CrossfireForum - The Chrysler Crossfire and SRT6 Resource

Quote:

Originally Posted by pizzaguy (Post 941438)

Clint, Crossfire owner and former team member on an engineering team that dealt with airbag, seat belt and TPMS systems on the Crossfire and other products offers this:

The big trick is getting a Crossfire to "relearn" new sensor IDs when batteries in the old sensors die. Seems many are lasting 10 years or so, but now that is catching even the newest Crossfire cars. The sensors themselves are not all that special, the same ones were used in Chrysler minivans, in Vipers, and a few other cars. Sensors from Mopar (made by Schrader) will work, direct from Schrader, and I expect many other aftermarket sensors will work - IF you get the car to recognize them.

That is where many tire shops and even Chrysler dealerships will mess up. Most Chrysler cars after Crossfire build time have systems in the car which will automatically recognize that new wheel pressure sensors have been installed, and learn the IDs of the new sensors - just by driving the car for a few minutes (to get the sensors broadcasting their radio signals). Crossfire cars do NOT have the additional antennas, etc. to do this. But lazy or hurried or uniformed techs will assume a Chrysler Crossfire will just learn new sensor IDs without them doing anything but physically installing the sensors in the wheel.

OTHER trick is getting the car into sensor "relearn" mode. This requires the DRB III dealership diagnostic computer tool -- which was obsolete after 2007 for Chrysler dealerships. And to work with Crossfires (or Sprinter vans) needed an additional Multiplexer cable, and Crossfire software card. Which some dealerships never bought, or if bought in 2004, have been lost since. BUT: several indicators say that current Chrysler dealership diagnostic equipment SHOULD have a DRB III Enhanced Emulator function available! So if you can find a Chrysler dealership game to learn something new about their equipment, they CAN do the TPMS sensor relearn on a Crossfire!

EASIER CHEAPER WAY: Find a tire store which can and will CLONE the old working sensor IDs into new sensors. This is by far the fastest easiest, one-stop approach. As long as they can read the old sensor IDs, new sensors can be set to use the same IDs, So no car-side "relearn" necessary!

Good commentary on TPMS wheel sensors & the issues surrounding getting the car to "learn" the new wheel sensors. I had wheel sensors on the DS go bad on both wheels last year. Had them replaced at a Discount Tire shop locally (I supplied the new wheel sensors), but shop could not complete the Learning process. So the dash light was still lit. I ended up getting the DRB3 Emulator software, bought an inexpensive laptop off eBay to load the software, and bought an Autel TPMS scan tool. After getting everything setup, along with some Forum help from those that had executed this DIY repair, it was a 5 minute process to go around the car, scan the wheel sensors while the DRB3 Emulator software was connected to the OBD2 port, & load the wheel sensor data into the TPMS module. My investment - somewhere around $400, but I'm setup to deal with wheel sensor replacements going forward.

Pretty sure the PT Cruiser used this same technology (DBR3) and I've got a few neighbors that still own these cars.