The Do It Yourself section is used provide assistance with mods and fixes. Whenever you are making a change to your car please take pictures and notes. Let others know what to watch out for and any useful tricks you learn. If you are starting a post in this section from scratch please hold it to a higher standard than you would for other forum posts. i.e. technical detail and even grammar.
Please post about issues or problems in the Technical Support & Problem Troubleshooting forum.
redmed wrote:You sound like one those congressmen in Washington. If I'm willing to pay for less mileage and more tire wear I want the ability to do just that.
Yep, that's the freedom we have in the good ol' USA.
However, it's when the safety of other people is hampered by individual decisions, then Washington steps in and shoves something like tpms down our throat. Something to keep in mind.
For every law there are consequences, many times unintended consequences. When the EPA first came up with mpg standards for cars but exempted trucks we had small cars mixed with large pickups. The people that did not want a small car started buying pickups and people in the small cars soon switched to pickups due to fear of being crushed. The automakers noticed and soon started making SUV's large cars on a truck platform. The end result was small cars mixed with large pickups and SUV's a unsafe combination. The amount of gas consumed per vehicle went up instead of down as intended.
redmed wrote:For every law there are consequences, many times unintended consequences. When the EPA first came up with mpg standards for cars but exempted trucks we had small cars mixed with large pickups. The people that did not want a small car started buying pickups and people in the small cars soon switched to pickups due to fear of being crushed. The automakers noticed and soon started making SUV's large cars on a truck platform. The end result was small cars mixed with large pickups and SUV's a unsafe combination. The amount of gas consumed per vehicle went up instead of down as intended.
I never thought about it that way, but it makes a lot of sense.
Reasons for people needing larger cars--women in suvs on the phone putting on makeup driving without a care. I've seen a family slaughtered in a Corolla by a woman who didn't notice the line of cars backed up off a highway exit in HSV. Only the hood of the Corolla was left.
Driver education is a lot more useful right now than worrying about fuel economy--especially since everyone jumps on fuel 10/cents gallon cheaper and then spends the savings inside buying a coke that's $1.50. That always makes me laugh when people think they're saving anything.
Have worked with dealer and he has changed two sensors at $300 + a piece.
Just had driver side rear replaced and light stayed off for 48 hours and Check TPMS
System light came back on. The previous warning light was the low pressure light, because I had a leaking sensor. Now back to square one and out big bucks.
RECMAN0917 wrote:Have worked with dealer and he has changed two sensors at $300 + a piece.
Just had driver side rear replaced and light stayed off for 48 hours and Check TPMS
System light came back on. The previous warning light was the low pressure light, because I had a leaking sensor. Now back to square one and out big bucks.
Fear not sir! You're in luck because there's no reason you'll have to spend anything more than buying new $50 sensors, if one is actually bad.
First, do you know if all your sensors are good? If so, then you just need to relearn them to the car. If you think one is bad, we'll need to test it and/or replace it.
RECMAN0917 wrote:Thanks Will know by Thursday if all are good. If one is bad please tell me how to get one for $50 bucks !
How will you know? What does your car say on the display? If the sensors just aren't learned to the car, you can check the sensor yourself for free and in about 5m.
You can buy one from several difference sources that is identical to the Suzuki factory sensor. But even a better bet is a whole set of 4 Suzuki sensors for about $10-$20 more. This way, you have some spares too. It's really easy for tire changing monkeys to damage these things.
I damaged my sensor myself. One of my sensor stems developed a leak soon after I had new tires installed. I bought a new gasket for the stem and it and took the wheel to a local shop to install the gasket. Was first told that the whole sensor had to be replaced. I explained about the stem gasket and convinced them. They successfully replaced the gasket but after I brought the wheel home discovered the tire flat the next day. I checked and found that the stem gasket was fine but discovered that when the shop guy tightened the valve inside the stem he tightened it too tight and cracked the aluminum stem. These TPMS sensors are a learning curve for the average mechanic. Not wanting to go back to the shop and be told that the whole sensor had to be replaced again. I bought a new sensor stem & went to Harbor Freight and bought a tire changer. While breaking the bead on the tire I broke the plastic piece holding the metal retainer on the sensor. My fault trying to break the bead too near the sensor. I know better now. I used some plastic epoxy to cement the metal retainer back in place and as extra insurance I attached the body of the sensor to the rim with some velcro. It now holds air with no leaks and works fine.
Finally, got the last sensor replaced and everything is fine for now,First when it was done The light came on and said Service TPMS system and they reset and the light has not come back on yet ! and I say yet ! By the way Thanks for all the advice, don't have a large area to do my own mechanic work
redmed wrote:I damaged my sensor myself. One of my sensor stems developed a leak soon after I had new tires installed. I bought a new gasket for the stem and it and took the wheel to a local shop to install the gasket. Was first told that the whole sensor had to be replaced. I explained about the stem gasket and convinced them. They successfully replaced the gasket but after I brought the wheel home discovered the tire flat the next day. I checked and found that the stem gasket was fine but discovered that when the shop guy tightened the valve inside the stem he tightened it too tight and cracked the aluminum stem. These TPMS sensors are a learning curve for the average mechanic. Not wanting to go back to the shop and be told that the whole sensor had to be replaced again. I bought a new sensor stem & went to Harbor Freight and bought a tire changer. While breaking the bead on the tire I broke the plastic piece holding the metal retainer on the sensor. My fault trying to break the bead too near the sensor. I know better now. I used some plastic epoxy to cement the metal retainer back in place and as extra insurance I attached the body of the sensor to the rim with some velcro. It now holds air with no leaks and works fine.
These sensors can definitely be a challenge for the normal tire changers as they require quite a bit of precision--parts to change to maintain a seal, proper tightening torque, etc.
That's awesome that you were able to fix it yourself. As long as the sensor is held on to the valve stem, that's all that matters since it takes its own pressure reading separate from the stem.
That always makes me laugh when people think they're saving anything.