new tires but not installing until spring...tpms?

[snowshew]

Hello,
I am running studded tires on separate wheels until spring on a 2009 Elantra, with pretty basic TPMS sensors, i.e. no pressure numbers indicated on the dash, just a TPMS light when something is out of parameters, I suppose. I don't have sensors in my winter wheels and the summer (oem) wheels have the original sensors. I am wondering if it would be prudent to replace the sensors this winter when I have new tires installed on those wheels, but am wondering if the tire shop need the car to configure the sensors to the car's electronics. I would like to just have new rubber and sensors installed on the oem wheels and then put them on the car this spring when I swap over from winter tires. Tire shops are swamped in the spring/fall and I want to avoid that. Will I have trouble with new sensors if they are installed on loose wheels?

 

[Rand]

if its working why bother.. not like car self destructs if one dies. I'd save the $$$ for now unless you have a source for super cheap ones.

 

[atikovi]

That's kinda like buying a new car battery now and not installing it until May. Why use up 6 months of it's life without even using it.

 

[Tifosi]

1) TPMS are battery powered and with them being over 10+ years old, there is a good chance that the batteries may need to be replaced if not the actual TPMS. If the tire shop determines that you need new TPMS installed, you can just buy programmable TPMS and clone them from the OEM TPMS so they will not trigger the warning light on the dash.

2) TPMS will automatically become dormant when they are in storage/not in motion for X amount of time. Installing them early will have minimal effect on their life span.

 

[snowshew]

Thanks Tifosi,

Assuming I need reprogramming either after replacing batteries or the entire sensor, can that be done without the car present? As the tires/wheels are available to drop off I really want to avoid having to leave the car at a tire shop. Is it better to bring new sensors with me for the shop to install or buy theirs?

Appreciate it-

 

[Tifosi]

Thanks Tifosi,

Assuming I need reprogramming either after replacing batteries or the entire sensor, can that be done without the car present? As the tires/wheels are available to drop off I really want to avoid having to leave the car at a tire shop. Is it better to bring new sensors with me for the shop to install or buy theirs?

Appreciate it-

We will start from the basics about TPMS.

Each TPMS is programmed to emit a specific signal, and in this case, let's say the signals are A, B, C and D. The car's ECU has been programmed to recognize specifically those 4 (A, B, C, D) signals. Changing the TPMS battery does not alter the signal so in this case, no reprogramming is needed at all.

If the TPMS needs to be replaced, now you have two paths to take.

1) Buying 4 new non-programmable TPMS that emits E, F, G & H. In this case, the car is programmed to see only A, B, C & D so unless you reprogram the car's ECU to recognize E, F, G & H, the TPMS warning light will illuminate. Needless to say, the car will need to be present for the tire shop to reprogram the ECU. A catch to this situation is that in some cars, this can only be done by the car dealer and some will not hesitate to charge you a fee for the reprogramming of the ECU.

2) Buy 4 new/blank programmable TPMS and clone/program them to emit A, B, C & D like the original factory TPMS. In this case, the car's ECU does not need to be reprogrammed as it still sees frequency A, B, C & D and the warning light will not illuminate. In this situation, the car does not need to be present because the re-programming is done at the TPMS level and not the car's ECU. As to how this is done, it depends on the capability of the tire shop's TPMS programming unit and the brand of TPMS sensors they carry and sells. Generally speaking, the tire shop will need access to the original TPMS sensors to scan for their codes in order to program the new TPMS sensors. This is what I recommend you do because you can just drop your summer set off at the tire shop and pick them up at a later time.

 

[eljefino]

yes, yes, and yes.

Best thing would be to hit up the tire shop on a weekday when the weather forecast is nice, so their business is slow, and talk about what you want to do.

The batteries in your OE sensors are near death's door, and it's a tragic annoyance when they keep conking out one-by-one over a span of weeks or a couple months.

