I dropped my wheels and some new tires off at a local tire shop. Got the mount & balance. Now one wheel sensor is dead. Is this to be expected? Is it their fault?

 

I see that you have a 97! It could be that the sensor just went bad. I would go back and tell the management that you have a concern and that they may have damaged it. Have them take the sensor out and examine it. If it is broke, it's their dime! If it is just bad, I would have another one on hand to have them reinstall it.

You purchased tire service from them, the least that they could do is install the sensor for you!

 

I agree it's possible but don't go throwing stones just yet. I would nicely mention it to them and explain the concern. Then find out what they are willing to do. go from that and then ask them to break the tire down and show you there is no physical damage to the sensor. more then likely it just went dead on it's own. but at very min. they may install the new sensor for you. which would be fair enough as long as it was not their fault. Usually if something like this did happen it was not intentional. Most technicians do not go around damaging customer cars, but mistakes and accidents do happen from time to time. Find out what you can if it was their issue or if it seems to just have went dead on it's own.

There are many stories I could share of where a car had a failure after being serviced and it was unrelated to the work preformed. and customer wants full compensation for towing and fixed for free. well if it is something we caused we will take care of it if it is not we will not cover it. however we may work out the situation to split part of the responsibility.

thats my .02
-=Rick

 

That's the best way to handle it!

 

Couple questions. First, have you driven the car around yet? When I had mine installed and started it up I thought I had one "dead soldier". I started driving it around and after about 10 miles it started working....

Second, have you replaced the batteries in the sensors? I hear they only last 3-4 years....

Good luck!

 

Batteries are NOT replaceable by the average Joe! There is a guy on the forum who has figured out how to do it and the type of battery that it takes but, it is better to just get a new one from the guy on the forum or send the bad one back to the guy who fixes them for the core charge.

BC

 

Any detail on what "dead" means? Not reporting at all, or an erroneous reading? Did you try the sensor relearn process?

I had one of mine crap out after a tire change, but went thru the sensor relearn and it kicked back in.

 

Thanks for the imput.
One of my front sensors was replaced ~ 2yrs ago. It should have been the wheel that is the current problem, but I can't be sure because I replaced both front tires at that time.
When I got the wheels back on the car this time, my left front read Lxxx. All other sensors gave readings. I drove for ~ 30 miles, then tried to reset the sensors with a magnet. It didn't work, so I drained all the air from the tire and refilled it, thinking it might help. Used magnet;Still no readings.

I like the idea of taking a new sensor with me, and asking the shop to
a) install it for free
b) pay for it
or c) share the cost of the new one

I'll let you know what we work out. I've got too many other things to worry about than to let this embitter me, but I do think they should fix a problem if they caused it.

 

1st They need to be aware there is a problem.

Explain the situation. You had tires done, Now my sensor is not operating correctly. See what they tell you. If they say they did not damage it or it is not their fault tell them you want them to install the new one for free. They probably will because they want you to be happy. If they say oh man were sorry we'll take care of it for you then great problem solved. If they say I don't think we did it but were not sure. Then say ok well how about this, we split the cost of the sensor and you install it for me no charge and I'm happy.

This is my opinion so take it for what it's worth. Issues pop up in life and it's all how you handel them. Coincidence or accident or whatever, give them the benifit of the doubt and work with them on the situation. Going back and approaching it as such..

My car is messed up it's your fault fix it! well that will put up a wall of defense and then you will be less apt to recieve the response you are looking for.

You want to have the least loss in the situation. worse case they should be willing to accept some of the responsibility and install it for free, better case they split it and install it, best they cover it in full and you walk away satisfied that the situation has been rectified.

Trust me, we love customers that are willing to understand situations like these and work with us to resolve the problem. We dislike customers who come and place demands on a situation we may or may not have prevoked. These customers (the demanding ones) are the ones we don't want to deal with and say oh well fine we'll loose them as a customer because we don't want the future headaches envolved. thats one shops aspect mine is to resolve the situation the best I can.

Sorry for rammbling I am going to sleep.
-=Rick

 

My tire sensor was replaced at no expense. I explained the situation to the tire shop as soon as I was aware of the problem. I took vettetech81's advice and did not make any accusations. I just asked how they wanted to handle the situation and what they thought was fair.
I bought a sensor from a forum vendor because I think we get better prices here than at our local dealerships. It took about a week for me to get the new sensor. The shop was already familiar with the situation, so they were prepared. They already had decided to replace the sensor at no cost.
It turns out that the sensor was damaged during installation / removal. It was dented at the base of the stem where it attached to the sensor.
So everything worked out this time. I will go back to this shop to have my tires mounted again.

 

Glad to hear you took my advice.

I'm glad they worked with you to resolve the situation. If you ever need any performance parts let us know. We'll do our best to give you quality service you should expect.
Thanks,
-=Rick