Got the two Bartecs I ordered yesterday and tried them this morning. Because they don't have a display like the vt30, I had to figure out how to use the car to confirm that the car was reading the sensors.
My experiment consisted of taking one of the Suzuki sensors that I have as well as the vt30 and both Bartec tools and trying to see if the car 'reads' the id when the sensor is triggered. My experience is as follows.
I used the factory non-tool method to get the car in relearn mode. This is ultra simple and can be done right from the driver's seat:
- Have the fob in your pocket
- Open the car and sit in the drivers seat. Close the door. Make sure all doors are closed.
- Push the start button twice to get it to acc mode. Keep your foot off the brake or you'll start the car.
- Within 5 seconds of seeing ACC on the dash, open the driver's side door and reach to your left to find the driver's side door plunger switch. Press it and hold for 2 seonds. I've found using the dome light as a good indicator as to when the switch was depressed.
- Release after pressing for 2 seconds, and then do it again for 2 seconds.
- Release after pressing for 2 seconds, and then do it again for 4 seconds.
- When you release it this time, you'll see the tpms light start to flash slowly (about once a second). If not, start at the begining after turning the car off.
Once I had the car in tpms learn mode, I had the sensor with me in my lap along with the vt30 and triggered the sensor.
When the sensor is triggered and the car recognizes it, the tpms light will flash rapidly with the number of sensors remaining to learn. This is information I didn't find in any other documentation on the car, including the service manual. So after learning the first sensor ID, it will flash a series of 3 flashes, and then repeat. It will do this until you register a second sensor, at which point, the number of flashes will be 2 and then repeat. It does this until it will be flashing just one rapid light for the one remaining sensor. According to the service manual, the tpms sensor will light up solid for 5 seconds when it is fully programmed. I didn't go this far since I didn't want to lose the current sensor IDs of the tires on the car.
Once I understood what the lights meant, I tried the other two tools from Bartec. Neither one of them worked. Both tools indicated they couldn't find a sensor.
I'll give Bartec a call on Monday to see if there's anything I missed, but from my testing so far, only the vt30 is a <$250 tool that can trigger the Kizashi sensors.
