Anyone run across a tool that can confirm if a TPMS sensor is working? I've been having hell with sensors lately, I think I got sent one that was broken but I don't have a way to confirm if that is true or not until it gets installed inside the tire. I'd love to have some device that can confirm its sending out the 433 mghz before I go to the trouble of installing it.

 

You can get a Kent Moore J-46079 / EL-46079 tool. It'll tell you the sensor ID and current pressure. It also has a simulation mode so you can test the receiver in the car as well. I just picked one up used to diagnose the system in my H3. It's listed in the C7 service manual as well, and I confirmed it could read my sensors. The pricing is all over the board. If you find one that's missing the charger for the battery pack, buy it anyway. You can use standard C-cell batteries with these things.

There's also an OTC 3833 tool. The hardware is identical to the Kent tool, but it runs software that lets it talk to a much wider range of cars. It's not just limited to GM. I wish I had known about that one before I bought mine, but there's not much I can do about it now.

There are other ones as well, but that's what I have personal experience with.

 

I sometimes overheat those sensors, and they fail on me, forcing me to debug which one is causing the issue (which is not always obvious).

You can also get one of those $10-$20 learner tools. With the car in park but either running or in ON position, you go to info display, and find tire pressure screen. Pressing and holding on select will make the car honk and it will display "Learning mode enabled" or something along those lines. Once it started, you start from FL --> FR --> RR --> RL (i.e. make a clock-wise tour around the car) and register the sensors one by one by using the learner tool. Every time the sensor is recognized, the car will honk once, and you move on to the next. If any of the sensors is problematic, it will not honk when you ping it with the tool.

If you intend to test it out before install, you can do the same process before the sensors are installed as well. It will just show 0 pressure on the screen when registered.

The tool is something like this:

 

That OTC looks good, they have a new version 3838, but man I don't really want to spend that much money. It seems a bit overkill to just read a 433 mhz signal.

I like the price of that Amazon VXDAS one but it doesn't list Corvette and it doesn't look like it can tell if a sensor is working, only that it can relearn them. I was under the impression the C7's didn't need to be programmed to work? I've been switching between street and track wheels for 4 years and never did that learning procedure with a tool working clockwise around the car? I'd just swap wheels and go with no issues, until recently.

What I'd really like to do is be able to tell that the sensor still works after getting new tires mounted (that seems to be the point when they stop working) and when I buy a replacement ensure the replacement actually works. I just got my car back from the shop and they had to replace the brand new TPMS I bought because apparently it didn't work. I've found you can only get into PTM in track mode if all four TPMS are working or none of them is working. If only one or two sensors are out it won't let you engage PTM which ruined my last track day, trying to avoid that in the future with one of these tools.

 

Corvettes can auto-learn AND manually learn. Manually learn procedure, as I've outlined, will let you figure out which one is faulty both when sensors are installed and not yet installed. I cook these sensors every once in while, and do this debugging all the time. It works.

 

I realized this is a few months old, but I just wanted to note that the OTC 3833 does NOT appear to work for the C7. The one I bought used has software dated 11-30-07 and only offers up to 2008 for Corvettes. OTC did have a software update that claims to be good through the 2013 model year, but the C6 appears to have a different frequency from the C7 so I wouldn't expect that version of software to work either.

Rusty

 

Do you have the disc for the 3833 update? I've been wondering if it's possible to load the Kent software on the OTC tool and vice versa.

 

The sensor might actually be working but could be the wrong sensor for your car. 2018 and 2019 C7s use a different sensor from the older C7s. Both are 433 MHz. The newer sensors will work in older cars but the older sensors will not be recognized in the newer cars.

 

I don't have any newer software than the 3.0 version. I understand the two use the same hardware, and also wondered about using the Kent software. Will the Kent software work for a C7?

I sent the OTC folks an email asking if there's anything past the 2013 update, but I'm pretty sure the answer will be no. The 3833 is a really old piece of hardware.

Rusty

Reply from OTC:
The very last update for the 3833 is up to 2013 model year there is nothing newer. The tool has been discontinued.

 

I was able to get sensor values from my C7. It's a 2014. I didn't try any of the relearn procedures because I didn't want to mess anything up.

I pulled the FCC certification docs for both tools. There's a handy block diagram showing all the major circuits. They've got different CPUs, and the OTC tool doesn't have a couple of transmitters that the J tool has. So the hardware is similar, but not identical.

 

I couldn't get the sensor ID with my unit, but in autoscan mode, it did seem to find a sensor at least. It would be interesting to do the 2013 update (3833-80) to see if that works any better, but I haven't seen any affordable used copies of that anywhere. I'll likely just list mine for sale in one of the older generation classifieds.

Rusty

 

I was not aware of this, I thought they were all the same. Mine is a 2017 though. Anyhow I'm amazed that I still can't find a tool that can connect to one of these ahead of time and confirm its working.

 

The good news is that any decent tire shop can do this. I was having a set of all season tires installed on a second set of wheels, and wanted to verify the sensors. When I couldn't I asked Discount Tire if they could check them before installation, and the guy smiled and said "We always do". Hope he's right, because the new tires are downstairs and about to be installed.

 

I was doing some searching, and it appears Autel makes some useful devices. The TS401 would probably do most anything I'd want to do with a TPMS sensor, but they make other much more functional devices as well. The TS401 seems to be around $120 Ebay price. Click the comparison tab on this link and it shows all the devices.

http://www.maxitpms.com/tpmscms/product/580.jhtml

This link will allow you to check the compatibility of a vehicle with their various units.

http://www.maxitpms.com/getCoverage.jspx

I might try one of the 401 or 501 units. There's very little talk of them on the forum, but I did find them mentioned a couple times.
Rusty

 

I have an Autel TS508. It reads the C7 Corvette sensors and shows the part number, pressure it is measuring and the state of the battery. Works just fine. I have used the TS408 also and it does everything the TS508 does except it will not connect to the OBDII port, which is not really needed anyway on these cars. The TS401 and TS501 are older versions of these tools. Not sure if they offer software updates for them to include newer vehicles.

 

The TS401 and 501 do say they include software updates for life, and the compatibility site indicates that they will work with everything I need. That being said, the TS508 appears to be available at a wide variety of prices on Ebay. I suspect many of those are somewhat shady grey market items. I just ordered the cheapest one that was from an authorized dealer.

Thanks,
Rusty