TPMS Question
 

My c6 says I have 0 pressure on the left rear.

However, a check with my traditional gauge shows the pressure is fine.

Does this mean my tire sensor is out?

On my c5, if the sensor is bad, it reads --, not 0, and I cannot find this discussed in my owner's manual. Who writes these things?! They have things in the weirdest places, and with the weirdest key words to use for looking up anything! :crazy:

UPDATE IN POST 28. :)

Check your other tires in case they were programmed out of sequence. If all are ok, and you've driven the car to activate the sensor, and it still reads zero, I'm voting for a bad sensor.

I would try to reprogram that one or possibly all 4. If you can afford $90
a TPMS tool is inexpensive and extremely useful.

:iagree: At BEZ06's suggestion, I got the tool..$89 and it has already paid for half of itself. If your sensors are programmed wrong, then it may be a different tire that is low...so first thing is to check all four...then try reprogramming...then if it still is off, a new sensor. Once you are comfortable with using the tool, the car can be re-programmed in less than one minute, so don't let a tire place convince you that its a big job:thumbs:

A side benefit of the tool is being able to impress the heck out of neighbors when you help them. All new cars have sensor systems now.

Having the tool allows you to check the operation of each sensor individually without actually reprogramming the whole system. This is very useful for checking a sensor on a wheel that is not actually on the car also.

my battery died and I lost the same one to zero. I have the tool but I haven't had a chance to reprogram. Keep in mind that if you have one that reads zero.....you can't put the car into "competitive driving" mode. Which sucks when you want to play a little.. :)

Where do I get the tool? Do you have a link? How does it work? Both my daughters' vehicles have tire pressure sensors, as does my Hummer. Sounds like it would be useful to have, for sure!

Now that is not good news at all! I have an autocross weekend planned next month.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/sout...h-19-21-a.html

I'll have to get it taken care of before then, for sure!

This is the one I got...solid unit works great...can't beat the price.
http://www.toolsurge.com/prodview.asp?sku=OTC-TIPS003A:thumbs:

(I know, I broke forum rules by not spending more money, but really, it works great)

Thanks! I need to get it ordered quickly so that if a sensor is bad, I have time to replace it before the track days next month!

Bob, BEZ06, has even done videos of how to work the tool...they really give a good overview of what the tool can do. He is the MAN when it comes to TPMS:thumbs:

Looks like a decent tool to have, I checked out T.I.P.S. PRO web site for the procedure to re-program and/or index the wheel pressure sensors. Seems simple enough.

I have one question relative to a 2010 GS specifically, how do you place the vehicle in the "LEARN" mode in preparation of re-programming and/or indexing the wheel pressure sensors?

I checked my Corvette owners manual, placing the vehicle in the "LEARN" mode is not mentioned unless I missed it somehow.

My 2009 Malibu has a built-in procedure for indexing the wheel pressure sensors after tire rotation, i.e. transmission in park, apply parking brake, turn key to on position without starting vehicle and depress both the <LOCK> and <UNLOCK> buttons on the key fob to activate the "LEARN" mode.

Regards,

GSRANDY

I bought this one from Tire Rack. Works fine. Gets the job done. I have 2 sets of wheels and tires so I need to reprogram every time I swap sets

ATEQ VT10

You set the ignition button to the "accessory " mode and then hold the lock and unlock buttons on the fob simultaneously until the horn beeps. Each sensor will then cause a horn beep when it is triggered...the last sensor makes 2 beeps, you are done. All this is in Bob's videos.:thumbs: I made a note of it in my manual. Cars are all different and my tire guy said the toughest thing for him is figuring out how to enter the mode on all the different cars that come in. He said that was why he had to start charging for it....research time. The actual programming only takes less than a minute and he said he wouldn't charge for that.

Hi

If you have a 2010 I don't think you need a tool to reprogram the sensors.

Do you have access to a compressor?

If so, you can try an experiment for us!!;)

The 2005 to 2009 C6 uses a sensor that requires a tool that transmits a radio frequency to trigger them during the relearn procedure to get them to send their data to the TPMS computer so their ID#s can be logged into the TPMS memory.

However, the 2010 C6 uses a sensor with a different part#, and the RPO code for the TPMS computer in the car is also different. The sensor used in the 2010 models has the same part# as sensors used in some other GM model vehicles, and they can be triggered without a tool - they can be triggered by changing air pressure in the tire for 8 to 10 seconds.

So....if you have a 2010 you could try it out for us and report back!

Below is a video of putting the car into the "learn mode" and then using a tool to trigger the sensors.

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i1...h_TIPSTool.jpg


I'm not sure if it will work, but sure would like to have somebody with a 2010 try it out.

