Vehicle Tire Pressure Sensors

[ultrarunner]

With my luck analog no longer supported!

Moms Corolla has been a great car… only issue if one could even call it that is the TPS light now two times.

A battery, brake pads, fluid just normal wear items and it always passes smog testing!

 

[5030]

Glad my farm tractors don't have TPMS...lol

 

[LouNY]

There is not much in a TPMS service kit; two of the most common types below.
The activation scanner tools run from $10 up over $300. I haven't had to use mine since my wife got rid of her Chevy Equinox for a Jeep Comanche the newer Chrysler products learn automatically when tires are swapped or rotated. Which is every Fall and Spring for me, snow and summer swaps.

 

[ultrarunner]

It seems like a new profit center for tire dealers.

With $5 disposals fees pet tire are in addition to the state recycle fee collected... tire invoice reads like a cell phone bill with all the added charges and fees.

I've taken my old tires home for a free once a year pickup... saved $40 that year...

 

[ericm979]

The Toyota TPMS I'm familiar with look like this:

 

[SARG]

Reality
If you don't buy a new car each decade ..... the sensors have batteries which ... in my experience die in about ten years.
My solution on our two '07 vehicles ..... some black electricians tape for the TPMS light and I bought a Milwaukee M18 tire inflator for weekly checks.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

My truck always has the TPMS light on, with tires all inflated properly. I'm not wasting money to fix it.

 

[Jstpssng]

In NH if the TPMS light is on they won't give you an inspection sticker...

They aren't supposed to here if any warnings are lit up but if you drive a GM pickup you get used to the check engine light always being on. One coworker took his truck back repeatedly until they told him to just deal with it because they couldn't find the problem. Another was telling me that when he started the job and was issued a new truck the light came on before he got home... with about 60 miles on the truck. He took it back and had it "fixed" but that didn't last so he just drove it.

 

[Jstpssng]

My truck always has the TPMS light on, with tires all inflated properly. I'm not wasting money to fix it.

What kind of truck? That's one thing about GMs, you can "relearn" the tires after they are rotated or when a new sensor is put in.
It gives you something to do while you are waiting for the wrecker again...

 

[LouNY]

I find the TPMS systems very handy. When I get a vehicle that has them I compare the indication with my tire gauges.
So far all the vehicles have been within a pound or two of my gauges. Once I'm comfortable with the system I don't pick up a gauge for that vehicle again unless a tire looks soft but the display says it's good. I actually added a system to my Harley.
Also I have had very little trouble with them and I have two sets of tires and rims for my vehicles with sensors in all the wheels.
My Chevys I had to have a tool to learn the sensor to the wheel position so the read out was correct, which was a bit of a pain.

 

[ultrarunner]

The Toyota TPMS I'm familiar with look like this:

Yes metal stem.

OEM is the most expensive but doubt anyone other than dealer use OEM stems much on 10+ year old cars

 

[bigtiller]

You made me look and boy, did I get screwed.

I just bought new tires and sensors for the first time on my 2007 gmc pickup. They told me new sensors were priced between $100 & $200 each. They charged me $103.73 plus tax for each one.

GM sensor number 13540600 online from "gm parts online" is only $56.

 

[LouNY]

Just a tad bit of a markup

 

[5030]

Rock Auto is about 50% of that price.

 

[ultrarunner]

You made me look and boy, did I get screwed.

I just bought new tires and sensors for the first time on my 2007 gmc pickup. They told me new sensors were priced between $100 & $200 each. They charged me $103.73 plus tax for each one.

GM sensor number 13540600 online from "gm parts online" is only $56.

Sorry about that but it does seem more of what the market will bear.

Hope the new ones last a very long time.

I’ve never paid this much for Corolla Tires, service, etc.

Just decided to go with the flow as other things more pressing yet Monday will be my 4th visit in less than a week…

Lesson… paying top dollar is no guarantee…

Family often critical saying why do you have to do everything and my reply is it generally saves time, money and agrevation…

The compressor is locked on a sub-zero refrigerator so I call factory service and set up Friday $200 trip charge visit… I know… it came with the house and to replace is $12,000 for a 36” wide built in box.

Friday, sub-zero no show and I only learned of reschedule when I called…

They said we emailed the reschedule but that requires me to check email, set up a password account just to view the message…

Shop is 15 minutes from home but they use AI to efficiently schedule and route service calls.

Technology is suppose to save the world and bring tremendous efficiencies… my experience is maybe yes or maybe no…

At least my $49 college table top refrigerator is on the job.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

The 2011 Toyota Tire Pressure Sensor illuminated on the dash and sure enough I found a nail in the tread.

Took it back to Goodyear and agreed to buy 2 new tires and Pressure Sensor “Kits” plus their expensive mount and balance… I declined the $30 each tire road hazard.

Went to pick up and light still illuminated and was told to drive it 20 miles which I did and light still on… checked air pressure on all 5 tires and spot on so returned to Goodyear same day and they did a reset and drove home…

Next day driving and it came back on and called and told to bring it in and on my way.

Told I would have to leave it as they were real busy and they would try to get to it.

Well they didn’t and I picked it up.

Tempted to just check air pressure manually each Saturday and not waste anymore time after I learned they would have to charge me $80 each to replace if determined to defective.

My light been on last few years. Just stuck a business card in front of it.

 

[ultrarunner]

Know a lady that did that with oil… she thought it was time to take it in for oil change… the engine didn’t last long enough.

It went from blinking when she stopped to staying on…

 

[DK35vince]

Glad my farm tractors don't have TPMS...lol

I've never owned a vehicle that has it.

 

[5030]

Unfortunately I do and when the batteries poop out they have to be replaced to extinguish the light in the instrument cluster. They last about 8 years and then get wonky.

 

[Jstpssng]

Know a lady that did that with oil… she thought it was time to take it in for oil change… the engine didn’t last long enough.

It went from blinking when she stopped to staying on…

A steady light usually means that you need to get it looked at. When it's blinking that means stop immediately, although by the time that it comes on it's often too late. As I mentioned before when you drive GM products you get used to it being on. I ignored it once and found myself with a dead battery. Fortunately it was right in front of a hardware store and next to my bank; I was able to make a withdrawal and buy a new battery.