The other day as I was driving my 11 GS I got a low tire light so I checked the DIC and the rear left only read XXX. The next time I started it I got a service tire pressure sensor message. The next day I checked the pressure and it was fine. When I started the car the sensor was working fine and no more message.

I made an appointment with the dealer but now that everything is ok I am not sure there is anything they can do. Should I keep the appointment? I guess what I am wondering is since all is ok now is there anything they can do or should I wait until it gets worse and take it in then?

 

I assume you have the OE wheels on the car - is that right???

If you have swapped the sensors to a different set of wheels there could be some issues, but I'm assuming you're still running the OE wheels/tires/sensors.

Did you check the tire pressures with a good hand held gauge? The tire pressure sensors are pretty accurate, but the way the TPMS works makes the DIC reported pressures not really useable as anything but a reference.

With any intermittent problem, unless it does it while you're in the service department, they just won't be able to tell you much. Unless it's an actual problem with the TPMS computer (which is actually part of the RCDLR module) I don't think there will be any codes set that will tell them anything.

So....nothing the matter with taking it in. They can do some diagnostics with the tire sensor/TPMS tool they have. It can give them an indication of the strength of the internal batteries in the sensors - but there shouldn't be any problems with a 2011 car.

They would probably do a sensor relearn procedure, and there's some possibility that might kickstart the sensor back to working correctly.

I suspect the sensor just had an intermittent problem. Keep track of it, and if it does indeed happen more - especially more and more often - after about 5 or 6 times you can tell the dealer that you've definitely got a bad sensor and want it replaced under warranty.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

Bob

 

How are the sensors 'serialized' - I mean, are there an infinite number of unique sensor ID's or is it possible you pick up a stray signal from someone else who has 1 sensor with the same ID as what your TPMS computer is listening for?

 

Take a look at the picture below. On a couple of the sensors you can see the back side, and there's a barcode strip on there that has each sensor's unique 8-digit ID#:




With each sensor having a different ID#, with 8 digits there are billions and billions of combinations of numbers, so no two sensors will have the same ID#.

The TPMS memory can hold 4 sensor ID#s, so if you swap to a different set of wheels/tires/sensors such as for the track, you'll need to program the sensors into the TPMS every time you swap. If you're driving in traffic with dozens of other cars nearby with all their sensors sending out transmissions, your TPMS will only pay attention to the 4 transmissions from the sensors whose ID#s are programmed into its memory.

When you do the relearn procedure to program a different set of sensors into your TPMS, the first one triggered to send out its data is logged in as the Left Front, the second as the RF, the third as the RR, and the last one as the LR.

If you swap your wheels from side-to-side the sensors will still work, but the DIC display will be reversed.

So.....the sensor ID#s are important so the DIC display of pressures correspond to the correct location, but there are so many possible different ID#s that you will never pick up a transmission from any sensors except the 4 that are programmed into your car's TPMS.

Bob

 

First, if everything is working its doubtful the dealer can help you since there's nothing wrong. Personally, I would avoid the dealer unless I absolutely had to. If it acts up again there are two fixes: Frist, reprogram that sensor with the TPMS tool. If that fails, replace the sensor. There are tire stores and auto stores that will reprogram it for free as well without a trip to the dealer, its a two minute job.

 

Note, 2010+ Corvette TPMS sensors may be programmed without usage of a TPMS tool.

Regards,

GSRANDY

 

As BEZ06 indicated it's a virtual impossibility to pickup a spurious sensor signal from another car/sensor with the exact same ID. You can, however, under the 'right' circumstances pickup a signal from someone elses' TPS. I recall a friend of mine at the track left the starting grid and returned a short time later. After the session I overheard him say while he drove through the paddock (to the grid) his Z06 picked-up a flat tire transmission from someone else's TPS. He had to go-back to use his TPMS tool to 'clear' it. I should have asked him about it but I assume he didn't have any TPS's on his wheels.

 

with the possibility of receiving a false tire pressure reading from another sensor and it can happen since the tps is a radio transmitter.
The id code on the sensor is transmitter to the receiver in the vehicle and allows the receiver to be opened and receive information from the tire sensor. Once the receiver is open it can receive any other signal that is within the frequency range of the internal receiver even if the spurious signal is a harmonic of the main frequency of the tps (similar to wobberling when a AM/FM radio is tuned between stations). When this interference occurs what you read on the DIC can be anything and since XXX was displayed that means your receiver received a signal that exceeded the maximum 3 digit value of the tire pressure reading range. We are talking mille and micro seconds so the timing for this incident has to be exact.
Hope this sheds a little light on this problem.
To make sure the system is working as designed, you might put the sensors in relearn mode.

Mike

 

Thanks for the replies. My wheels and tires are stock and never been off in the whole 1600 miles and one month of ownership. I wasn't around any other cars when the signal came on. I was making a right hand turn when it happened. I think since the dealer cannot do anything to the sensor without an active warning signal I think I will just wait for repeated signals.