TPMS

davery1

I have an 05 T&C with a malfunctioning tire pressure monitoring system. One tire is reading as having high pressure, when it is OK. Anyway once I find which tire sensor is bad, can I just replace that tire with the spare? I have heard the spare has a sensor. Goes the TPMS module expect 5 signals (4 tires and the spare)? If so, then this will not work. I'm just trying to figure out a way to temporarly fix the issue.

srs_49

If it's a full size spare, I'm guessing that it has a TPMS sensor in it. But, I think the TPMS monitoring system is only set up to monitor 4 sensors. Once you mount the spare, I think you have to reset or have the central monitoring unit (not sure exactly what it's called) relearn the tire sensors. I am not sure if this is something you can do yourself, or whether a dealer has to do it.

Note, I only have one vehicle with a TPMS on it, so don't have any first hand experience with what happens when you put a spare on.

billgrissom

Re programming. I recall reading somewhere (owner's manual?) that it is automatic. If you rotate tires, it relearns automatically. I think there is a receiver near each wheel and each TPMS sensor transmits a unique ID.

Anyway, in my 2002 T&C, the TPMS isn't working. I inquired when I got new tires recently and was told $45 per sensor. They have a battery good for ~5 years and you can't replace the battery, only the whole sensor. I declined.

I don't mind living without TPMS, I just hate the stupid bell and warning on my message center every trip. Does anyone know how to eliminate this "feature"?

srs_49

I don't mind living without TPMS, I just hate the stupid bell and warning on my message center every trip. Does anyone know how to eliminate this "feature"?

No, but if you find out let me know. I too am not a fan of this Big Brother intrusion. I am perfectly capable of checking my tire pressure with a gauge.

dashadeaux

In my 2002 it was necessary to "manually" retrain the tire sensors after each rotation. Retraining requires the use of a donut shaped magnet like the ones found in a microwave oven magnetron. My 2002 has an overhead computer and here are the steps necessary to do the training. The computer only reads input from four tires.

1. Step the computer display until the display is blank.
2. Press and hold the "Reset" button (about 20 seconds)
3. The computer now is ready to display the tire sensor outputs and will ask if you want to retrain the sensors first... reply yes to this.
4. The computer will ask for each tire sensor to be activated, beginning with the Left Front tire. Activation is done by placing the magnet around the valve stem. The cars horn will honk when the computer has linked to the sensor. If the sensor and computer do not link within 20 seconds. Retraining aborts.

My 2002 had a full size spare, and the spare did not have a tire sensor. It is easy to determine if any tire has a sensor. If there's no nut at the base of the valve stem, there's no sensor.