TPMS Scanner - Any which will tell you car brand for the sensor?

[mar48]

Hoping you all can give me some recommendations... have a small car parts company and I have a pile of old sensors that I'm not 100% what they are all for. I have an Autel-TS401 scanner that I loved, however there have been no SW updates for it since 2020 and you have to know what vehicle the sensor is for to test each sensor...

Are there any TPMS scanner tools out there that DO THE WORK for you - in the sense of scanning a sensor and it will tell you this works on a (for example) 2007-2013 Porsche Panamera?

I don't need the ability to program or reset sensors... solely the ability to read the sensor, tell me if it's working/battery life, and ideally the ability to tell me which car brand the sensor will work for.

IF not, I'll likely go buy a Autel TS-508WF... looks like those are a fairly decent deal right now and still getting SW support

 

[Kira]

How many sensors are in your pile?
Where'd you get them? If they're take-offs from jobs -with 1 known bad and 3 near death- they might not be worthy of your time.
Are you considering resurrecting oldies? .....or just culling your pile?

I wonder if there are TPMS sensor rebuilders, like ink cartridge refillers.

Are there "similarities of style" among these sensors?

 

[mar48]

How many sensors are in your pile?
Where'd you get them? If they're take-offs from jobs -with 1 known bad and 3 near death- they might not be worthy of your time.
Are you considering resurrecting oldies? .....or just culling your pile?

I wonder if there are TPMS sensor rebuilders, like ink cartridge refillers.

Are there "similarities of style" among these sensors?

Well I have ~50 sensors... I know I have some off a Nissan GTR, some off a Mazda RX7, some off a McLaren, some off a Cadillac CT4... problem is some are unmarked while others are marked. I'm just wondering if there is a tool that will help me identify them vs with the Autel tool you need to select the vehicle to test the sensor.

I buy/sell car wheels as a hobby, and the sensors are usually one of the last things I deal with selling unless they are OEM and newer. That's why I have so many 'collecting' in my storage..

If the answer is no, I'll just get a new Autel scanner since my current one only supports model years from 2020 and before.

 

[FowVay]

Sensor serial numbers are specific to vehicle year, make, and model and for a good reason. This keeps your vehicle from sensing the vehicle beside you at a stop light and it keeps some practical jokers from playing games in the grocery store parking lot by changing coding and firmware on a boring Saturday night. It's still a possibility but they'd need to know the make of sensor (OEM or universal) and have a tool that is compatible with that specific sensor.

If you wish to provide TPMS sensors with your wheels that you're selling to total strangers then the least expensive method would be to buy the Autel tool and a box of universal sensors. You can program the sensors for your customers specific application and if you program a sensor in error you can rewrite it and use it again and again.

ATEQ sells tools that can write OEM sensors but they are cost prohibitive for applications that don't do $1000/week in TPMS work.

 

[mar48]

With all due respect, I'm not sure you understand how TPMS sensors work... OEM sensors ARE NOT specific to one individual year/make/mode. Also, my question is not about the sensors themselves, it's about the scanners as I have experience with only one (Autel TS401).

Regarding sensors... on the countless OEM Porsche sensors I've had, they work across all models of the same generation (Macan, Panamera, 911, Cayman, Boxster, etc)... I'm not questioning how sensors work, what's the point of them or worried about selling them (as I've sold over 100 sets of used sensors without issues..).

Again my question comes down to the scanners, that's where I have limited experience.

 

[Vercingetorix]

I think your best bet is to try something akin to a Flipper Zero. I bet somebody has used it to read TPMS sensors. It at least should help nail down the frequency.

 

[CarDoc66]

I have a stash of used sensors. I usually will take my TPMS tool and select what vehicle I’m working on and see if it will read it.

 

[GrumpyCat]

I think your best bet is to try something akin to a Flipper Zero. I bet somebody has used it to read TPMS sensors. It at least should help nail down the frequency.

TPMS sensors operate on only 2 frequencies. Most are 315 MHz.

 

[dubber09]

IIRC my TS508 read sensor manufacturer and codes but don't recall if it read battery voltage when I was replacing one in Acura CSX. Sensor manufacturer was TRW.

 

[GrumpyCat]

I have a stash of used sensors. I usually will take my TPMS tool and select what vehicle I’m working on and see if it will read it.

I think the quick solution to the OP is to set his Autel to the vehicle a customer is buying wheels for, then scan his pile to see if a sensor responds. Then a bit of trial and error finding the sensor(s) responding.

 

[GrumpyCat]

IIRC my TS508 read sensor manufacturer and codes but don't recall if it read battery voltage when I was replacing one in Acura CSX. Sensor manufacturer was TRW.

The TS-508 reads battery status from some sensors, not others.

 

[Vercingetorix]

TPMS sensors operate on only 2 frequencies. Most are 315 MHz.

Well aware of that. Which frequency do you choose? The TPMS tool requires you to basically know the frequency ahead of time. And the year make and model, or it won’t read it. Thus the need for a generic reader.

 

[GrumpyCat]

Well aware of that. Which one do you choose? The TPMS tool requires you to basically know the frequency ahead of time. And the year make and model, or it won’t read it. Thus the need for a generic reader.

Only have to get the year and model approximately close. The same sensor works for, say, F-150 from 2015 to date. And for most Fords same years.

If the OP's buyer is getting wheels for a 2018 RAV4 then just set the scanner to that model and see what sensors he has which responds.

 

[Vercingetorix]

Only have to get the year and model approximately close. The same sensor works for, say, F-150 from 2015 to date. And for most Fords same years.

If the OP's buyer is getting wheels for a 2018 RAV4 then just set the scanner to that model and see what sensors he has which responds.

None of my VAG cars would ever read off each other. It just isn’t that simple for all cars.

 

[mar48]

I think the quick solution to the OP is to set his Autel to the vehicle a customer is buying wheels for, then scan his pile to see if a sensor responds. Then a bit of trial and error finding the sensor(s) responding.

Yeah no problem with this - I was just inquiring if there was a tpms tool out there that would do this work for you… scan a sensor and tell you which car they are set for, vs trial and error.

Basically the inquiry here was to make sure there isn’t before I just buy a new TS508WF

Sounds like there is no such thing as I’m asking which is totally fine - just making sure I don’t spend $200 on a replacement for my TS401 without seeing if there was a ”smarter” tool out there

 

[JTK]

I believe @GrumpyCat has the only solution that will work given this specific situation.

I learned a lot about this situation when I bought a full set of dual frequency Schrader brand sensors for a set of wheels for my 2022 Frontier. Out of the box, they're not set to the right frequency and none of the tire shops I tried have the right scanner to re-program them. I've been living with the ol horseshoe light as my bride calls it.

 

[eljefino]

If you find fcc ID numbers I believe there's a lookup for whose licensed to them. You can work from that. Otherwise i'd plug any numbers you find into eBay to cross reference.

 

[GrumpyCat]

I believe @GrumpyCat has the only solution that will work given this specific situation.

I learned a lot about this situation when I bought a full set of dual frequency Schrader brand sensors for a set of wheels for my 2022 Frontier. Out of the box, they're not set to the right frequency and none of the tire shops I tried have the right scanner to re-program them. I've been living with the ol horseshoe light as my bride calls it.

Is not just the frequency. The cloning Schrader (and Autel MX) require a special scan tool to set the protocol, ESN, and frequency.