Hey need your help.

I had the warning message to service my tire pressure monitor system.

So I reprogramed all 4 sensors and the message went away.

I am getting new tires installed tomorrow but I noticed that there are no numbers for the tire pressure when you scroll through the dic.

I hope that is because the car has not been driven since reseting the sensors. I had heard that you won't get a pressure reading till you drive it on the road.(motion activates the sensors)

Is that the true?

Also what are the odds that these are the original tire sensors?
The car is a 1999 with 60000 miles on it.
Would 9 year old sensors still have enough battery power to be reprogrammed?

I just don't want to put the tires on the rims with original sensors or replace 2 year old sensors that still work but have not been activated do to the car up for the winter.

Please give input on this
Thanks
Fireman591

 

Not sure about your 99 Vette, But on my 2002 it always shows the pressure, It can sit for a week and it will read the pressure. I know 99 and 02 have different TPS..

 

Sensors don't report until you hit a certain speed, maybe 5 mph or so, don't remember the exact number.

Chris

 

Well I could roll the tires down the driveway one at a time to activate the sensors

 

If you reprogram the sensors you need to drive for a couple of minutes to get the new pressure readings.

Try this. Check the pressure on one wheel. Add a good shot of air so you've increased the pressure. Drive around the block with that wheel pressure displayed. It can take up to 5 minutes for the presure to read depending on the age of the battery. I have a new TPS and it reads way quicker than the originals. I'm expecting my old ones to start pushing up the daisies soon.

I have to say, if you're about to get new tires fitted and those batteries are more than a few years old I'd be tempted to order in some new sensors from one of the Forum vendors. With a 99 they are probably just about lifex. Gene Culley has a great deal on sensors although the TPSs for a 99 are a tad more expensive.

 

The older generation sensors - like those in your '99 need the car to be rolling to get the readings. The newer generation - ('01 and newer) read from a standstill.

Your nine year old sensors are possibly nearing the end of their useful lives. The batteries were meant to last about 10 years. If you are installing new tires, personally I would bite the bullet and purchase new sensors at the same time. If you chose not to replace them at this time, it's not that big of a deal. To install new ones, a tire shop would only have to break the front bead, and unscrew the retaining nut on the valve stem to remove the old and reinstall the new. The tire would not have to be completely removed or even rebalanced if the job was done carefully.

Just make sure that you get the older bigger sensors as they are not cross compatible with the newer smaller ones.

Unfortunately the older bigger ones are also more expensive....

 

Cool,Thanks for the info. Corvette Don refurbs them. He said the original batteries last about 7 years. I hope these are not the originals.I have 60000 on the clock.
If they are It looks like $40.00 at discount tire to install the new ones for me once I get the car back on the road this spring.
Thanks again
Fireman591

 

FWIW- the sensors were not designed to be serviced. I think there has been limited success with replacing batteries. Check with Fichtner Chevrolet for pricing on the TPS. Great customer service and fair pricing....

 

Really has more to do with mileage than age fireman591, at 60,000 you're probably due for new sensors.....they don't need to dismount the tires when you do it, just break the bead and then they'll be able to compress the tire in the area of the sensor

 

I just bought 4 new ones from Gene Culley for $392 including the nuts and shipping.

 

I've had them drop off line after replacing the battery. Just take it out and drive it a bit, the pressure displays come back alive when they hit about 32 psi. They should be fine after that.

 

99s must attain approx 15 mph to activate sensors

 

Here are the two issues, either they are originals... or they have been replaced. you're not the original owner so you dont know... A calculated guess would determine if they were changed... but if they are original they may have been manufactured in 1998, all sensors are date stamped... it shows month and year of manufacture.. if they are original then they are approaching ten years, You will never have a better opportunity to swap them out then at this time... its not just the money to swap them out a few months from now I would suspect 50 dollars to break each bead remove the old sensor and carefully install the new one... also the double duty runs some risk in breaking a sensor.. Now if they were changed a few years ago..( I doubt this because the original owner would not have invested 400 dollars in replacing them if he was selling the car and they still worked.) I expect they are original.. unfortunately they are the more expensive of the two sensors... If you were my son I would advise you put new ones in and not worry about this issue again.
Dont ever buy used or re manufactured sensors, or especially from Ebay... you dont want working sensors that have a 10/99 date stamp on them...also you dont want to run the risk of buying refurbed ones and have one go bad and get a free replacement but then you have to take the time to go and have the tire broken down, and another refurbed sensor that could go bad in a week... many many people have tried to refurb these and m,ost went out of business replacing sensors that failed.. there is no way of testing a Gen 1 sensor on the bench... you can check it for communication on the bench.. but you cant check function... because the sensor communicates, Beeps.. it doesn't mean it can measure the pressure.
Good Luck
Bill aka ET

 

They were not designed to be that way but it can be done.

