EyeMaster

A situation I waited too long to test and fix. Going to the track this friday and my track wheels are on the car. The problem I have is that I can't get the TPMS sensors and the car to reset. Maybe the batteries in them are dead. They are a set of used rims/tires/tpms tires I bought.

What options do I have?

I was thinking of putting my street tires next to the car, relearn the TPMS sensors and see if that works, but I understand that there's a time limit until the AH and TC freak out.

Are the sensors serviceable? Maybe just changing the batteries in them?

PartSource has some Schrader 33000 sensors for 55$ each. Maybe I should buy those ones and get them on the car before Friday?

Help please!

mcandrew67

are you doing the learning process correctly?
Put vehicle in accessory mode. (just push bottom of start button down) Do not hold down until full accessory comes on)
Pull parking brake up
Hold lock and unlock buttons until horn beeps
start at front left, trigger sensor til horn beeps, then front right, rear right, rear left.
Horn will beep a few times once complete.

Bill Dearborn

Laying your street tires next to the car will get you some time on the track. An 08 will go for about a half hour before the car starts warning you. If you go for more than a half hour the system may automatically apply AH but it won't hit the brakes in a turn and slow you to 55 mph. If you are parked near your street tires make sure the car is happy and reading all 4 sensors. If it isn't reading one of them it will apply the front brakes at the first turn where you are attempting to go faster than 55 mph.

Best way to quickly solve your issue is to pull the steering sensor connector and that will disable AH. Just pull the close out panel from the bottom of the driver's side dash and you can see the connector right where the steering column comes through the dash.

You will still have to turn off TC but you won't have to worry about the 55 mph deal.

I just went through all of this a couple of weeks ago. On a long term basis a switch should be added to the sensor circuit so it can be easily disconnected but this will get you through the weekend.

Bill

EyeMaster

Yes. Does it matter what FOB I'm using? I'll try it with the #1. Parking break is always on when I park the car.
The scanner says scanning, but doesn't register all the time at every wheel. I only managed to get 2 wheels in. The others don't register. It sure feels like the batteries are dying. I tried again today and none wanted to register, but this was with FOB 2. I'll try again tonight with FOB1.

EyeMaster

Ugh, that's so much bother! I may try and buy those Schrader 33000 TPMS sensors tonight and see if I can get them installed and working. I'll test them before installing them to see the results. They better work.

Too bad it's expensive. They are adding too much complexities to our cars these days. I wish we could just disable the TPMS in the dash, like the AH and TC. I don't care if they enable it every time we start the car and we have to explicitely disable it, as long as we'd have the option.

Another case where the car thinks it knows best.

mcandrew67

Shouldn't matter what FOB you use.
I purchased a set of 4 on Ebay for $140 brand new.

cclive

I just think it is too unlikely that all four batteries are dead. There are many many 2005 cars on here still operating on original sensor batteries. Make sure you are doing the learn procedure correctly and also that the sensors in those wheels are actually compatible with your car. Bob BEZ06 knows more but I think that sensors from early cars are not compatible with late ones.

What year is your car and what year are the wheels and sensors from? This makes a big difference.

c6tech

Buy some pvc put 4 sensors through it pressurize to 30 psi and mount in trunk.that is what some track guys do.then you can run any tire pressure you want

mcandrew67

One other thing to check is to make sure the battery is strong on the tool you are using to trigger the sensors. Mine was weak and wouldn't trigger so I put a fresh battery in and it worked right away.

EyeMaster

I have the CUB tool from Tirerack, with rechargeable batteries (plug it in the wall). I think it won't learn anything new now... Like I said, it learned 2 of the 4 wheels. I just tried again and none of the wheels wanted to pick up. I'll try tonight with the stock wheels again and see if I can get those to learn.

Can you program a TPMS sensor when it's not installed? I'm thinking of picking up 4 new ones tonight, but I want to test in the store's parking lot to ensure the car will recognize them.

mcandrew67

Never tried, I don't see why not

BEZ06

You mention getting the Schrader 33000 sensors.

It used to be that when talking about getting a new set of sensors, many people talked about "programming the new set of sensors". But the sensors themselves were not programmed at all - rather the sensor's data, including each sensor's unique ID#, was what was programmed into the TPMS computer in the car.

However, recently the sensor manufacturers, including Schrader who makes the OE sensors for our Vettes, have come out with sensors that can be programmed.

The Schrader 33000 is one of those new programmable sensors. Instead of needing to have an inventory of a whole bunch of different sensors for a whole bunch of different vehicles, tire shops only need to have a supply of these programmable sensors.

These programmable sensors can be "cloned" to be an exact copy of most any of the sensors used on all the different vehicles that use them.

