2007 C6

1) registered with the car - All good
2) works great reading 34psi in both rear tires
3) drive around with the canister in drivers rear compartment
4) ~20min - Car loses link to sensors and light comes on (Rear Pressure = xxpsi)
5) move canister behind pass seat (thought it was too far for signal)
6) works / light goes off and reads 34psi again
7) ~5min - Car loses link to sensors and light comes on (Rear Pressure = xxpsi)
8) I moved it to pass floorboard / shook the canister / rolled it around / etc.. Could not relink?

Schedule 40 PVC can't be much harder to transmit through than rubber?
Any thoughts?

 

it works best in the net in the center

 

It has been reported to work okay by other forum members that have tried it.

You say "1) registered with the car - All good"

How did you register them? Were they your original sensors that were already programmed into the TPMS?

If not, exactly how did you do the relearn procedure?

Bob

 

Actually, I got two of them (2 sensors in each), one in each rear cubby hole, no problemo.

 

I've got one sensor where you see the valve stem and the other is trapped in the far extreme of the other end. Middle is a gauge.

Regarding the registration procedure. I have my primary set mounted in my PS2s, these 2 are for the drag radials.

Here was the process.
1) Swap rims and put the canister in the car with 2 sensors inside
2) Drive to tire shop
3) Put in ACC mode / Register all sensors (they all beeped and 2 beeps after the last one)
4) It worked great and then it sat overnight in the garage
5) Tried it today and it worked and then stopped / worked again then stopped

I haven't tried it since so they might work now, but for how long?

If these sensors registered correctly, which I'm pretty sure they did since it read the correct 34psi yesterday and today, then it would not care if it were parked near the old sensors? right?

Thanks for your input,
Scott

 

Aha!!!

I think I can tell you exactly what the problem is. If you shot the signal from the tool into the cannister, I'll bet you triggered the same sensor twice.

When you trigger the sensors with a tool, the sensors need to be a couple feet apart from each other, or you'll trigger them both at the same time, or the same one twice. I suspect that you only triggered one sensor 2 times - and that sensor's ID# was logged into memory for 2 wheels.

You need to open up the cannister and separate the sensors.

If you can't do that, make sure you put the antenna of the tool on the far ends of the cannister to try to excite just one sensor at a time.

If the shop has an OTC 3833 or a GM tool (the Kent-Moore J46079), or any other tool with a screen, you can see the ID# of the sensor that was triggered, and you need to make sure that the 2 sensors in the cannister are each individually triggered (different ID#s will be displayed) - one for the right rear, and one for the left rear.

So....I would try to do the relearn procedure again. Trigger the left front, the right front, then the ones in the cannister - separated by a couple feet if you open the cannister (the sensors don't have to be pressurized at all). Then you could put the loose one back into the cannister and pump it up.

Good luck!

Bob

 

I am not sure whats going on but I think instead of wasting time going back and forth to the tire shop, you could spring for a Bartec Bartec Trackside TPMS programmer tool? This way, voila, you reset those sensors yourself! Also, what is holding the sensor at each end of youru cannister?

btw-I used Schedule Electrical 80-I like the grey to better match my ebony cuby holes.

http://katechengines.com/katech_inc/...ammer-tool.htm

 

Hey Bob, I wanted to jump in if I could. Im having the same issue.
I programmed the sensors one at a time, outside the canister.
I have the same issue, there is a different sensor everytime I drive the car the doesnt register, XX???

 

You dont need the sensors a couple feet apart. My cannister is 12" long and works fine with sensors at each end. I used some cardboard disks pressed fit at each end to keep the sensors in place at each end. I also excite the sensors while in the cannister-works fine that way.

btw-I like that Bartec..thanks for the recommend. Though my OTC 3833 is still valuable as a ID and pressure reading tool. The Bartec works better at exciting the sensors though, IMO.

 

I remember reading something in the manual about them "going to sleep" / shutting down once the wheels stop rotating. When we start driving again, they "turn back on" (otherwise the batteries would go dead in short time if they had to be on all the time). So I think the motion turns them on, then, with no motion, they go back to sleep..... could explain what you're experiencing.

 

That's correct. When they're mounted in a wheel, when the car sits still for 15 minutes the sensors go into the sleep mode to conserve their internal batteries and only transmit once per hour.

When you start driving faster than 20 mph the sensors wake up and start transmitting once per minute.

So....if the sensors in the cannister never rotate to wake them up and get them to transmit once per minute, then they will only send out their data once every hour, and that could very well give the problem that both BIG GUN and Fasrdnu are having.

If the TPMS is getting signals once per minute from a couple of sensors, then it's expecting to get signals from all of them at about that interval. If 2 of the sensors are only transmitting once per hour the TPMS could very well display an "xx psi" until it gets an update from them.

