When u buy new tires, does the installer charge for adding the "tire monitor sensors" to the valve stems or is he blowing smoke up my you-know-where?

If this is untrue, how does the tire monitor sensors work?

Just curious, Thx

 

The TMPS IS the valve stem, it is an assembly that mounts inside the tire by a nut on the valve stem. The device works by broadcasting a signal from each tire to a receiver in the dash (I think). Unless the device is broken or unless the batteries are dead it does not need replacing, which is the norm. The batteries are designed to last 7 to ten years, most dealerships recommend replacing them @ 5 years - but check with dealership or the manual, I have not actually looked into the HS details.

 

Blowing smoke.

Buy elsewhere. Try Costco or the like.

 

So, if the installer doesn't mess with valve stems, there is no need to alter the sensors, is that what I'm hearing here? So, I shouldn't let them change the valve stems which some do as a general practice.

THX BL

 

The stems are part of the whole sensor unit. If you look close at them, you will find that they are metal and bolted into the wheel. If you replace the stem, the sensor goes with it, and if that happens, you must go back to the dealer and have the new sensor and stem programmed to be recognized by the Tire Pressure Monitoring Computer.

If you have a bad sensor, you'll know about it through the light on the dash. Then you'll need either a new battery or sensor itself.

As long as the original 4 (some cars use 5 sensors, one on the spare tire) sensors remain with the car, you should have no problems. You can even use the original sensors and put them in new wheels if you plan on changing the wheels to a different style. As long as they remain with the car.

That leads to problems with people who put a set of snows with different wheels on their car for the winter. Unless you have a whole other set of sensors, and have them re-initialized to the computer each winter, as long as you're running your snows, the light stays on the dash all winter long.

 

If you go to a place like Discount Tire/American's Tire Co. They charge $4 per TPMS sensor, what they do is replace the o-rings and other wear parts on the TPMS device. Now the question is, is it needed. Probably not, it's more of an insurance thing. The parts in the TPMS do wear out and let's say you got a bad o-ring and water or whatever gets in, you have to replace a fairly expensive part. I'm sure more than the $16 it costs to service the things. I figured, I change my tires once every 3-4 years, especially if you get a tire like the Nitto Motivos which have a 60K warranty or the Continental DWS which have a 50K warranty. When I installed a set of Motivos 3 weeks ago on my HS, I paid the $16. When I installed a set of DWS on my Honda, I paid the $16. Both times, I could of asked them not to service the TPMS sensors, I didn't do it on my old Lexus before I returned it on lease.

 

I recently replaced two tires on our Lexus and choose the Cont DWS, which I purchased from Discount tires. My wife drove it around the first day and complained about the tires. I thought it was because we only replaced two, so I told her I'd buy another two. She thought it was because they were not the original tires and made me put Michelin's on because Discount Tire didn't have Toyo's in stock and the dealer sometimes used Michelin's. So I choose the Primacy Mxm4 tires at the advice of the service tech. The day after replacement, she complained about the brakes and thought they screwed them up. Note: My wife thought I should have gone to the dealer...she only trusts the dealer. I drove the car and heard a noise from the front driver side coming from the brakes when I hit them hard. So I took it to the dealer and they called back and said they didn't hear noise. I told them to drive it fast and brake hard...they did and they found the problem. They said it was the brake actuator and replaced it under warranty. I just got the car back today and everything seems to be fine. I'll update later to tell you how the Michelin Primacy tires are working out...so far, I'm very pleased with them. P.S. Has anyone had a problem with their brake actuator going out? I'm going to start another post to gather thoughts/opinions. Thanks

 

Any idea which tires give the best ride, quiet and best mpg ? 18 inch

 

Back to the brake actuator. That has to be one expensive unit !!!

Any more you can tell us about that? I sure hope it is an isolated problem and not something we can look forward to replacing in the future.