TPMS light on after Discount Tire install

[slo town]

Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
My lease VW doesn't have sensors thankfully.

It has a sensor mechanism, they're just not in the wheels. A low tire pressure event is sensed via the speed sensors on the hubs. With the VW, you establish a proper condition by setting tires pressures properly, then you hit the rest button in the dash and drive it far enough to let it calibrate a baseline.

Personally, I like this system because it allows you to use non-spec tire pressures without throwing a TPMS warning.

As an experiment, I set the pressures on our Passat to 18psi (35psi is spec). I reset via the button in the dash, drove the car, and let the system calibrate itself. The TPMS light cleared even with 18psi in all four tires, which is exactly what I expected it to do.

So anyway, you have a TPMS system, just not sensors on the wheels.

Scott

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
So many tire dealers just don't seem to have a clue on this. TPMS is a waste in my mind my Corolla has gotten along with it for 15 plus years just fine.


Well apparently there were quiet a few people driving Ford Explores on under-inflated Firestone tires to make the technology mandatory.

 

[Rand]

I bought winter tires mounted and balanced from DTD.

The wheel weights all fell off in my driveway.
Removed from vehicle..

Took to DT, they wouldnt rebalance without tpms.
Paid for TPMS.
Got halfway home light still on..
drove for 2 days.. light still on

Noticed normal valve stems(these tpms sensors arent metal so its not that easy)
Took back to DT, they forgot to install the TPMS sensors--as in I had no sensors just valve stems.

They actually put tpms sensors in my wheels...

Fixed.


Took the 2013 outback in for new tires to DT.
had 1 bad sensor, paid for it..
light still on, (I guess they replaced the wrong one?)

took it back after 5 mile drive.. and they put another sensor in at no charge.

 

[davglt]

VW and Audi don't use TPMS sensors, they count wheel revolutions and detect low tire by that method, that is what is on my 2014 Audi

 

[Gebo]

I had to take my Lexus back to Lexus as my tire dealer could not reset the TPMS. He has a Lexus as well and he had to take his back to Lexus dealer.

 

[dblshock]

disable it.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted by FlyNavyP3
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite


My lease VW doesn't have sensors thankfully.



Yes it does, they've been federally mandated on every car sold since 2008.


I worked doing development (in my tech startup) for R.BOSCH for early application robust TPMS and attitude sensors.
I know what they are and where they are.

VAG uses indirect monitoring of wheel speed counts along with other inputs.

NO direct strain gauge measurement of internal tire pressure.

OP: There may be a Li button batt in there depending on OE.

Wet internal air is an enemy (common) but there has been lot of work to make the package hermetically and g-shock robust.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted by HoosierJeeper
I have 2 OEM sensors left in my 05 Liberty. TPMS still works perfect.



It's still nonsensical not to be proactive and replace 7 year old sensors. TPMS works perfectly-until it doesn't. If the OP replaced all 4-the odds are he would have been fine and would had no reason to start this thread in the first place. Which-BTW I am wondering why he didn't take the time to return the vehicle to Discount Tire-instead of posting here. Whose implied incompetency are we talking about? Discount tire-or the OP for not replacing the entire set of sensors?

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted by Gebo
I had to take my Lexus back to Lexus as my tire dealer could not reset the TPMS. He has a Lexus as well and he had to take his back to Lexus dealer.



So-he didn't have the proper reset tool and/or knowledge-or knew the procedure?

That's the bottom line-isn't it?

 

[LotI]

Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
So many tire dealers just don't seem to have a clue on this. TPMS is a waste in my mind my Corolla has gotten along with it for 15 plus years just fine.


Well apparently there were quiet a few people driving Ford Explores on under-inflated Firestone tires to make the technology mandatory.

You mean 26psi on the rear axle of a body-on-frame truck wasn't a good idea!? It rides so smooth, though, like my town car

When those made it to my shop for replacement tires (or flats) they were usually well under 20psi.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Then the springs sagged due to bad metallurgy and the shackles broke.

I put one moderate load in my base ranger and that was it for the rear springs.

Still a good truck other than the leafs out back. I still see a lot of F's around with bad rear sag.
______

I don't know how many times I yelled out to at some lady in a SUV at the traffic light queue that she had low or near-flat tires.

She Just kept on driving - onto the interstate!

 

[Sayjac]

Linked is the reset tool or very similar DT uses to reset TPMS.

https://www.discounttire.com/services/tpms-servicing

 

[JTK]

It's been some time since I've run into a TPMS problem, but I know the aftermarket TPMS sensors a local shop installed in our 2007 Honda Odyssey (around 2012) would not program properly with the equipment they had. They wound up pulling them back out and refunding my money.

 

[lancerplayer]

OP, here

Took the vehicle back to the DT location, explained the issue, they had it corrected in 15 minutes. Issue = they forgot to "unlock" the newly installed sensors which caused the vehicle to think it had low pressure.

 

[Sayjac]

I don't know what that the term "unlock" means as regards the tpms here. I suspect what it means is they didn't reset all the tpms at the four corners with the scanner/tpms tool as they should have before it left the store. In short, the counter dude on the initial visit didn't know what he was talking about. I've personally seen a DT manager remind a tech to do it and watched the procedure.

Thanks for the update.

 

[Patrick0525]

Originally Posted by Sayjac
I don't know what that the term "unlock" means as regards the tpms here. I suspect what it means is they didn't reset all the tpms at the four corners with the scanner/tpms tool as they should have before it left the store. In short, the counter dude on the initial visit didn't know what he was talking about. I've personally seen a DT manager remind a tech to do it and watched the procedure.

Thanks for the update.



I think TPMS unlock really means " ping and activate the sensors from sleep mode ". From the TPMS tool literature, it is usually done after programming sensors' IDs.

 

[Sayjac]

So delving deeper seems in this case the term unlock relates to the ECU (as linked) and may be an issue common to Toyota which the OP has. Suffice to say as noted the counter person was incorrect telling the OP the tpms would reset itself. Had the vehicle been scanned with the tpms reset scanner tool the need for unlock would/should have been caught before leaving the store. In this case that was obviously not done.

Toyota TPMS reset, ECU unlock.

 

[JTK]

Do tire shops have some type of database or pay service that gives them specific TPMS info per make/model/year vehicle? I know we've had some database screenshots posted here over the years.

Based on my dealings with shops/TPMS, is seems like they don't. They plug in what ever interfaces they have and go with it.

I've had them tell me wrong info with FCA sensors a few times. "Yes.. you need a re-learn for those." etc. etc. When you don't. All you need for later model FCA vehicles is the proper p/n sensor and the vehicle does the rest for you automatically.

 

[bdcardinal]

They absolutely do, especially a national chain. It just doesn't get used much. When I worked at Sears we had no access to that or any type of AllData or Mitchell On Demand. This was 2005-2007 so pre-TPMS, but still not having proper procedures for jobs made it even more difficult.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by JTK
Do tire shops have some type of database or pay service that gives them specific TPMS info per make/model/year vehicle? I know we've had some database screenshots posted here over the years.

Based on my dealings with shops/TPMS, is seems like they don't. They plug in what ever interfaces they have and go with it.

I'd say it's more related to they work on every common brand and model of automobile out there and can't possibly memorize the vehicle-specific methods each one may require and they simply misspoke.