I have rebuilt 150+ of these and only 1 has failed and it was the one I put into my car. It was one of the 1st ones I did last year and I know why it failed. The MAIN reason these go "bad" is due to the fact that the battery acid leaks out and eventually shorts the sensor out. I have pulled leaking/corroded batteries out of 97-00 model sensors and they are cooked internally. If you can replace the battery before if corrodes/leaks then they will last at least another 6-7 years no problem unless you hit one of the components inside the sensor while rebuilding them, its not easy at all to rebuild them and its not hard to ruin them. You can test the full function of the sensor using a "tire sensor" tool designed to read the strength, etc but its a $400 device. I also would like to know who has actually had a business doing re-furbed sensors?? 99% of the time if the car recognizes the sensor it will read the pressure fine, if it does not recognize the sensor then you know its bad.

 

You have been on this forum a year, Ive been here 7... in that time there were two different supporting vendors, guys who tried to make a business of doing this who went out of business, anyone who has been here for a while , knows this is true.,. problem is the circuit can't take too much heat, the battery has to be soldered in two places, as you know, I know these sensor very well, while I am Not trying to ruin your buisiness, I only speak the truth and it is a chance buying resoldered circuits... I have very gifted hands, I also know the circuit, I would not do this myself even though I know the inside of the sensor like my own hand...
this is a once in ten year fix. I would do it if it was easy to get too the sensor and the batteries snapped in but they dont and where not designed to be opened. A simple cracked circuit could test good but fail in a weekor a month
Bill aka ET

 

If I was getting new tires, I would also get and install new sensors!

 

If it is not a big burden I'd update them too with new models.

 

No harm intended, I dont have a business doing this nor do I tend to On a side note, I did have my car at a raceway (Hallett) and my tire temps got VERY high and it did not make my my rebuilt sensors fail, so I dont think its heat. The battery posts have to be soldered in 2 places on the board as you know but I highly doubt that would mess it up, I have yet to have any sensors I have done come back as a defect, if its done right then it will be fine.

 

Don... heat from tires that increase internal air temps to 140 F ( sensors are designed and tested to 180F)...is a far cry from hitting a solder joint with 500F. as far as not having any known failures... just consider this.. you've fixed posted or sold 150+ for a very minimal price... just because no one has told you of a failure it doesn't mean that there hasn't been failures... consider someone buying 4 sensor from you, and having one go bad, now they have to go through the hassle of sending it back and getting another and going and have the tire removes broken down and a new sensor added, not that 40 dollar sensor cost him a few hours of his time, and 50 dollars to swap it out.... So many people would be happy to get 3 out of four good ones.. but then buy a new one for the failed sensor an not get involved in it or the hassle again... I remember some post 3 or four years ago about not being worth the hassle and would never buy rebuilt sensors again. I know if I buy something like this and it fails.. I'm not going to do the same thing again.. My time is more precious to me.
Mostly everyone has many issues to deal with in their life and for most an opportunity to put something like tire sensor in the never again column would be a plus. I know when the second company went under there were a few post about people who bought used or rebuilt sensor thinking about just buying new sensors and not have to worry about a failure ever again.
I applaud your tenacity, because there is alot of work removing the pot epoxy, exposing the circuit and battery removing the battery and re soldering it back, and refilling with pot material and weather sealing the sensor( needed because condensation can form inside the wheel and at the base of the valve stem where the metal stem is on the outside of the tire and can sometimes be hit with much warmer temps , this is where condensation can seep into the sensor if it is not weather sealed.).. just the vibration from grinding out the pot metal can crack that very thin circuit board. Too many things can go wrong and have gone wrong..
Bill aka ET

 

You need to be driving the car in excess of 15 mph for the sensors to work (at least that's the way mine works). If the sensors are original ones, you might want to go ahead and buy a new set - those would be living on borrowed time.