Tyre pressure sensors

[Timlin]

Hi all

I've fitted some new wheels to my R36 wagon and whilst it looks great now, the tyre sensors are giving me grief.

Evidently they don't like going to new wheels very much as I've had nothing but problems with slow leaks and the never ending tyre pressure warning light in the dashboard staying on, no matter what I do - pump the tires up to 45psi, or down to 20psi, do a master reset, turn the system off (this doesn't work as the next time I start the car the tyre sensor starts itself up again...), tell it I'm partially loaded, fully loaded etc, etc...

So, me thinks that one or more of the sensors has clearly been damaged in the transfer. It seems to be impossible to says which one is the offending one of course, that'd be way too easy... So, priced locally, I've been told (not confirmed yet) to expect to pay up to $250.00 each for replacements! This is not going to happen, as thats nearly as much as putting 4 new tyres on, so I have found other options on eBay and various other suppliers off shore. But, does anyone know if this will be a simple "plug & play" affair, or will it turn in to the usual "VW World-Of-Pain" when fitting new bits?

Thanks for reading!


Rgd's



Andrew

[Guest001]

Hi all

I've fitted some new wheels to my R36 wagon and whilst it looks great now, the tyre sensors are giving me grief.

Evidently they don't like going to new wheels very much as I've had nothing but problems with slow leaks and the never ending tyre pressure warning light in the dashboard staying on, no matter what I do - pump the tires up to 45psi, or down to 20psi, do a master reset, turn the system off (this doesn't work as the next time I start the car the tyre sensor starts itself up again...), tell it I'm partially loaded, fully loaded etc, etc...

So, me thinks that one or more of the sensors has clearly been damaged in the transfer. It seems to be impossible to says which one is the offending one of course, that'd be way too easy... So, priced locally, I've been told (not confirmed yet) to expect to pay up to $250.00 each for replacements! This is not going to happen, as thats nearly as much as putting 4 new tyres on, so I have found other options on eBay and various other suppliers off shore. But, does anyone know if this will be a simple "plug & play" affair, or will it turn in to the usual "VW World-Of-Pain" when fitting new bits?

Thanks for reading!
Rgd's
Andrew

Which sensor system do you have The basic one needs to reread your wheels after changing them and you reset it by pushing the button on the console. It reads the diameter of the wheels using the braking system.

The better one uses sensors on the inner end of the valves which are part of them and apparently can be damaged if you dont tell the tyre guy they are in the rim and they whack them with the tyre remover.
If you know the frequency they transmit on you may be able to use non original ones but otherwise will probably have VW pain as you say

[Timlin]

Thanks for the reply. I think I have the expensive/complex ones... they're made in France for a start??? WTF is that about? Theres a black plastic rectangle thing that sits inside the wheel, behind the valve stem. It has a soft grey semi-rubber side, and a hard black plastic other side. The valve stem sits at a 45 degree angle out from the described base and it has some rather dodgy looking rubber seals and a few washers and then a long locking nut the sits on the outside.

The frequency is 434mHz, so clearly I'll need the same frequency on the replacements. Do you know where the receiver for the system is at all? That'd be interesting.

Thanks for the reply!


AT



I've done all button pushing I can muster at this point, so much so I think I'll need to replace the button too

[2muchcoffeeman]

Been there done that!

433/434 mHz sensors will be fine and many will self activate on rotation after you go for a drive. eBay sellers are doing them, but perhaps this might be an opportunity for a site sponsor. Where are you liquidforce?

I have purchased replacements but have not bothered fitting them yet. Long story.

With mine, I held the button down for a while (10 or 20 sec) and that switched them off. Perhaps it may be a job for VCDS on your car...

Good luck!

[Timlin]

Thanks! I've found some on eBay, but the frequencies are wrong... I've held the button down, 10 sec, 20 secs, 30 mins... etc etc. The system turns off, but as soon as you start the car again it just turns back on! Very frustrating!

