I just replaced my tires at a local Goodyear dealer and in the process of installation or when breaking down the wheel they accidentally cracked the TPMS sensor. They got a new replacement sent over but as soon as I started the car up I got the warning light telling me the tire is flat and has zero pressure, which is untrue as the tire is holding its air. The dealership says their computer tells them that the system needs time while driving for it to be calibrated. I was dubious about that but drove the 20+ miles back to my house and the warning did not go away and the tire pressure was still OK. The way I left it with the dealer after notifying them that the drive home didn't get this recalibration done is that I'll drive it some more and if it doesn't go away I should drive back there and they'll try to manually recalibrate it, something I am even more dubious about.

Am I being fed a load of BS just to get rid of me or is this recalibration stuff for real?

 

Yep - you're being fed a load of

That tire shop obviously doesn't know what they're doing - first of all to break a sensor, and second to not know how to register your new sensor's ID# into the TPMS computer. Driving the car won't do anything to get the new sensor recognized by the TPMS computer.

Below is a video of how to do a "relearn" procedure using a tool that transmits a radio frequency to "trigger" or "excite" the sensor, which gets it to send its data to the TPMS computer.

Each sensor has a unique ID# and the TPMS computer can only store 4 sensor ID#'s in its memory. When they replaced a sensor they needed to do a relearn procedure to register the sensor.

I'd say go to a local Discount Tire and they'll probably do your relearn for free.

Bob

 

They must calibrate the new sensor with a tool. It takes a minute and there is no need to run the car. Take it back.

 

That is some quality and impressive info, hopefully I will not have a similar problem but if I do I learned something today.

 

Sure was easier on the C5's

 

Wow! Thanks for the quick and informative reply, Bob. I wonder if Goodyear has such a rearming device... What a PITA!

 

Good!!

However, right after I posted up that message I looked at the video and saw it was the wrong link. I changed it to a video that shows how to do the relearn procedure.

You read it before I changed the link, and the link in your reply above is actually to a video that just shows doing some diagnostics with the tool. I edited the original post so that it has a different video in it.

Bob

 

 

Even easier on the C5 Z06.

 

Called Goodyear and told them all I learned from my Forum friends and the manager agreed that they screwed up. They do have the handheld tool and somehow thought they didn't need to use it because "Some GM cars automatically...blah, blah, blah".

Bottom line is I wasted 2.5 hours there already, not counting an hour total driving to and from, and now have to kill another hour+ to go back there tomorrow.

At least they lifted the car properly and didn't crack the body!

 

Yes - at least they sure should have a TPMS tool!! However, they sound like they don't know what they're doing, so they may not know how to use it.

As of last Sept 2007, with the 2008 model year, ALL 4-wheeled vehicles less than 10,000 lbs MUST have sensors and a TPMS. A Federal Law was passed a couple years ago in response to Phord Explorers flipping over and killing people. The DOT and NHTSA got congress to pass a law and this is now what we're living with.

Every knowledgeable tire shop should be able to deal with tires with sensors (yeah, they'll break one every once in a while) and dealing with resetting the TPMS once they swap sensors. They need to do a relearn even if all they do is rotate tires! It sounds like your Goodyear shop really is not very up to date with 15 year old technology (Corvettes have had sensors since the early '90s)!!!!

Good luck!

Bob

 

Bob, Thanks for that instruction. Because of that video, I completed the requisite each day learn a new thing. Since it's just a bit past noon out here, I get to quit early. Now, where's that remote...

 

As long as they buying you the new sensor, and they didn't crack your rockers, then all is well except for some time wasted!!


Make sure you watch that video - they may need help getting the car into the "Learn Mode". Just put the ignition in ACC mode, then push and hold the "lock" and "unlock" buttons simultaneously until you get a honk of the horn, which confirms you're in the learn mode.

Make sure they trigger the sensors in the following order - Left Front, RF, RR, LR. Also, make sure you get a honk of the horn at each wheel (double honk at the LR) or the sensor did not send its data to the TPMS computer. Turn off the ignition and the procedure will be complete. It only takes about 60 seconds.

Bob

 

Well, good!!! Maybe you won't read this until tomorrow and you'll be able to count this post as your tomorrow's learn a new thing each day.


Just to add some more info about the TPMS, in C6Jeff's case, what he probably had was a message in the DIC that said "xxx psi" for whatever wheel had the new/unregistered sensor. If he had tried to go into Comp Mode or turn Active Handling off completely, he would not have been able to do it. If he had AH off or was in Comp Mode, AH would have automatically come back on if a sensor signal is lost while driving.

That may have been followed by a message of "Service Tire Monitor", although that message is generally displayed when NONE of the sensors are registered (such as if you swapped to track tires/wheels with no sensors, or did not register the sensors after swapping all 4 wheels).

After the "Service Tire Monitor" message, you may get a "Limit Speed to 55 mph", the so-called "limp mode" message. My experience has been that you can go as fast as you want, i.e. that is just a message. However, some forum members report that the car actually pulls power if you're driving aggressively (hard drag strip launch or hard road race cornering).

This is the reason that many owners that track their car just go ahead and put sensors in their track wheels to avoid problems. Without sensors they may not be able to turn off AH or go into Comp Mode, or AH may come on in the middle of a session and start putting on brakes to keep the rear end from sliding around.

Of course, if you're swapping wheels for HPDE's a couple weekends per month, you'll need to buy your own TPMS/sensor reset tool for a couple hundred bucks.

Dayum! One thing leads to another!!!

Bob

 

They only replaced the one sensor and it is the only one not being read. Do they have to follow the video and do all the wheels in order or can they just do the one wheel? Thanks again!

 

I'd defer to BEZ06 as he's the resident expert on the subject but I believe (since you have to start with the LF wheel and go around each wheel in sequence) you cannot reset just the one wheel. I'd start the procedure from the beginning and do each wheel in the proper sequence....it only takes about one minute.

You might want to call ahead and check first but I believe (as was mentioned) most any Discount Tire will reset your sensors free of charge.

 

What Wayne O said!!! (He really knows a lot more than he's letting on!!! )


You have to do all 4. When ever you do the procedure, when you trigger the first sensor and it sends its data to the TPMS, that wipes out the other 3 sensor ID#'s from the TPMS memory.

The only way the TPMS knows which sensor is on which corner of the car is because it logs the ID# of the first one you do as the LF, the 2nd as the RF, etc. So, if you do them in the wrong order the DIC will still display tire pressures, but they won't correlate with the correct tire.

Likewise, if you have your sensors all registered properly and you get new tires, if they put the sensors back on the corner of the car they were originally on then no relearn needs to be done. If they mix them up and they end up on different corners, the DIC display might say "RR 23 psi" but it could be talking about the LF. On the Z51 and Z06 the tires are not directional and can be swapped from one side to the other. If you do that without doing a relearn, the DIC display will be backwards.

And if you have a Tahoe, Escalade, etc. where you can rotate the tires, you need to do a relearn when they are rotated so the DIC display is correct.

Bob

 

Thanks for sending the video my way. The guy who did the sensors today never got the digital reader to beep. He probably didn't orient the tool properly. He was a bit of a moron. The thing that bothers me is that the sensors were working and then stopped. This can't be normal.

 

If you have no working sensors in the car, I believe it will remember the old readings from the last working sensors. For a while, then you get the xx messages. The time it takes for the xx's to appear varies somewhat over the different years of C6.