TPMS nightmare
Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 2:45 pm
I've got 58,000 miles on my 2010 Kizashi. The second set of tires was getting low on tread and I got a slow leak on the right front. Had it plugged twice and it came right back. I was hoping to make it until September before I got new tires, but was tired of screwing with it. Got new tires from Discount Tire Direct and as the car is ten years old, I got VDO-Continental Redi-Sensors off Amazon. Figured if I didn't, the batteries in the factory sensors would start going dead shortly after putting the new tires on. The sensor for a Kizashi is SE10001HP, paid $135 for a four pack.
Went to the closest NTB and had the tires and sensors mounted. They claimed they had left their trigger tool in a customer's car and couldn't sync my new sensors, so I got the car back blinking "Service TPMS System". Did the trick of putting the car into learn mode then letting air of the sensors. All of the alerts went out, though I had it covered, but as soon as I drove a quarter of a mile or so, "Low Tire Pressure" came on. Called the VDO technical help line and the guy said he didn't think letting the air out would work, because the Redi-Sensor has multiple communication protocols in it, needs to be triggered with a tool to sync the communications properly. So I went to MR Tire and paid them $15 to do it, same result, halfway home the low pressure light came on. Called NTB and they still didn't have a trigger tool (how can that be, that's your business) so I went to another NTB, showed them my receipt, and badgered them into doing it. Again, no joy. All the indications are right, seems as if it worked correctly, light comes on after a quarter mile.
Drove it around for a month or so thinking about it and trying to decide what to do next. I'm thinking what if one of those sensors is bad, and how would I even know? So I decided to buy a tool so that I could know what I'm talking about. Bought an ATEQ VT-31 and proceeded to check the sensors. All four showed an ID code, ambient temperature, battery level OK, 315 MHz, and correct pressure ranging from 37.5 to 38.5 psi. Called the technical support number again and told the guy my whole tale of woe. He had me try all sorts of stupid tricks, door open, door closed, are the windows rolled up all the way, start the car when you finish instead of turning it off, start the car after finishing then go trigger them all a second time "just to lock it in". Then he suggests updating the firmware in the tool, so I hang up and call ATEQ. They determine that the firmware has been updated twice since mine was made. Needs a USB B mini cable which looks familiar from about six cell phones ago, naturally I've thrown all of those away, so I drove to Best Buy and bought one. Updated the firmware and noticed a small change in the Kizashi menu, it originally had choices of 2010-11, 2012, or 2013. Seemed strange as I don't know of any changes between those years. The new program just said 2010-13, only one choice. So with great hope, I go back out to let the neighbors laugh at me for doing Chinese fire drills by myself in the driveway. No joy, so I called the tech support guy back. He calls a next level guy and conference calls us together. This guy suggests all kinds of voodoo tricks, most of which I had already done. The more we talked the more he was convinced that the sensors were properly synced to to car but for some reason one of them was reporting low which is what I had been trying to suggest for about three hours. All of a sudden he has an A-HA moment.
The SE1001HP sensor has a high pressure mode (that's what the HP is for), once the pressure goes above 55 psi it switches into a mode for Ford trucks that alerts if the pressure goes below 50. All I had to do is let all of the air out and then pump them back up to 38 psi. Luckily I knew it was one of the ones on the passenger side so I didn't have to do all four. RESULT !
So two months later, having spent about $100 on a tool I didn't need (but is nice to have) about five hours of my time and four hours of various technical support time, it seems as if letting the air out of the tires did learn the ID codes into the car but the one sensor was in high pressure mode and reporting a fault.
Went to the closest NTB and had the tires and sensors mounted. They claimed they had left their trigger tool in a customer's car and couldn't sync my new sensors, so I got the car back blinking "Service TPMS System". Did the trick of putting the car into learn mode then letting air of the sensors. All of the alerts went out, though I had it covered, but as soon as I drove a quarter of a mile or so, "Low Tire Pressure" came on. Called the VDO technical help line and the guy said he didn't think letting the air out would work, because the Redi-Sensor has multiple communication protocols in it, needs to be triggered with a tool to sync the communications properly. So I went to MR Tire and paid them $15 to do it, same result, halfway home the low pressure light came on. Called NTB and they still didn't have a trigger tool (how can that be, that's your business) so I went to another NTB, showed them my receipt, and badgered them into doing it. Again, no joy. All the indications are right, seems as if it worked correctly, light comes on after a quarter mile.
Drove it around for a month or so thinking about it and trying to decide what to do next. I'm thinking what if one of those sensors is bad, and how would I even know? So I decided to buy a tool so that I could know what I'm talking about. Bought an ATEQ VT-31 and proceeded to check the sensors. All four showed an ID code, ambient temperature, battery level OK, 315 MHz, and correct pressure ranging from 37.5 to 38.5 psi. Called the technical support number again and told the guy my whole tale of woe. He had me try all sorts of stupid tricks, door open, door closed, are the windows rolled up all the way, start the car when you finish instead of turning it off, start the car after finishing then go trigger them all a second time "just to lock it in". Then he suggests updating the firmware in the tool, so I hang up and call ATEQ. They determine that the firmware has been updated twice since mine was made. Needs a USB B mini cable which looks familiar from about six cell phones ago, naturally I've thrown all of those away, so I drove to Best Buy and bought one. Updated the firmware and noticed a small change in the Kizashi menu, it originally had choices of 2010-11, 2012, or 2013. Seemed strange as I don't know of any changes between those years. The new program just said 2010-13, only one choice. So with great hope, I go back out to let the neighbors laugh at me for doing Chinese fire drills by myself in the driveway. No joy, so I called the tech support guy back. He calls a next level guy and conference calls us together. This guy suggests all kinds of voodoo tricks, most of which I had already done. The more we talked the more he was convinced that the sensors were properly synced to to car but for some reason one of them was reporting low which is what I had been trying to suggest for about three hours. All of a sudden he has an A-HA moment.
The SE1001HP sensor has a high pressure mode (that's what the HP is for), once the pressure goes above 55 psi it switches into a mode for Ford trucks that alerts if the pressure goes below 50. All I had to do is let all of the air out and then pump them back up to 38 psi. Luckily I knew it was one of the ones on the passenger side so I didn't have to do all four. RESULT !
So two months later, having spent about $100 on a tool I didn't need (but is nice to have) about five hours of my time and four hours of various technical support time, it seems as if letting the air out of the tires did learn the ID codes into the car but the one sensor was in high pressure mode and reporting a fault.