I have a 1992 ZR1 that I recently had the tires replaced and they must have screwed up a tire pressure sensor. I don't know which one. I am not even sure how to figure out which one it is. I remember reading somewhere that there is a method to do this. I also read that they are hard to replace (if you can find a replacement) because they are factory crimped around the wheel.
1) How can one determine which is the bad senor?
2) Can they be replaced with the correct colored unit?
3) Is there a way to get the warning light to go away without removing the dash?

Thanks!

 

Yes you can determine which sensor is bad but only if they put the correct sensor in the correct position. You can determine which sensor is bad by using the procedure in the service manual but that may not help, if for example the wheel with the right rear sensor was put in the front left of car you will not be able to tell where the actual problem is on the car. Which means removing the tires from the wheel until the correct color is found.
They are not crimped to the wheel they are held on by sort of a large hose clamp. They can be found, they are expensive, and the tire store should pay for it. Discount tire out here did when they damaged one of mine. Most likely the installer damaged it when removing the tire. My wheels still have the decal that reads “ break bead here” on them and they still screwed it up. It is easy to crack/destroy the plastic housing and then they just throw it away and hope you do not complain.
Go back immediately and let them know they screwed up. Figure $200 to $350 if you can find one.

 

I should although it did not show up right away. The front and rear tires are different sizes so the problem would be front or rear. I had a problem with one on my 96. Could not get the wheel to balance and the tire shop said the strap had become lose and the sensor was spinning around cause the imbalance. They cut the strap and gave me the sensor so I have a light on on that car too. I would be happy with just figuring out a way to turn that damn light off.

 

Unfortunately I have never heard of a way to turn the light off. I have heard of people putting a small piece of tape over the light or removing the bulb as a fix. I just ignore it when I have a non stock set of wheels on my car. I have never taken the time to go over the wiring schematic to figure out if the receiver can be disconnected in some way.

 

I figure that light has to be controlled by something....

 

KJL, see if this helps in identifying which sensor is bad ...
https://tech.corvettecentral.com/201...oring-systems/

 

I wonder if they may have just swapped my rear or front wheels? They can't go front to back as they are different sizes. That link you sent talks about codes. I never received a code for this. The light is just on and turns on after about 5 minutes driving. I guess I can try swapping the tires from side to side to see if that does anything. The tires are directional but should be OK for a quick check.

 

The light will light up due to a sensor not transmitting, not due to the position of the wheel on the car. Once you have driven the car approximately 1/4 mile the sensors will generate enough power to begin transmitting and the light should go off.

The codes only show up when you when you follow the test procedures in the service manual, not during operation of the vehicle.

I do think a sensor was damaged during the tire installation.

 

KJL, follow the procedure to pull the codes and see which one is set.

 

I am pretty sure no codes are set for that. I have another code I am chasing down so I have been pulling codes from the dash.

I had to remove a sensor from my 1996 C4 because the strap loosened up. They had to cut the strap to get the sensor off. I have the sensor and it is OK. Can I use a sensors from a 96 on a 92? Is there something else I can use to attach the sensor to the wheel like a huge hose clamp or metal zip tie......epoxy? I have a light on also on my 96 because one of its sensors sits on my work bench. I have all aftermarket wheels on my 95 ZR1 and have no codes...… how did they do that? Was that way when I purchased.

It just occurred to me that I have the complete set of tires from my 95. Perhaps I can pirate the sensors from that set and get them working on my 92 and 96. Back to my other question....how to remove and reinstall? What should the tire guy do to not damage the sensors again? I guess on the saw blade wheels it is obvious if the wheels are installed on he wrong side. The 95 and 96 have the grey spoke style where it is not obvious. do these wheels have some sort of marking indicating side or rotation direction?

 

I have a service manual and will take a look. But, based on this if one of my sensors is not transmitting and I swap the wheels from side to side on both the from and back, I the wheel that does not throw a code should be the one with the bad sensor.

 

IIRC, 89-92 are different from 93-96. Someone can chime in here and correct me if I'm wrong.

I would think that a _good_ tire shop should have replacement bands for the sensors. I also think a _good_ tire shop should be able to dismount a tire without cracking the sensor. The wheels originally had a label on them indicating the placement of the sensor. Perhaps someone has an image for reference.

 

I found that Dornman sells a universal TPMS band for 15 to 24" wheels. part # 974-040. One of my tires still has a label and it indicates breaking the bead at 90 degrees clock wise from the valve stem which is in line with what I just read regarding the sensor location is 180 degrees from the valve stem.