Different models of sensors transmit different data streams of info along with the pressure, and of course each sensor has its own unique ID# that is transmitted so the TPMS computer in the car knows what pressure corresponds to which sensor. The order that the sensors are programmed into the TPMS is how the TPMS knows which sensor is on which corner of the Vette.

The 2005-2009 Vettes use one model of sensor, and the 2010-2013 Vettes use a different model. I know that the sensors for the 2010-2013 transmit the temperature, and the 2005-2009 sensors do not. The temp is not displayed on the DIC, but the TPMS in a 2010-2013 recognizes the data stream that includes that info, and it will not recognize the data transmitted by a 2005-2009 sensor - so you must use the proper sensor for your model year car.

So, a 33000 sensor would need to be programmed to be an exact copy of your current sensor. The data from your current sensor needs to be captured so that the 33000 can be programmed to transmit the exact same data, and it must be programmed with the sensor ID# of your current sensor.

This requires that the battery in your current sensor cannot be totally dead - it must be strong enough so that the special tools required to capture the old sensor's data can receive the signal from the sensor so that the 33000 can be programmed as a clone of that sensor.

I have not done this procedure, but a couple of videos I've watched show that in order to capture the data from the old sensor it is put onto a pad that is connected to a computer, or it is put into the end of a specialized TPMS tool that reads the data and stores it in the unit. The videos I've watched require the old sensor to be removed from the car to capture its info, but there may be some tools that can do that while the old sensor is still in the wheel mounted on the car.

Once the unit has the old sensor's data, the 33000 is put onto the unit and the old sensor's data is programmed into the 33000.

Bottom line.....you can't just go to the parts store and buy Schrader 33000 sensors (or any other "clonable" sensor)and stick them in your wheels without programming them to be clones of some other sensors.

And....YES - you can program a sensor into the TPMS computer memory in your car without it being in a wheel. You can put your car into the learn mode and program in a sensor your holding in your hand.

Bob

HOXXOH

The Orange Electronics sensors don't need programmed if you're not using them as clones. They operate just like OEM sensors in that respect. If you do wish to clone them to match another set, they only need the serialized data from the originals transmitted to the new sensors. No physical connections are necessary.

IIRC I thought you said new sensors off the shelf don't initially activate the battery until the wheel rotates at some speed. If that's true, then wouldn't you have to do something, like spin it on a balancer, before you could transmit data to the car?

BEZ06

I'm only really familiar with the OE Schrader sensors.

If the aftermarket Orange Electronics sensor you're talking about is programable, but can be used also be used without programming it as a clone, then it would have to be already programmed for it to be compatible with some specific model OE sensor - I would assume the only thing that would need to be programmed into it would be some other sensor's ID# for it to be a clone of that sensor.

The OE sensors start transmitting as soon as they are manufactured.

When a sensor sits still for more than 15 minutes (in a parked car, or sitting on a shelf in the parts department) it goes into a sleep mode where it transmits once every hour.

When the sensor in a wheel on a car senses that the tire is rotating at about 20 mph the sensor wakes up and transmits once per minute.

A TPMS tool forces the sensor to transmit its data.

EyeMaster

Thanks for all the info! Very good to know and hard to come by.

I went to my favorite mechanics and they used a magnet O in combination with their TPMS tool to reset the sensors in the wheels. I had bought and brought the 33000 with me in case they needed them, but they didn't. Their procedure was the same as I was doing except I didn't have the magnet. The difference is that it worked for them and not me.

Maybe my Cub tool is deffective or needs the magnet to be more effective. I'll see if I can exchange it and give it another test. For now, I'm good for tomorrow!

Thanks

HOXXOH

From your description, the Shrader sensor sounds like it is universal and can be matched to any manufacturers TPMS, which is really the ultimate solution.

The Orange Electronics units still have to be matched to the system that the car uses, but they have the capability to have their specific ID changed. I don't know if the original ID is overwritten, or if the newly programmed ID becomes a default. I assume the former. They also make totally independent TPMS for cars/trucks that didn't have that feature as original equipment. I'd guess Shrader either has that available or will soon.

EyeMaster

Tire Rack, WOW! Almost bring a tear to my eyes, it's that amazing!

So the tool I bought was from TireRack. The tool is probably defective, since the sensors did get programed by another tool. I didn't have time to complain anywhere but what is in this thread. I get a call from TireRack (nice young lady), mentioning that they are sending me a new TPMS tool to replace this one. That's pre-emptive service right there! How can anyone ask for better service than that? It's impossible!

Really, this is amazing. Thank you TireRack!

Thanks!

BIGMAC

On my C5 I run drag radials on an extra set of OEM wheels with no TPMS. A push to the reset button on the DIC makes the periodic "Service Tire Pressure Monitor" message go away with no other issues. I am planning to purchase a C6 GS and do the same thing. Can this work on the C6, or do you need TPMS with no easy way to get around not having them?

BIGMAC