TPMS "issues"

[Jistari]

Well the possibility exists that TPS is of some value on a car with runflats as OE You may check your pressure often but if you got a flat on a highway trip, might be better to have as much advanced warning of the condition (prior to the next hard turn ).
I've never driven the car with a flat, so I dont know, think you'ld know if you lost pressure in a rear runflat tire while going straight ahead at highway speed ?

 

[Red Vette]

Hello from a new member!!

I've been having some issues with my '01's tire pressure monitoring system lately, and I'm looking for some advice. I bought the car new, in June of 2001. The following spring, I put a set of CCW street classic wheels on the car. Mistake #1 was going to a GoodYear store to have the swap-over done.


They managed to put a couple of small mars in one of the wheels, but the biggest problem was that they knocked loose one of the "banded" sensors. I found this out, after I took the wheels to another shop for a re-balance, as GY didn't do this too well either. The tech at the second shop heard the sensor flopping around inside the RF tire and reattached it. I was good for a couple of years after that.

More recently, I was getting error codes from the RF pressure sensor. 99.9% of the time, it was while on my way to work, and roughly in the same place. I could reset the codes, and I'd be OK for a couple of days, but then if I drove the car to work again, more than lkely, I'd get the "service tire monitor" message on the DIC, and it would be the RF tire.

I recently got tired of dealing with this deal, so assumng that the sensor was probably damaged when it got knocked loose, I replaced it, and did the other side as well, just for good measure. After doing this, I did the "relearn" process for the sensors, and was good for a few days. Then I once again lost the RF reading, and once again, while on the way to work. Then, I couldn't get it to reset, and then, I couldn't get it to do the "relearn" at all, as the receiver wouldn't acknowledge the RF sensor.

At that point, I felt that it must be the receiver, so I eplaced that. Again, I was good for a while, but when I drove it to work, I got the Rf error. has anyone else experienced this? Any other ideas on what might be causing this?

Thanks in advance!

Read your posts about the TPMS problems. Since you have a C5 and have modified your TPMS to fit your wheels, your problem could come from at least two sources. First, the TPMS uses the Direct Method for monitoring pressure. In the C5s, the sensor/transponder is mounted in the end of the valve stem. Stem mounted sensors use the valve stem as the antenna, and GM advises that you cannot replace the standard valve caps with anything else other than the ones that come with the sensor/transponder. When you cut the stem to fit the wheel, you may have disabled (or partially disabled) the antenna system. If so, then you could very easily get an intermittent signal transmitted from the transponder and thus the error message. When the reset button is pushed, the control module probably relearns the position of all 4 transponders (each wheel). Later, the transponder sends a signal, but the antenna does not transmit it, so you have the same problem again. The second possiblity is that the C5 transmitter uses a long life lithium battery for power, unlike the C4s which use piezoelectric devices to generate the power and thus no battery is ever needed. The lithium battery usually lasts between 5 to 10 years. The battery cannot be replaced, so the sensor/transponder must be replaced as a unit. If the battery has "died", it is probably a good idea to replace all of the TPMS transponders.

Each transponder is coded to a particular wheel. The pressure sensor only operates at speeds above 20 mph, and only transmitts once per hour when the vehicle is parked to extend the life of the battery. One must drive over 20 mph for seven to 10 miles before the TPMS system will trigger a message to the DIC.

One more item to look at, if the tire pressure drops below the set target (24 psi)or rises above 39 psi, it will trigger a message displayed on the DIC. You should check your tire pressures.

If you replace the TPMS, make sure get the ones that match your model year. The GM part number should be on each sensor/transponder.

Hope this helps.

 

[leadfoot4]

Red Vette, thanks for the information. I think, however that I fixed the problem. Although somewhat of a drastic solution, I regretfully took off the CCW wheels, and replaced them with another wheel that will accept the TPMS sensor in an "unmodified" state.

I just put the new wheels, along with a new set of Michelin ZPs, on the car this past wekend. I've driven it around a bit, including to work today, where the RF sensor usually "tripped out", and so far everything is good. Here's hoping......