So after countless hours of reading though many old TPMS threads I have decided to post another question. I hope this has not been answered as I am just getting sick of looking and was pretty darn frustrated to start. So here goes ...
Last Friday I took my 04 Limited to Discount Tire to have my winter tires, Bridgestone Blizzaks switched out, I have Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's for summer. I run the same rims all year round. After an uneventful 45 minutes of waiting my car is ready, as I start it I see the TPMS light does not go off, I assume it may just need to be driven on to reset it, I drive for 15 minutes and then restart the car, light still on. I return to the store and the Mechanic who changed out the tires say "oh that's normal just drive for a while and it will turn off." I immediately query as this is my fourth winter switchout and have never had a TPMS light illuminate.
Long story short, the store claims to have tested all the sensors and says they are fine, they also contacted Chrysler and claim that it is something wrong with "the computer."
So I was wondering has anyone else had a similar issue, or have any further knowledge on TPMS. Also does it sound feasible that the tire shop did not do the damage and that it is somehow my responsibility.
Thanks!

 

Anyone have any experience on this? Discount tire is waiting to hear back from Chrysler still ... or so they claim

 

Discount Tire more than likely has never worked on a Xfire other than yours. If all tires are inflated properly (32lb) then the TPMS light should not come on, if 2 or more tires are not inflated properly and add up to 25% psi loss the light will come on. Your Chrysler dealer may have to reset your BCM, they use a special magnetic tool to reset the TPMS. Now if your Chrysler dealer can not reset the TPMS, then maybe one or more of the units are damaged, and maybe by the Discount Tire tech.

 

Thanks. Your post made me wonder where everyone else has there tires mounted, I assumed Discount Tire would be reputable as it is a nationwide chain

 

My guess is the sensor is toast.

CAUTION: The pressure transmitter must be removed from the wheel and dropped into the tire prior to breaking the bead and dismounting the tire. Failure to do this will greatly increase the risk of damaging the pressure transducer when servicing the tire.

6. Remove the nut (1) mounting the valve stem (4) of the pressure sensor/transmitter to the wheel (2). Drop sensor/transmitter into the tire (3).

 

I have an 04 and have an intermittent problem with one or more sensors. I'm pretty sure the batteries in the sensors are about done. The light will be on for two or three weeks and then off for a few days. Started on the first cold day last September. Had it in for service a couple weeks ago and asked them to check it. Unfortunately after three weeks of the light being on it was off the day of service and "No Problem Found". It was back on two days later. No problem with pressure, I check regularly since this started happening, always within 1/2 PSI.

 

I have just read the shop manual on the TPMS and it occurred to me that as the sensors are programed in position. Is it possible that the two or more of the sensors were installed in the wrong wheel position, for example left on right and right on left? Each sensor has its own code and so the code read may lead to errors.
After rotating tires I think they need to be reprogrammed.

kurtisberry
Do you have OEM valve caps and are they free of corrosion?

 

That's very interesting, I am not sure if the sensors were replaced on the same corner. Would that reprogramming have to be done at a dealership? According to discount tire, our cars require 'special equipment' to reprogram our sensors.

Also my nice OEM caps were stolen long ago, I just have the cheap plastic ones on, and yes they are corrosion free.

 

The manual says that the OEM caps are part of the system that sends the signal. Thats what they say.

 

Wow this mystery just keeps getting deeper. I have not had OEM caps for years.

 

The caps have nothing to do with it. The magnet is a good start, but sometimes you have to go in through STAR/DAS and have the TPMS computer relearn each of the sensors.

 

As I said thats what they say, aluminum caps that are treated to prevent galvanic corrosion are recommended, not plastic, and definitely not steel. They are part of the antenna, that's what they say.
Tire stores should have the programing tool, as lots of new cars have this system. It would be a pain to have new tires fitted and then have to go to the stealership and have the program set. Schrader makes and sells the tool required and makes our sensors too, they select the code, do the magnet trick and presto the light should not come on.
You can fix it yourself for free with a bit of black tape.

 

Black tape is sounding appealing right now. But I emailed Discount Tire HQ, as I was dissatisfied with the stores handling of this. Hopefully they believe in the customer is always right motto. Also where is the best place to get the galvanized valve caps. I assume the stealership with be .... well ... expensive.

 

The caps are aluminum and probably anodized, not galvanized. There are after market aluminum caps.

 

From my understanding (as told to me by my Certified Tech) the caps DO NOT make a difference as far as the TPMS. I have always had chrome caps that came with my Foose wheels and the wheels were installed by the dealer. The only thing that had to be done was an extension kit that was added to each unit. Once my wheels were installed by the Certified Tech at the dealership they did not have to be recalibrated. There is a good chance that the tech at Discount Tire damaged them or installed them into the wrong wheels and now they are all off calibration. I would take the car to a Chrysler dealership and have a Certified Tech check them and recalibrate them, and there is a special magnetic tool that is used for calibration.

 

Have your tires refilled with nitrogen this will prevent the TPMS from coming on during drastic temperature drops. There are lot of thoughts for and against nitrogen, but I can tell you from experience that this will work for drastic temperature drops if nothing else. When I first purchased my Roadster Limited I lived in NY and this worked for me, and if my light did come on it was a 25% drop in psi.

 

I have the real tool, not the magnet and it wont reset the light. The tool just excites the sensors so the antenna in the car picks up each signal from each tpms sensor, the body unit registers each one by the serial numbers on the tpms units, only if the numbers are in the unit. it wont recognize a new sensor just by exciting the tpms sensors.

I had to have chrysler reprogram my onboard tpms unit since I had a sensor break. Just using the tool wont make the onboard computer recognize the sensor if its new. With gm cars you can put the car into tpms learn mode your self, but with out cars you cant. you need to have the das/scan tool to do it

 

Well here is an update. My wife took my car back into the discount tire location, after I had a conversation with the store manager. They now claim that the rear right tire has a 'new sensor,' they don't know who installed the sensor...which is very curious. But the good news is that I just need to take the car to a dealer and have it programmed to match the serial number. Any idea how much stealerships typically charge for this service? So as they mystery deepens I hope I am now getting closer to a solution. Thanks to everyone on here for the advice.

 

told you, lol.

It also doesnt matter which position the sensors are in, since the car doesnt have an individual tire pressure readout, its more or less an idiot light for when a tire gets low, you just have to guess which one.