You'll put the car into the learn mode just like in that video (push the bottom of the ignition switch to get the yellow light by ACC illuminated, then simultaneously push and hold both the "lock" and "unlock" buttons of the fob until you get a honk of the horn).

Then, you trigger each sensor in the order Left Front, RF, RR, LR. You must get a honk of the horn at each wheel (double honk at the LR) or it didn't work.

But, instead of using a tool, on a 2010 you may be able to trigger each sensor by letting out or putting in air for 8 to 10 seconds. The info I have in a guide used by tire shops to work on various models of vehicles says that you change the air pressure in the tire and wait for 30 seconds, and if you don't get a honk of the horn then try it again.

After you put the car into the learn mode, the first sensor must be triggered within 1 minute or it will drop out of the learn mode. The entire procedure must be completed within 5 minutes.

So.....if you have a 2010, put the car into the learn mode and let air out of the Left Front tire for 8 to 10 seconds and when you get a horn honk move on to the the RF, RR, then the LR where you should get a double honk. Turn off the ignition to complete the procedure, then pump your tires back up to normal pressure.

Let us know if that pressure change method works on a 2010!!

Bob :flag:

Interesting Bob, fun to find out....:lurk:

Bob,

After removing my car cover, placed my 2010 GS ignition in the "Accessory Mode", applied the emergency brake and then depressed and held both the <LOCK> and <UNLOCK> buttons on my FOB, after a few seconds the horn beeped once and I let up on the FOB buttons.

Proceeded to immediately decrease the tire pressure in the LH front tire, after a few seconds the horn beeped once.

Walked around to the RH front tire and repeated the process, after a few seconds the horn beeped once.

Walked to the RH rear tire and repeated the process, after a few seconds the horn beeped once.

Walked around to the LH rear tire and repeated the process, after a few seconds the horn beeped twice, indicating successful completing of the entire TPMS sensor re-indexing process on all four (4) tires/wheels.

Brought all four tires back up to 40PSI (winter storage pressure setting) with my air compressor and checked the readings on my DIC, all TPMS sensors seemed to be displaying correctly.

Bob you are correct, it appears the 2010 Corvette TPMS sensors may be re-indexed without the usage of a hand held programmer.

Have no idea why this procedure isn't covered in the 2010 Corvette owners manual, unless I missed it somehow, don't think so however.

This is a good thing to know, as I plan to rotate my Goodyear F1 Super Car tires from left to right to hopefully help even out the wear a bit as they are not uni-directional tires.

I'm also considering purchasing a set of Z06 chrome Spider wheels and tires, so l will make certain to purchase the exact 2010 GM replacement TPMS sensors from Gene to avoid having to spend the money to purchase a programmer to re-index the TPMS sensors in my tires/wheels when switching back and forth from the GS chrome wheels and the Z06 chrome Spider wheels.

Thank You Cris and Bob for the information..................

Regards,

GSRANDY

Experiment completed....knowledge gained.....thanks for doing the leg work and confirming Bob's theory! Good to know.:thumbs:

The tool is still good to have as it can confirm that a sensor is functional even on a random wheel that is not on the car. When I had new front tires put on, I brought the weels in to Costco, had the tool with me, confirmed with the manager that both sensors worked, then confirmed same when I got them back. He was impressed that I had the tool...we had a good conversation about it and I knew he would be extra careful because of it.

Hey GSRandy - thanks for confirming that procedure on your 2010!!!:thumbs:

FYI, the TPMS memory can only hold 4 sensors. So, when you get a new set of wheels, you'll need to do the relearn procedure every time you swap to a diiferent set of wheels with different sensors.

The way the DIC knows which pressure to display for which wheel is because of the order in which the sensors are triggered when programming them. Each sensor has a unique ID# and when in the learn mode, the first one triggered is logged into memory as the LF, the second as the RF, the third as the RR, and the last one as the LR - that's why we do the procedure in that order.

If you have the Supercar tires (or other non-directional tires) you can swap them from one side to the other - but the DIC display won't correspond to the correct position unless you reprogram the sensors in the proper order.

When you get a new set of sensors make sure you get the sensors with the 2010 part#. Gene Culley's site has the correct #.

BTW, the air pressure method won't work on 2005-2009 C6 sensors, and you can't use the 2010 sensors in an older C6!!:(

Bob :flag:

Bob, are we sure that you can't use these new sensors on an earlier model?:lurk:

Liz.. Try your horn... Oooops, you don't have a horn, do you??? Maybe it is a joint venture problem, horn/tire sensor????

Bob,

Thanks again for your input, every day is a learning experience.

Ragards,

GSRANDY