMS button in the glove box until the chime goes off (usually a few seconds). So far, its been pretty reliable.

This spring the light did come back a couple times after putting on the all seasons, but it was operator error in filling the tires.

Long story short, the issue is now resolved.

Yesterday, the light came on again, and I checked all four tires -- the right rear tire was down. I filled it a bit above the other three, and I drove to the dealership. They found a screw embedded in the tire, most likely from the body shop last week. They plugged the tire, refilled, checked all tires, reset the TPMS system, and I'm finally good to go. The earlier issue with the reset switch unfortunately threw them for a loop.