Oh Great.............
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 146
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta Georgia
Oh Great.............
I just purchased a 2002 Vette about 5 days ago and paid to have it fully inspected. The inspection came out good other than a trans pan gasket leaking which I went ahead and had changed along with the filter and fluid. Anyway, I buy the car from the person after the check up and and few days later I get "Service Tire Monito System". It's just my luck something would go wrong a couple of days later. Do you think the inspection should of picked up on this or is it just my luck? By the way, my vette is a coupe/A4 with about 60k.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
Likes: 192
From: At the beach in little Rhody
One of the nice things about the C5 is you can pull the actual error codes and be able to pinpoint the issue. The inspection wouldn't have anything to do with this. It may be simply a case of low batteries in 6 or 7 year old sensors and they need to be replaced. Here is how to get the codes and there is a .pdf list of codes at the bottom of the page.
Link to code retrieval
Link to code retrieval
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
If the weather in your area is REALLY COLD, the temp of the batteries could be the issue. Yea they are older sensors so the batterys are weak. If the temp increases. the error may just go away. Just one of those things. No inspection could have noted that if it wasnt bad during the inspection. 
Look at it this way. Your sensors are a LOT less expensive than the earlier sensors!
Look at it this way. Your sensors are a LOT less expensive than the earlier sensors!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 146
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta Georgia
Thanks guys for the quick response. It has been very cold lately and that makes sense about the batteries. How much are the sensors typically? And is this something a novice can do him/herself or should I let the dealership do it?
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 1,156
Likes: 2
From: Arlington VA
You will have to dismount the tire to service the tire pressure sensors. Not something you can do yourself. You might try the tire sensor re-learn procedure and see if that resolves the issue. Do a search in the Tech section for exactly how to go about doing the procedure. You can do the re-learn procedure yourself. All you need is a strong magnet. Good luck with it.
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Drifting
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,770
Likes: 0
From: in ur mirror, 'bout to pass.. CA
my '01 coupe has all four pressure sensors out at the moment...it is about 40f in the garage tho. As the batteries weaken, the pressure sensors become more susceptable to the cold. Wait 'till winter's over before you decide on changing out sensors.
Pro
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 533
Likes: 0
From: Mtns of north Georgia - Hey Kids, I'm spending your inheritance!
I had this same problem on my '02 Coupe just last Sunday (12/21) after I disconnected the battery to work on the headlight gear. When I reconnected the battery, I ran a system check - just because. It showed RF xxx, so I checked the pressure with a "real" gauge and the tire was fine. I released air pressure from the RF for five seconds, then added air to get the pressure back to normal - drove down the road about a mile and "voila", the TPM works fine. Just a "gremlin" in the electronics I guess.
Good Luck Sharp Crease.
Good Luck Sharp Crease.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,683
Likes: 144
From: Memphis Tennessee
I say enjoy, even the smaller repairs !
You have a seven-year-old car, that has a LOT of life left in it. Just hang us here on the Forum and ask and learn. We all began without much knowledge, but quickly learned from the more experienced. Solving problems is part of the fun of ownership.
Good Luck
Pro
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 619
Likes: 2
From: Destin FL
As mentioned above, make sure the tire actually has air in it. Also, check your vehicle battery (AutoZone will check it for free). If the charge starts getting low (cold weather, old battery), all sorts of electrical gremlins start popping up. Also, pull the codes from DIC to make sure you don't have any related to the RFA module. It's likely you have a "U" code (lack of communication) with the LR sensor. This can be caused by bad or low sensor battery, bad or low vehicle battery, bad generator, bad RFA module, among other things. This can also happen if the previous owner just recently replaced the tires (to sell the car) - somtimes when the tires are removed from the vehicle, the sensors will temporarily lose radio comm with the module and take several ignition cycles to reconnect. Just some thoughts for troubleshooting. Almost any tire installation shop (I use local Goodyear) can replace the sensor batteries or replace the entire sensors for less than the dealership will do it. Sometimes they can get the sensors cheaper than the dealership (sometimes they get them from the dealership), but the labor is usually less than the dealership. Good luck and let us know how it turns out. That's how we all learn from each other.
