Eritosthenes

On Wednesday I finally got the right combination of good weather & getting off work early enough to load up my winter wheels & tires in my utility trailer and take them to NTB for their semi-annual swap. Naturally the 9V battery in my Ateq VT10 was dead, so I couldn't reset the TPMS that night.

With a fresh battery in the Ateq the next day, I was able to reset the front sensors but not the rear sensors. No matter how I held the VT10, I couldn't get the horn to beep on the rears. After three attempts I gave up.

These wheels and sensors were delivered with Red at the Museum in late August 2006. Could the batteries in those rear TPM sensors have expired in 5+ years?

ncvette_1FUNRIDE

I believe that they are supposed to last 7-8 years.

ben dover

ncvette_1FUNRIDE

Actually I just checked my owners manual and it says that they should last approx. 10 years under normal driving conditions.

RDKING

13 years still working

cclive

I'll bet it was a low battery in the ATEQ, not in the sensors. My TIPS tool is very sensitive to slightly low batteries...same symptoms.

cadguymark

so if the battery life expectancy is 7-10 years, why does Discount Tire charge ~$3 per tire to rebuild the sensors when having new tires mounted

they also do not discount the tire mounting charge, which includes new valve stems in the price

so IOW, they are over charging you roughly $7 per tire when you buy new tires

4thC4at60

I replaced one sensor about three months ago and had another one die just last week.... at 62 months.

Eritosthenes

The pair of Mallory 9V batteries from the BX must have been Bosnian War vintage. A six-pack of Eveready 9V batteries from Sam's worked much better, though I had to be careful to aim my VT10 between the valve stem and the outer edge of the wheel to get that registration horn beep.

This was probably a warning sign that I'll need to rebuild my TPM sensors the next time I buy tires for those wheels.

R&L's C6

Rebuilding them has nothing to do with the batteries, when the batteries get low you need to buy new sensors.

Mad*Max

that is what I remember reading in my manual

ncvette_1FUNRIDE

While he TPS batteries are supposed to last 10 Years, it is a fairly common practice to rebuild the sensor valve stems when swapping out to new wheels.

I just had this done when I mounted tires on my new wheels.

Gearhead Jim

As noted above, the sensor batteries are not designed to be replaced. You just buy a new unit. A few people have done a replacement thing at least on the C5, but the results have been "mixed".

My plan is to replace the sensors at the first tire change after 5 yrs/50k miles. You can replace the sensors at other times without removing the tire, but it's still a PITA.

JoesC5

I replaced the sensors on my C5 at 8 years when I installed new tires. The old ones were working fine when removed.

I changed the tires on my 09 Z06 at 2 1/2 years but retained the old sensors. They are now 3 1/2 years old with no problems. I plan on replacing the sensors when I install new tires in about 4-5 years.

Corvette ED

It seems like I replace a alot of sensors on 1997-2001 Corvettes at work. I haven't had to do any C6 cars yet. I did have to reprogam one last week.