Last week, on the way to work, the Service Tire Monitor warning came on and I noticed that my right rear tire sensor wasn't being read.
However, after leaving the car parked all day, when I started it back up it was showing a reading for the tire again.
It worked fine for the next couple of days and then I switched my tires to put on the tires I use for autocrossing.
I used the programming tool to reprogram the sensors for my autocross tires and all was fine.
Today, I switched back to my street tires and when I tried programming them, the right rear sensor wouldn't register so I couldn't successfully finish the programming.
I tried pumping the air pressure up to 40 and then letting air out until it got down to 20 psi to see if maybe it would "wake up" the sensor.
Still no luck re-programming it.
I had to run out to do some errands, so I went out with the warning - all was fine until I did some spirited driving on the way home and the system put on the brakes when I tried to take a turn at 60-65 MPH.
That was frightening! I don't know how they consider that a safety feature - it made the car lurch and squawked the tires and really unsettled the car.
Anyway, I took it easy the rest of the way home and all was fine.
Oddly enough though, once I got back home, I tried the programming process again and this time the right rear sensor was detected and reprogramming the sensors worked just fine.

So, my question is, can I expect this sensor to fail on me again?
Is it likely that the battery is going bad in this sensor?
I've only had these tires and sensors since June of 2011, and the sensors were purchased new from House of Wheels.
Seems like it's too early for them to start dying already, but I'm thinking I should get some replacements just in case.
Of course, the sensor is actiong up in the tires that still have a lot of life in them, not my autocross tires which I'm planning on replacing in the next month anyway.

-Ray

 

Normally I would say just replace your sensors, but those are only 2 years old. Maybe you just got a bad one. I would replace that one because it is such an annoying problem when they are not working.

 

Well, after finally getting it to program yesterday after I got back home, took it on a all day road trip today and it worked fine with no issues all day.
Still, I'm a bit worried that it could flake out on me some day when I'm at the track which could run my day not being able to take any turns at more than 55 MPH.
I've ordered an extra set of sensors to have on hand just in case (found a set of 4 brand new sensors on Ebay for $119 a set).
If this one flakes out again, I'll replace it.
I'm also thinking of using the trick of putting a sensor in a sealed PVC container as a backup in case it decides to go bad again in the middle of a track day.

-Ray

 

I was driving on the highway running around 75mph when my dash went off “Service tire pressure monitor”, light was blinking then stayed on. The left rear showed (XX PSI) I got off the highway and drove on the back roads to go home, when the left rear went to reading again. Well the next day was driving on the highway again, this time the left front and right rear did the same thing (XX PSI). Then the right front went to (XX PIS) and the right rear went to reading. Got home looked at everything, nothing. My wheels were really dirty on the inside, so I cleaned them (needed too) but figured no way this could be the issue. Drove to my friend house (on the highway) running around 80mph, nothing, everything was normal. I wonder if it's in the program cause all my sensors can't be going bad.

 

I just saw in their newsletter that LG Motorsports has a TPMS disabling kit for C6's for guys who track.

http://www.lgmotorsports.com/product...oducts_id=2652

Ahh darn....looks like 05-08 only now. Still, if you're interested you might call the shop and ask when the newer models will be supported. Maybe you can be a beta tester.

 

Yup, that's just what mine did a week and a half ago when it went out on the highway - showed XX for the RR sensor. Fortunately, for me, it was just the one. What was more frustrating was when it wouldn't reprogram after a tire swap - without a successful programming, 3 of the sensors were not showing a reading.

 

Saw mention of that gadget in a post in this forum as well:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-t...nator-kit.html

They say that one for '09 and up is in testing.
Looks like an interesting solution - it seems like it tricks the system into thinking that the TPMS sensors are present and working as it sounds like traction control and active handling are still active if you wish.

-Ray

 

that sensor is going bad. you may want to consider some new CLOANABLE sensors. then you will not have to reprogram anything when you change wheels.

 

I have the programming tool, so it's not a hassle to reprogram, but does reprogramming frequently reduce the life span of the sensors?
During the summer, I'm probably swapping tires at least once or twice a month.

Where can one find clonable sensors and how much more expensive are they?

 

Ray,
A couple of things. Putting sensors in a plastic canister doesn't work. Tried it earlier this year at the Glen on the 08. Pulled the sensors out of the race wheels and placed them in a canister. Results are no different than having the street wheels sitting next to the car. On the 08 I got about a half hour of track time before the system started crying foul.

On your GS you may have even less time to run.

