esmarkey

I have been getting a warning to service the TPMS off and on. It usually quits and all is good for a while, but it has been happening more frequently. When I go through the menu, the LR tire shows a dash instead of a number but the other 3 have the PSI, so I figure that's the problem child.
My questions are:
What type of life do the TPMS wheel sensor batteries have, and are they replaceable?
If I need to replace the whole sensor on one tire, can I buy an aftermarket one and mix it in with the remaining 3, or do they all need to be the same?

Thanks in advance,

whopper

Battery life is supposed to be 5 years some say - but of course that can vary. No, the batteries are not replaceable as such - but a few people have done it with a lot of work.

An aftermarket one can be used- if it is compatible with the vehicle.

843de

X2, especially on the battery life. My 2011 has had all of its sensors replaced after two of them suffered battery issues, I'd say the five year life expectancy is to be taken with a grain of salt.

jimpennjr

I have had the the same issue with the LR. The strange part is, that even after tire rotation and resetting of TPMS, it is still the LR that goes out. Is the TPMS "brain" (that reads the sensors) farthest from the LR wheel?

donbrew

No. It is under the bump in the headliner near the rear view mirror.
Most likely some sort of RF interference between the 2 points; cell phone, laptop etc.

jimpennjr

Thanks donbrew!

esmarkey

That is interesting donbrew, it has always come back after a restart or 2.
I am now wondering if the TPMS is fine, and it's more of an RF issue. I frequently plug my cell phone charger and GPS in....

Maybe I will wait a while and see if it gets worse before I order any replacements.

donbrew

It is a weak RF signal, probably weaker than BlueTooth. I think it is RFID technology.

On my 2008, it was always the RR. I have a laptop mounted in the passenger seat and 1 and sometimes 2 smartphones and other comm devices in the car. And it usually dropped out as I was passing USMC Quantico where there is much RF jamming going on.

Last week on Labor Day Friday, I could not get any 3G signal on my phone 1 mile away from I95 in Fredericksburg, VA. (one of the most congested holiday corridors in the US). There were 200,000 other people trying to get wireless from the same tower. Same sort of thing.

esmarkey

I am sure it is a weak signal for the battery to last so long. It is too bad that they didn't use an RFID system, then there wouldn't be any batteries, but transceiver would probably have cost much more.

SInce I also have several devices running, next time it happens, I am going to try and turn them off and see if that corrects the problem.

Does anyone know if once the warning goes on, will it go off, if RF signal is restored, without having to restart car?

donbrew

I have always had to restart the car, a reboot if you will.