 

[snowshew]

Thank you both for the great info and advice- I'll take it. I see that the programmable sensors are quite a bit more expensive than the non-, so, the convenience of dropping just the set of wheels off will come with a price. Bridgestone has a rebate now that I would like to take advantage of; I might even put the summer wheels back on just for the drive to Costco. I don't know if it is wise to assume that all tire installation shops (e.g. Costco) is equipped/trained/supplied; I'll chat them up soon.

 

[eljefino]

When you visit any tire store or Costco, they'll tell you that their weird-brand sensors are the best ever made, the mechanic is an expert who used to do indy cars, and the best time to buy tires is today.

 

[Tifosi]

Thank you both for the great info and advice- I'll take it. I see that the programmable sensors are quite a bit more expensive than the non-, so, the convenience of dropping just the set of wheels off will come with a price. Bridgestone has a rebate now that I would like to take advantage of; I might even put the summer wheels back on just for the drive to Costco. I don't know if it is wise to assume that all tire installation shops (e.g. Costco) is equipped/trained/supplied; I'll chat them up soon.

TPMS is not a new thing and if the tire shop you go to is not up to date on TPMS, I would avoid the shop because they should not be in the tire business.

 

[snowshew]

Update and request for advice...

I installed my summer wheels with their new tires and generic (i.e. non OEM) TPMS sensors in April and went to the tire shop in May after changeover rush had passed. They used their scan tool and sent me on my way. The dash light "TPMS" did not go out. I came back a few weeks later and they tried it again/used a different scan tool and told me to go drive for 20 min above 30 mph for the light to go out. I did and it did not. Brought it back and they put it in the bay with their Snap On scanner and tried every bit of voodoo they could and sent me on my way...light still on. Then they told me that I needed to talk to Hyundai about it and I said, well, Hyundai will probably blame the sensors, to which they said "no problem, if we need to swap them for OEM we will, free and will refund the aftermarket/generic ones." I called our Hyundai dealer twice and explained the situation to different parts/service techs and they both said that 2009 (and similar) Elantras need OEM sensors or else they won't work. The dealership would not even try other brands for these cars. They gave me the part number for my VIN and I bought 4, brought them to the tire shop and they installed them, but could not get the light to go out. They told me to come get the car and that there was nothing else they could do...

I realize that this is a first-generation TPMS car, but holy cow, why is it so hard to make a basic electronic system work! I know that my Hyundai dealership wants $340 for an electronic diagnosis and I am reluctant to spend such a percentage of the car's value on turning an idiot light off, especially one for system that I don't even care if I have, I just want things working right.

I would appreciate any advice on this particular car, i.e. why so difficult to install new (OEM) sensors and make the dash light go out? I something else likely wrong with the ECU? I don't want to regret replacing 12+ year old sensors but at this point I wish I would have left them alone and dealt with the occasional sensor demise.

Thanks in advance-

 

[FowVay]

I don't know if I can offer anything that hasn't already been stated but you need to find some information out before you proceed. First, you need to know if the OEM Hyundai sensors were programmed to work with your make, model and year of car. They needed to be programmed so that your car's module will recognize them. Secondly, the programmed sensor data needs to be written to the cars body control module. I believe that Hyundai requires this be done via the OBD port connected directly to the TPMS tool. So before you do anything else you should verify that the tire shop can read the sensors with their tool (detect four distinct serial numbers) and that they've been able to connect their tool to the car via the OBD port and write the sensor data to the cars computer. If these steps aren't being done then the sensors won't be recognized.

My Autel tool doesn't say that there's anything special about the way Hyundai does their sensors so I can't imagine it being a difficult task. However, my tool does list three different OEM part numbers for the 2009 Elantra so I suppose it's possible to have a mismatch with something. My tool lists 52933-2G200, 52933-2L500 and 52933-2L700 for OEM part numbers. The first number is listed for Elantra and the second two numbers are listed for Elantra Touring. I don't personally know the difference in these vehicles so I can't speak further on that issue.

So have the shop see if they can read the sensor data with their scan tool and if they can ask if they can hook their tool to the vehicle via the OBD port and upload the data to the cars computer. They should also be able to read any trouble codes in the TPMS system once hooked to the cars computer.

Good Luck! I know how frustrating these things can be at times.