OK, I'm frustrated. Needed new tires so I took advice I've read on forum. Even though my 98 sensors were working fine, I ordered a set from Gene C & had them installed with the new tires. Got the car home & did a search to find the training instructions for the new sensors.Followed the instructions but couldn't get the 1st sensor to sound the horn & register. Read more posts on the subject & tried bigger magnets. Finally this morning I got to the end of my patience & went to another wheel. All 3 other wheels will sound the horn within 5 seconds. Any thoughts as to what the problem is with the 1 sensor other than it's bad? Hopefully there's nothing wrong with it. Even if I get it replaced I'd have to repay for installing it & balancing the tire. Thanks

 

I'd take the car to a tire shop that has a TPMS tester (also many car dealer service departments have them now). Call around to locate one.

The tester looks like this (there are a number of brands) ...

http://www.otctools.com/service/tech...OTC_Offers.pdf

The tester "wakes up" the sensor and then displays the data being transmitted (sensor serial number and tire pressure) .... if the sensor is bad this is the easiest way to diagnose it.

Your sensor could be bad because it was damaged during installation, or it was bad when it arrived from whomever you bought it from.

IMPORTANT

Anytime you have ANY work done on wheels with TPMS .... the shop you go to MUST have a tester AND they should test EVERY TPMS before starting service. They must show IN WRITING that all the TPMS were good before starting the work. Then they should all be tested at the end of the work. If one (or more) TPMS fail, it is the shops responsibility to replace the bad sensors.

Why risk as much as $400.00 in damage that can be done by a tire jockey (also known as a moron) with no recourse ???? Any tire shop today that does not have a TPMS tester should be avoided.

 

You shouldn't need to re-balance the wheel if you replace the sensor. Just tell them to mark the inside of the wheel and tire and once the sensor is replaced, they line up the marks and put the tire back on the wheel. It's no big deal.

 

Thanks, that explains why he marked my old tire when he repaired a flat last year. Anyway, on the new tire pressure sensors, I had printed many posts on them from the forum & went through them again last night. One I evidently had not read mentioned a magnetic mount CB antenna. I have an old one in the basement so I got it and along with my other magnets that did the trick. The stubborn one chirped & the rest did as well. I guess some sensors just need a much stronger magnet than others.

 

I'm not sure why I'm bothering, but I'll say it again - train the sensors before you install them! Quick and easy way to make sure they are working beforehand!

 

That is what I did when I put my new wheels on. Then I just made sure they went back on in the correct positions.

 

::: : Hindsight is 20-20 & if I had read that before I had the tires & sensors replaced I would have done so. It would have saved the aggravation. At this point, I'm just giving info on my solution.