... my TPM warning light is really starting to **** me off. When I first drove the car after the new tires were installed, the warning light was on. I was told by the installer that this was normal and that, after driving 20 or 30 miles, the light would go off. Believe it or not, it did go off after the drive home and I was happy. For about 2 hours. The light stayed off for the next trip, but then was on again later that evening when I got in the car to drive home. By the time I got home, it was off again. I let the car sit all weekend and on Monday morning, the light was still off. I figured I was in the clear. I was once again happy. For about 2 days. The TPM light came back on and has stayed on ever since. The tire pressures are correct, so I assume one of two things:
1. One or more sensors were damaged by the shop during installation of the tires.
2. One or more sensors gave up the ghost due to battery age (since the car sat for 2 years before I bought it new).

My buddy is a Chrysler mechanic and I may ask him to take the car in and do whatever reset he can, but I am afraid that the guys that mounted the tires did something bad. One other thing to note is that soon after I bought the car, I curbed one of the wheels badly enough that I bought a replacement wheel. The place that remounted the OEM tire moved the TPMS from the damaged wheel to the replacement and the TPM light never once came on.

Does anyone else think that the TPM sensors should last more than 5 years or am I just unlucky?

 

Try adding an additional 5 psi more to the tires before assuming the sensors are either bad, damaged, or in need of a battery replacement.

If the light goes out with the additional air added, you might want to pick up another tire pressure gauge to see if your current gauge isn't accurate.

If it doesn't go out, take the car back to the shop, and have them inspect the sensors to see if they broke them.

BC.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the TPMS units have batteries in them? I think I also remember reading where they're supposed to have a life of 10 years....... just askin

 

Interesting, I just had new tires installed last week. Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TT in OEM sizes. No problem with TPMS after a few hundred miles. Did you use something other than OEM tire sizes? That may be your problem.

 

The wheel shop rechecked the tire pressures and made sure that they were slightly on the high side. I used OEM sizes. The odd thing is that once the TPM sensors initially started to work, they would only fail when I parked the car outside and the temperature dropped below 40 degrees F. As long as the tires were relatively warm, the sensors behaved. That's why I suspected weak batteries. The warning light has been on solid for a couple of weeks now. I may ask my Dodge mechanic buddy to take the car to work and see what he can determine from the diagnostic equipment there. From my conversations with the shop the day that they installed my tires leads me to believe that they are unwilling and unable to provide any assistance in rectifying my situation. Looks like I might have to contact TireRack and let them know that this installer has not been very helpful and that perhaps they should reconsider them as recommended installers.

 

My TPMS light does the exact same thing... And of course, the pressures are spot-on.

Light will stay on for a couple of days, disappear for a week, and come back on again. Each time it comes on, I check the pressure, with no change noted.

All four were recently rebuilt when I installed my new wheels, not even a month ago. So, I know it's not a battery issue.

 

Looks like it's time to break out the black electrical tape.

 

That's what fixed my light. I had a replacement sensor put in but Discount's TPMS software cant re-program the sensor, they promised future software upgrades will take care of it. After reading about the psi and temp problems it was time for a well placed piece of tape, no more issues. It would be different if it read back tire pressure but just on/off is not worth the hassle. I love my conti DWS's also.

 

I installed Conti Dws several weeks ago, can anyone give me tire pressure numbers for these tires

 

John, when you say rebuilt do you mean new batteries or they were installed using the kit that replaces the seal, valve and nut?
Others say rebuilt when they are installed with all new parts except the sensor unit itself.

 

Based on the invoice, it's a rebuild of the sensor using the OEM sending unit. However, with it being inside the tire, I have no way of verifying

 

Ummm....plate on driver's side door frame may provide a clue. Same as every other car sold in the U.S. for the past few decades.

36 PSI front and rear in the case of the SRT-6.

 

I want to get my hands on a discarded sensor and see if the battery can be changed like some Corvette sensors. Which are the only sensors that a search on the web turns up as being reusable, after the hassle of chipping out the old battery and soldering in a new one. How hard can it be?

 

my steering wheel hides the light from my view....another wasted product. Reminds me of people that drive to the mailbox. Use an air guage....

 

The light is a warning of really low air pressure in a tire and is not meant to be a replacement of regular checks of the tire pressures.
I agree the light is in a silly spot and it cost me a tire once.

 

FYI - The light went out again. Must have warmed up enough to make the flaky sensor happy again. Go figure.

 

Pardon me and I don't think you're dumb, but you know air expands in the heat (higher PSI) and condenses in the cold??

Try filling/checking your tire pressure early in the morning when it's cold and see what it's at, and fill them with cold air.. drive or wait about ~2 minutes (they do not reset/change immediately) and see if that fixes the problem...?

 

You beat me to it. I was about to post the same thing. Wait til a cold morning to measure your tire pressure with a tire pressure gauge you trust and fill them up that morning to the appropriate PSI or just overfill them slightly when it's warm out. I tend to keep my tires about 1-2 psi above what's suggested in the manual to account for those cold morning.

Then again, I didn't even bother installing the TPMS in my summer wheels and I've learned to just ignore the light.

 

[quote=nox1s]Pardon me and I don't think you're dumb, but you know air expands in the heat (higher PSI) and condenses in the cold??
quote]
Pardon me and I don't think you're dumb, but condenses is the wrong word. Contracts is the word.
Tire pressure changes approximately 1psi for every 10 degree F. change.
So if tire pressure is OK at 50 degree F the light should not come on until the temperature gets to 0 degrees F. approx.
But I think these sensors are not that consistent so the light just comes on when it gets cold and goes off when they warm up a little.
Fill the tires when they are cold and check them regularly. With the cost of tires being what they are we should look after them and gas usage goes up with under inflated tires.

 

[QUOTE=onehundred80]My TPMS works flawlessly besides not knowing which is the low tire!