Is there a way to tell from the sensor part # what year it was made for?

 

Here are photos of both the label on the wheel and the codes as listed in the service manual. Early sensors are not interchangeable with the later (93-96) sensors.

The band is essentially a large hose clamp but with a lead weight attached to it that offsets the weight of the sensor so the wheel can be balanced. I am surprised that someone had to cut one off since they usually will just unscrew like a large hose clamp. This allows you to remove them if you are changing wheels. This is what most likely happened to the non stock wheels mentioned in this thread.

I always supervise the person changing tires on a wheel with the sensors and keep reminding them the cost of a replacement if one can be found.

Also never discard any component from these sensors. Wheel bands go for $50 to $100, sensors $125 to $350 each, the weight $25 to $50 so keep them. Sensor housings are what is normally damaged by tire removal. The plastic housing where it is attached to the band is broken free and usually not repairable. However the internal components have value and the housIng may be repairable with some of the new plastic repair products on the market.

 

I think the Dornman band goes for 20 bucks. If I can find a higher quality or OE band for my 96, I will.

so I did a test today to see if my removed sensor from the 96 was still ok. I drove the car until the LPWS light came on then I turned on my electric shaver which I had the sensor strapped too. The LPWS light went off and the flat tire light came on. So I will get a strap for it. Interesting even though the iights were on, the trouble code count on my OBII scan tool remained at zero. I am going to use a jumper and dash method and see if that works. Jumper method worked fine on the 96. It showed I had issues with 3 out of the 4 sensors. It is likely these could be very old codes so I cleared them and then tried to generate the code for the missing green sensor. Oddly enough I could not generate it. Drove for 20 minutes....no code. So the mystery continues regarding the 96. I checked the codes on the 92 and found only a single code 99 which either means all 4 sensors were damaged when they changed the tires or I have a faulty LPWS receiver which even if I find one, looks like a real PITA to replace behind the dash. Code 99 will only be generate after 3 consecutive 30 minute periods where no signals are received from the sensors. So this code takes awhile to generate which explains why it took awhile to show up after I got the wheels replaced. I still find it hard to believe the tire place actually damaged all 4 sensors. I dropped the tire pressure in one wheel down to 15 psi and drove it....got nothing. Short of removing all the wheels to check to see if the sensors are even there, I really don't know what to do next.

 

Not that anyone is following this thread but I discovered when I had the local tire place correct their screw up regarding wheel orientation on my 92 ZR1, that all of the LTPWS sensors were missing from my wheels. Hence the code 99. My guess is they have damaged them all when initially replacing my tires an just removed them and threw them away. I spoke with the manager and he said that there is no proof that happened but could also see my side of the story and said he could comp me some services. Thanks but no thanks.

To be honest, that sensor design and placement relative to the outside of the wheel is ridiculously stupid. I watched them remove and replace the wheels. Even with me watching and them being careful, I don't see how it is possible to removed the tire without hitting the sensor with the equipment. If GM had figured a way to mount the sensor closer to the center of the wheel there would not have been a problem at all. because of the wheel design, the only "flat' area to mount the band is only inches away from the front outside edge of the wheel. This was simply dumbass on GM's part. They should have designed a clamp that would work in the center "sloped" portion of the inner wheel. This rates right up there with the inaccessible fuse box tucked up under the passenger side dash and figuring that would also be the best spot for one of the most likely fuses to blow....the cigarette lighter...really? way to go GM!

Looks like I will just pull the bulb in the dash and call it a day. No sense replacing sensors at this point with old likely soon to fail sensors or soon to be damaged sensors.

 

Sorry to hear of these LTPWS woes. I have removed and installed these sensors and change/balance tires myself since I do all of the work myself and have access to military auto hobby shop tire machines. It’s sad that so called professionals can’t install and remove without damage.

I can understand your decision to just scrap the idea of repair. I know you just want everything in the car to work like it’s supposed to. That’s how I am and our cars are getting harder to keep everything working within reason. I sent you a PM with what I unpacked if you change your mind. I can work with you for the components needed if so. 👍🏻🤙🏼

 

Could you tell me how to remove the bulb so the LTPWS light on my center dash will go out? I've looked all over YouTube, cant find out how to remove the bulb.....thnx....

 

Never got around to doing it. There is always something else that seems to go wrong with these cars....my latest project is fixing a door key that is stuck in the door. Let me know when you find out..... I think it is just removing some of the dash components. I have a FSM and will take a look....

 

There was another thread and I mentioned the Batee DIC removal.

See this post:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1604428032