Like siffert says, you don't really necessarily need to have the sensors separated, but make sure you have the antenna of the tool as close to one as possible, and as far away from the other as you can.

Owners with exotic aftermarket wheels with the sensors mounted deep inside the wheels with bands or brackets often have a difficult time triggering the sensor because they can't the antenna of the tool close enough.

When the sensor is mounted in stock wheels, you put the antenna on the sidewall of the tire right next to the valve stem and it's only about 2 inches from the sensor.

If the sensor is banded inside an aftermarket wheel, when the antenna is as far as 4 or 5 inches from the sensor it can be hard to trigger it. So with your cannister, you shouldn't have any trouble getting within a couple of inches of one sensor while being at least 6 or more inches away from the other one - that should trigger only one at a time.

So....I dunno, but maybe the fact they're in the sleep mode and only transmitting once per hour may be the problem.

Good luck!!

Bob

 

I never really had any of those issues. I used to have one cannister for 2 sensors for my rear drags with no issues. I got 2 cannisters now since I added front drag radial skinnies (and 4 sensors in one cannister didnt work for me). I did get one DIC "reset tire sensor" message awhile back after sitting overnite and then after about 3 hours of driving the next day. The next weekend and other times with no DIC messages. No biggie though with the Bartec Tracksiide always handy!

 

Thanks for all your input Bob. I tend to think that both were registered during the relearn since it did correctly display 34psi for both rear tires when it was working. BUT, I'm new to this TPMS system so who knows? Also, this thing is glued up TIGHT so it won't be coming apart without a hacksaw.

I'm going to order the Ateq VT10 or the Trackside and do some more testing. If they are indeed going to sleep mode..... .. This might be a wasted effort. But at least we can determine what works and what doesn't with this "helpful" system GM blessed us all with.

The sensor fits perfectly in the 3" cap and contours to the curve on the inside. If you position it correctly and then insert the pipe, it becomes wedged in the cap and can't move. So anyway, it is as far away from the other sensor as possible and the canister is as big as it can be while still fitting in the rear storage compartment. IF only it would work!! haha

 

One of my cannisters is 13" long (with a union in the middle) which easily fits in my storage compartment and looks a lot longer than yours-mine is a straight shot without a curve. Is the top of the "T" of the sensor hitting the end of the cap? The only thing I can think of is the sensors are still too close together.

 

i have all 4 sensors in a smaller canister, no problems, i had just two the first year then switched to four, about a month ago i had one sensor go bad, the car is an 05 so they were pretty old, replaced the bad one, recoded and its been fine, i used 2 inch pipe, with a union

 

I have the same problem with our 08. I have them in 2 seperate canisters in the small storage holes. The sensors seem to go to sleep then you get "xxx".
We hit a bad bump and the sensors woke up for awhile. I also used the tool to activate the sensor and it woke up and showed the proper pressure. I think I shook it once and it also woke up.
Maybe leave them roll around in the car if you have a helmit on

 

If you have two extra sensors for the drag tires, why don't you just mount those sensors in the wheels that the drag tires are mounted on? That would avoid the whole canister issue.

 

I'm not sure, but I suspect he's running a low pressure in the DRs.

If you run less than 24 psi you may have problems turning off Traction Control and Active Handling.

The biggest problem is the possibility of getting the "limp mode" which may pull power on you to keep you from making a hard launch or exceeding certain speed if the system thinks you may have a flat tire.

Bob

 

Bob is correct. I'd like to run 15-20psi in the drag radials and not deal with the lights on the dashboard and the car going into limp mode. I could mount them in the rims and solve the problem while driving around with 24+psi, but that isn't what these tires were designed for.

Yeah, it's laying in the end cap wedged in with the PVC pipe.



It seems some of you guys have this working and it doesn't appear to be related to model year. I think Dennis is in New Jersey so maybe all those potholes are keeping the sensors "awake"?

Dennis = 4 sensors in 1 canister on 05' vette (works)
siffert = 4 sensors in 2 canisters on 07' vette (works)
Big Gun = 2 sensors in 1 canister on 07' vette (psi = xx)
Rich = 4 sensors in 2 canisters on 08' vette (psi = xx)

BTW, I measured my canister and the sensors sit 11" apart in the 3" pvc pipe.
I'll take the car out today and we'll see how it responds.
Scott

 

yes i built one for jerry muniz, and gave siffert the design for his, mine move around freely in the canister and like i said i had a problem when in the compartment or directly behind the seat but not in the center of the net, another point is i used 2 inch and a union coupler with oring so i can open to replace, and i cut the valve stems off of the sensors so they would fit in the 2 inch pipe, and i drilled a hole in the end cap and put a rubber valve stem in it, i think i have had it 3 years or longer, here's another tip if you take the sensor about 100 ft from the car you can open it and repair if you have a leak, and not recalibrate or relearn the sensors