Tire Pressure Sensors gone bad...

[Loren]

I put steel wheels and snows on my subaru and a piece of black electrical tape over the sensor light. I use a tire gauge and a calibrated eyeball (50+ years of checking tires). Seems to work just fine.
Loren

[Redneck Teepee]

My light has been on in my van for 2 years. I'm not fixing it. I have driven for 40 years before getting a vehicle with a low pressure warning light. I plan on making is till my kid takes my keys away before worrying about it. But that's just me....

I'm with you Woodbutcher, yes my truck and the wife's car has those sensor's....but I've been checking my air pressure for almost 50 years now and will continue to check it before each trip....just me.

[jstrubberg]

A tire pressure gage runs about ten bucks.

[Rolly]

Something I just learned about Tire Pressure Monitoring Sensors. When they are installed there is a torque spec. Over torquing them can lead to early failure. Different manufactures have different torque specs.

Gary

[Catherine+twins]

When ever I get new tires I get hit $40 each for new sensors. My dear step-dad, too. Are we getting scammed by these guys telling us they have to be replaced every time we buy new tires? Never occurred to me to argue.

At the same time, I had one not sealing from day one (bought some fix-a-flat, gunked it up good, it's fine--hey, the local garage guy told me to), and another go bad within two months of buying new tires. Every cold morning (hey, winter???) it shows low pressure (not). Just as well we only had winter for two weeks this year.

Catherine

[tony.latham]

Are we getting scammed by these guys telling us they have to be replaced every time we buy new tires?

Yes, you are. I think I've put three sets of tires on my Tacoma since purchasing it in 2007. Les Schwaab has never put new sensors in.

T

[Padilen]

When ever I get new tires I get hit $40 each for new sensors. My dear step-dad, too. Are we getting scammed by these guys telling us they have to be replaced every time we buy new tires? Never occurred to me to argue.

At the same time, I had one not sealing from day one (bought some fix-a-flat, gunked it up good, it's fine--hey, the local garage guy told me to), and another go bad within two months of buying new tires. Every cold morning (hey, winter???) it shows low pressure (not). Just as well we only had winter for two weeks this year.

Catherine

Maybe they don't know how to change a tire without breaking them. But most vehicles you do not have to change them when changing tires.
I live in Michigan we had -30 temps non of my friends had issues. I don't have TPMS in my winter tires, so I didn't either!
I'm sure the cold does cause temp changes , but I never had one go bad.
Also some are "rebuild able" they use an o ring/rubber seal and can be removed from a rim and installed with a new ring on a different rim. But the hole area in a lot of aftermarket rims will not seat the o-ring. This might just be for 4x4 off road style rims.
I might have mentioned- Not Im not a fan! Needless expense.

[MtnDon]

Tony, we have an '06 Tacoma. Last winter the sensor system began to give false low pressure warnings when the temperature fell to below freezing. That was an early signal that at least one battery was failing.

Padilen, I believe all the TPMS sensors are rebuildable, but that is only as far as the air seal between the unit and the rim. None of them have user changeable batteries as far as I know.



TPMS is a nice feature when great numbers of the population check their tire pressures as often as they check their motor oil; which is just about never. Low pressure can be hazardous not only to the driver of that vehicle but can be hazard to everyone else as well. In that respect I'm all for them.

[tony.latham]

Tony, we have an '06 Tacoma. Last winter the sensor system began to give false low pressure warnings when the temperature fell to below freezing. That was an early signal that at least one battery was failing.

Don:

Yep, next winter I expect to see them go under.

T

[Padilen]

MtnDon,
Yes that's what I meant- they can be placed in different rims. But many are being told they have to buy new as the previous poster. A friend just had some installed that are "2" piece. Claim is valve stem can be changed without breaking bead. That will save some money.
And I agree about the never's but they just ignore the light or have a back yard mechanic replace with a plan valve stem. The ones that can afford vehicle maintenance use as a reminder, when their vehicle needs to get serviced
I'm against legislation when it should be common sense. Seriously people need a law to tell them not to text and drive?

[MtnDon]

MtnDon,

I'm against legislation when it should be common sense. Seriously people need a law to tell them not to text and drive?

I agree wholeheartedly with a BUT. The BUT being that we seem to have an overly large proportion of people who act stupid. However, I won't carry on with that rant.

I also like the TPMS for the early warning I might get if I get a slow leak on a long drive or between the times I manually check pressures. That has happened; usually I can tell by feel, but the TPMS kicked in earlier than my seat of pants on one occasion. I can afford to spend the money to replace them. If people can not afford to replace them they can use regular stems. Unless they live in a handful of states (WV, VT, HI, some others I think) where the TPMS light being on will provoke a fail on the vehicle inspection. I don't even like handsfree phones; while driving I let it roll to voicemail.

[wagondude]

When ever I get new tires I get hit $40 each for new sensors. My dear step-dad, too. Are we getting scammed by these guys telling us they have to be replaced every time we buy new tires? Never occurred to me to argue.
Catherine

Maybe. How often are you changing tires? My 2010 has less than 60k miles on the factory tires. I will get new tires this coming fall. Due to the age of the sensors, I will plan on replacing the sensors. My next set of tires will not last as long as I have taken over as primary driver and put a lot more miles on. I will probably get two sets of tires out of the new sensors, if I keep the car that long.

