Discount Tire seems like they do not know how to reset the TPS on my 2001 Corvette. I had 4 Michelin tires put on this Friday and the pressure readings looked OK until the next day (this Saturday) when I started the car and get a "flat tire" message on all tires. Brought it back to Discount Tire and they reset the sensors using the ring magnet. They went front left, to front right to right rear and finally to left rear. At each tire reset the horn sounded once including the last tire. Then they said I needed to drive 40 miles at over 40 mph to let the computer read the sensors.

Did they do this right? I thought at the last wheel/sensor the horn should beep twice?

 

Sounds like the did it OK. It shouldn't take 40 miles to give a reading. The sensors start transmitting as soon as the speed exceeds 15mph. With new batteries it should read within a minute. I found with my original sensors that as the batteries got older it took longer. Even so they would update after maybe 2 miles.


Tire Pressure Monitoring Sensor Programming

The Tire Pressure Monitor (TPM) system interfaces with the Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC) through the serial data line. Once the program mode is accessed through the IPC, each sensor's unique identification code can be programmed into the receiver's memory. Each sensor must transmit the unique code in the proper sequence. A magnet must be held close to the sensor in order to force the sensor to transmit the identification code. The IPC will display a message as each sensor is programmed, and when to proceed to the next sensor for programming. The receiver also sends a message to the BCM to sound the horn one time, indicating that the sensor properly transmitted an identification code. If the programming sequence is cancelled before any sensor is programmed, or if the vehicle's battery is disconnected, the receiver will remember all current identification codes. As soon as the receiver learns the first sensor identification code, all previously stored codes are erased from the receiver's memory.
J 41760 Tire Pressure Monitor (TPM) Programming Tool.
Tool required (any medium strength magnet, U or Disk type
1. Turn the ignition to ON.
2. Press the RESET button in order to clear any IPC display warning messages.
3. Press and release the OPTIONS button on the DIC to scroll through the display options until the IPC display is blank.
4. Press and hold the DIC RESET button for 3 seconds.
Notice: Refer to Body Control Module (BCM) Programming/RPO Configuration in Cautions and Notices.
5. Press the OPTIONS button again until the TIRE TRAINING message appears.
6. Press the RESET button until the IPC LEARN L FRONT TIRE message appears in order to begin
the programming sequence.
7. Install the J 41760 Tire Pressure Programming Tool over the left front valve stem.
8. The horn will sound, indicating the left front TPM sensor is programmed.
9. When the horn sounds, proceed to program the next TPM sensor in the following order as directed
by the IPC messages:
- LEARN R FRONT TIRE
- LEARN R REAR TIRE
- LEARN L REAR TIRE
Programming Cancellation
1. The programming mode will be cancelled if any of the following conditions are met: - The program mode is exited through the DIC.
- The ignition is turned to OFF.
- All four sensors have been programmed.
- The TPM system has been in the program mode for longer than 2 minutes and no sensors
have been learned.
2. If the program mode is cancelled with less than four codes stored, the receiver will only accept the codes programmed up to that point

 

Dee Gee---- Thank you for the infomation as I will share it with Discount Tire. I did pay for four new sensors from them at $172 and I am hoping they did not use the ones for the '97 to '00 cars but rather the correct ones for the '01 to '04 cars. They said they used the right ones but who really knows. They did not do the right sequence according your instructions so who knows if they used the right sensors. Working all week and then having to ruin my Saturday bringing the car back is not fun and I think i will have the same problem tomorrow and have to take time of work on Monday at a loss of pay for me.
You would think that Discount Tire would know what they are doing, this can not be the first Corvette they worked on or is it?

 

have you tried to program them yourself? i used a speaker magnet to do mine and it worked perfectly.

 

The sequence you described on yours is the same DeeGee as gave you. (lf,rf,rr,lr) And even if they programmed out of sequence, it wouldn't cause them to read "flat".They did it correctly. If they used the wrong sensors (97-2000), they wouldn't have programmed. Measure with a gauge and see what pressure you actually have in the tires. It sounds like the tire store did everything right. (Unless they used sensors that aren't measuring pressure. The frequency of the sensors they used had to be correct, or you wouldn't have gotten the beep when programming)

 

Additional thought, if you got run-flat tires, maybe they didn't mount the sensors correctly and the air leaked out. Again, measure to see what pressure you have, if the sensors weren't transmitting, you wouldn't get "flat", you'd get xxxx.

 

Possible defective sensors or maybe they were installed incorrectly (too much torque upon tightening the nuts?). What brand/type sensor did they install? China made?

 

The tires were not runflats but Michelin PS2's all around. Dash said "flat tire" and "max speed 55" and the actual pressure with my accurate gauage was 33 psi in all 4 cold. I did heard each wheel beep after the magnet was put on each sensor but not the 2 beeps when the last tire sensor was read. Does this matter?

I will ask about the made in China sensors and what model they used on Monday.
Tires are reading flat again for the second day.

 

Not that it's any help for your TPS problem, but cold psi is supposed to be 30 according to the owners manual and the sticker on the drivers door. Hope you get it fixed.

 

Did they use an actual magnet or some sort of tire FOB training "synch" tool?

Btw, don't get hung-up on the one-beep vs two-beep thing on the last wheel. C5s beep one time and C6s beep twice. There is a lot of misinformation or other BS out there in the interweb being sold as gospel and far too many people assume that just because their Corvette (C6 for example) does things one way that all Corvettes are same.

If they can't get this matter resolved, I would advise buying 4 new GM sensors from Gene at GMpartshouse.com and tell Discount to change them out for free and take their's back. You have already paid the labor to mount/balance your tires and train your TPMs and this is not your fault. Remember, wheels will need to be rebalanced after this is done. I would not let them tell you "Oh, it's OK. We will just mark your tires and mount them back in the same position." Wrong. They need to be rebalanced. If they balk, raise hell until they do the right thing.

 

I just bought four Michelins at Discount Tire for my wife's Chrysler.
In my case, just ONE of the TPS gizmos didn't work on re-install...and couldn't be reset. Then they installed some kind of aftermarket part that didn't work either.

I told them to buy an OEM part at the Chrysler dealership parts counter--which they agreed to do, fortunately. And it works.

I bet that these TPSsssses are a pain in the butt for tire retailers.