If you are running run flats you need the system operating since that is the only way to know a tire doesn't have any tire pressure. As for running on the track or on the street when you know you have a TPMS problem you can easily pull down the close out panel under the steering column (3 push pins hold it up) and disconnect the steering sensor from the wiring harness. I wouldn't do that too many times since the sensor connector probably is chosen for a low number of plug/unplug cycles since the designers didn't expect it to be unplugged very often. It may only be good for 50 cycles.

If your sensors in your street wheels are stock sensors and if your car is still under the B2B warranty the dealer may replace them for free. My local dealer did that with my aftermarket LG wheels that had EMTs and stock sensors. One thing I think that makes the sensors go bad quickly is track driving. After 20 minutes of 100+ mph running with a lot of hard braking and cornering thrown in the wheels/tires get very hot and I think the sensor electronics/battery can't take the high temps.

By the way if you want I can give my PVC canister to Rich L and he can get it to you the next time you meet at an autocross. It really didn't do me any good and I will be throwing it away before the wife and I pack up to move to Charlotte in the 6 weeks.

Bill

 

they are pretty cheap $50 from napa but you will need the cloan tool also. they work great (at least for the last 2 months) on my car. I use them for my track wheels, I have 2 extra sets (dry & wet tires)

 

Thanks Bill. With the sensors in the canister, did you leave the canister in the car and it still didn't work? I was thinking I'd stick the canister with the sensor in it in the back storage compartment so the system would think it was the sensor in the tire.

I saw your instructions on how to disconnect the steering sensor in another thread and I printed that out and have it in the car just in case. That seems like a nice "quick fix" to get around problems with a sensor that decides to go bad during a track day. I wouldn't do it on a regular basis though.

Unfortunately, this bad sensor is not in my original factory wheels, but aftermarket wheels I bought. And of course, the tires on these wheels have a lot of life left in them yet. I've ordered a set of replacement sensors already and will take the wheel with the flaky sensor in to a tire shop to have them break the seal so I can replace it before the next track day in a couple weeks.

If you want to leave your PVC canister with Rich, that would be great but I don't know when the next time is that we'll be running an autocross together (probably not until next year). Looks like the Edinburg event for later this month is going to have to be cancelled because the track hasn't been re-repaired yet.

So you found a place near Charlotte? Good luck with your move. Going to miss seeing you at our autocross events unless you're planning on coming back to NY in the summer times.

-Ray

 

Thanks, I'll look into those. That's not too much more expensive than a regular TPMS sensor (although I already have a replacement set coming).
How much does the clone tool run though? Wonder if I can find someone around here that has one.

-Ray

 

I had the canister with the sensors in the left rear compartment. Everything was going fine until I hit the magic 30 minute mark and the brakes were applied when I hit Turn 2 at 100 mph. Problem with depending on sensors in the wheels is not knowing when one will fail. If it fails at the wrong time the brakes go on just when you don't want them to go on. Then you might get massive understeer and slapped in the butt as well.

Best thing to do would be to make up a short harness that plugs into the steering sensor connector on one end and into the sensor harness on the other end. Between the two connectors insert a relay on one of the steering 5V reference and use a switch to open and close the relay thus knocking the sensor out of the loop and shutting down active handling. One issue with that solution that would have to be checked and resolved is how sensitive the circuit is to the increased resistance between the sensor and the harness.

Bill

 

Hmm, odd that it still didn't work even in the car. Did the system somehow know that they weren't in the tires?
I definitely didn't like how the system applied the brakes on me the other day and I wasn't anywhere near 100MPH. Really seems odd they don't provide a way to manually override that "safety" feature.

It's looking more and more like the best solution will be to get the new gadget from LG Motorsports that tricks the system into thinking that the sensors are present and working - just need to wait until they finish testing the one they are working on for 2009 models and later.

-Ray

 

Not sure how it works exactly but I suspect it has something to do with how rapidly the sensors are updating the system. Normally they would be broadcasting every 30 seconds when the car is moving. Obviously, the sensors in the canister aren't broadcasting that fast so the system must wait for a certain time period before complaining. From what I have seen on the forum the time period varies from an hour on 05/06 cars, less on 08 cars and even less on newer cars.

Bill

 

Hmm, wonder if there is some sort of motion sensor in the TPMS sensors as well?
Still seems like an oversight to me that GM doesn't provide a way to override the TPMS warning for the track (like turning off traction control)

 

My LR wheel sensor went XX for the first time in weeks yesterday morning. By the time I got in the car in the afternoon to drive home, it had completely cleared like the last time. When it temporarily fails, it is always on the same stretch of highway so I am suspecting a somewhat weak sensor is being overwhelmed by RF interference at that location on the freeway (very close to the intersection of BW8 and west I-10 in Houston).