[Lesbest]

Since the TPMS system is federally mandated, any removal or modification is against the law. The early Corvette system had location specific sensors. A used wheel with a LF sensor on the RF would make the module go crazy---2 LF sensors and no RF sensor, you had to look for the problem. The new cars have smarter sensors that are programmable, after they are installed , the tech goes from wheel to wheel in a prescribed order to teach the sensor where they are. Since cars only have 4 wheels, and a spare the module will only read 5 inputs and a trailer wheel would be too far away for the module to read it. A tech walking thru the lot with the reader/programmer in his hand can by turning it on and going thru the wake-up sequence change the sensor on a car he is walking passed by accident. Don't know it happened till owner comes back with a stupid sensor (light on) and it reprograms ok.

The sensors are not universal, they can be car specific, wheel specific, and year specific. PA. has an inspection yearly to get your plate sticker and the light has to be off to start the inspection, thus you have to maintain the system.

Fix-a-flat will kill a TPMS sensor, if you have a slow leak get the tire fixed. If you used fix-a-flat the chemical in the slop gets in the hole in the tire and stops the leak, but the chemicals are not compatible with the glue for patching, so that means you ruined the tire too, because you can't patch it.

Look at the box or bag the sensor comes in, it's dated, New Old Stock, or NOS is not good for TPMS sensors, 6 years old when installed won't give you 5 years use. So watch buying online auctions.

You can thank the legislators for these added items, the manufacturers HAD to add them, helped along by the Ford Explorer debacle, from a few years ago.

Hope this helps,
Les

[Redneck Teepee]

Since the TPMS system is federally mandated, any removal or modification is against the law. The early Corvette system had location specific sensors. A used wheel with a LF sensor on the RF would make the module go crazy---2 LF sensors and no RF sensor, you had to look for the problem. The new cars have smarter sensors that are programmable, after they are installed , the tech goes from wheel to wheel in a prescribed order to teach the sensor where they are. Since cars only have 4 wheels, and a spare the module will only read 5 inputs and a trailer wheel would be too far away for the module to read it. A tech walking thru the lot with the reader/programmer in his hand can by turning it on and going thru the wake-up sequence change the sensor on a car he is walking passed by accident. Don't know it happened till owner comes back with a stupid sensor (light on) and it reprograms ok.

The sensors are not universal, they can be car specific, wheel specific, and year specific. PA. has an inspection yearly to get your plate sticker and the light has to be off to start the inspection, thus you have to maintain the system.

Fix-a-flat will kill a TPMS sensor, if you have a slow leak get the tire fixed. If you used fix-a-flat the chemical in the slop gets in the hole in the tire and stops the leak, but the chemicals are not compatible with the glue for patching, so that means you ruined the tire too, because you can't patch it.




Look at the box or bag the sensor comes in, it's dated, New Old Stock, or NOS is not good for TPMS sensors, 6 years old when installed won't give you 5 years use. So watch buying online auctions.

You can thank the legislators for these added items, the manufacturers HAD to add them, helped along by the Ford Explorer debacle, from a few years ago.

Hope this helps,
Les

100% correct information

Even though I have 2 vehicles with the sensors I still before a long trip check tire pressure for peace of mind. Just me

[Padilen]

Since the TPMS system is federally mandated, any removal or modification is against the law. The early Corvette system had location specific sensors. A used wheel with a LF sensor on the RF would make the module go crazy---2 LF sensors and no RF sensor, you had to look for the problem. The new cars have smarter sensors that are programmable, after they are installed , the tech goes from wheel to wheel in a prescribed order to teach the sensor where they are. Since cars only have 4 wheels, and a spare the module will only read 5 inputs and a trailer wheel would be too far away for the module to read it. A tech walking thru the lot with the reader/programmer in his hand can by turning it on and going thru the wake-up sequence change the sensor on a car he is walking passed by accident. Don't know it happened till owner comes back with a stupid sensor (light on) and it reprograms ok.

The sensors are not universal, they can be car specific, wheel specific, and year specific. PA. has an inspection yearly to get your plate sticker and the light has to be off to start the inspection, thus you have to maintain the system.

Fix-a-flat will kill a TPMS sensor, if you have a slow leak get the tire fixed. If you used fix-a-flat the chemical in the slop gets in the hole in the tire and stops the leak, but the chemicals are not compatible with the glue for patching, so that means you ruined the tire too, because you can't patch it.

Look at the box or bag the sensor comes in, it's dated, New Old Stock, or NOS is not good for TPMS sensors, 6 years old when installed won't give you 5 years use. So watch buying online auctions.

You can thank the legislators for these added items, the manufacturers HAD to add them, helped along by the Ford Explorer debacle, from a few years ago.

Hope this helps,
Les

I believe it was more owners not Ford or Firestone, Aluminum rims.