Did a VAGCOM check and it did nothing but to tell us what we already knew - theres a fault with the tyre pressure sensors! But, which one? No-one knows, so I need to replace them all! The more complexities, the more problems...


AT

[Guest001]

Thanks! I've found some on eBay, but the frequencies are wrong... I've held the button down, 10 sec, 20 secs, 30 mins... etc etc. The system turns off, but as soon as you start the car again it just turns back on! Very frustrating!

Did a VAGCOM check and it did nothing but to tell us what we already knew - theres a fault with the tyre pressure sensors! But, which one? No-one knows, so I need to replace them all! The more complexities, the more problems...


AT

Easy way to find out is remove one or put the spare on if it hasnt got one.

Start at one corner remove wheel put the one on without a sensor and go for a bit of a drive. Keep doing that till you work right around the car. Eventually it will not show an error UNLESS two are crook. LOL

My manual says it shows up in the MDF and therefore should show discrepancies on the crook wheel In the Vehicle status menu

The aftermarket unit I had showed the wheels on the screen and told me which was on or off or whatever. Wasnt in a VW though

[Diesel_vert]

Hi all

I've fitted some new wheels to my R36 wagon and whilst it looks great now, the tyre sensors are giving me grief.

Evidently they don't like going to new wheels very much as I've had nothing but problems with slow leaks and the never ending tyre pressure warning light in the dashboard staying on, no matter what I do - pump the tires up to 45psi, or down to 20psi, do a master reset, turn the system off (this doesn't work as the next time I start the car the tyre sensor starts itself up again...), tell it I'm partially loaded, fully loaded etc, etc...

So, me thinks that one or more of the sensors has clearly been damaged in the transfer.

Unless you fitted the sensors yourself, should not the company who fitted the wheels and tyres be held responsible?

Thanks for the reply. I think I have the expensive/complex ones... they're made in France for a start??? WTF is that about?

The car building business is a global business.

Every major vehicle manufacturer in the world sources components from across the globe. A vehicle assembled in Germany can use any number of parts sourced from Europe, Asia, the Americas, etc, and vice-versa.

Thanks! I've found some on eBay, but the frequencies are wrong... I've held the button down, 10 sec, 20 secs, 30 mins... etc etc. The system turns off, but as soon as you start the car again it just turns back on! Very frustrating!

Did a VAGCOM check and it did nothing but to tell us what we already knew - theres a fault with the tyre pressure sensors! But, which one? No-one knows, so I need to replace them all! The more complexities, the more problems...

Assuming a third party did not damage the sensors, here's what I would do:

1. A direct TPMS (tyre pressure monitoring system) is calibrated automatically after the vehicle has been driven for a distance, at speed. Also, the warning light will come on if it detects less than four moving sensors. This may happen if, for instance, the spare wheel (which does not usually come with a sensor) is fitted on the vehicle.

2. If the TPMS warning light does not go off after that, you should consider buying a repair kit from VW (part no. 1K0998275A) for around $48 per sensor. If the sensor needs to be physically removed from any wheel (not necessary when changing tyres only) it is recommended that the valve core, sealing washer, sealing ring and union nut be replaced (ECS Tuning has photos of the part). CAUTION - DO NOT EXCEED the torque figure (8 Nm) when refitting the sensors.

3. If, after replacing those components and having driven the vehicle around, the warning light still doesn't go off (assuming the sensors have been fitted properly), you may have to consider replacing the faulty sensor/s, but it's unusual that the vehicle or the plug-in computer won't tell you which sensor is faulty, especially for a direct TPMS. However, if you have no choice but to replace all four sensors, I would instead just remove the sensors from the wheels and disable the TPMS system.

[Timlin]

Thanks mate! Good tip! Sadly I don't have 24/7 access to the system so I'm inclined to just buy 4 x replacements and be done with it.

I seem to have my hand in my pocket a hell of a lot with this car... way more than with my 2007 Honda Legend, but I guess that wasn't as nice a car, and it was kinda boring too.

AT

[Diesel_vert]

Thanks mate! Good tip! Sadly I don't have 24/7 access to the system so I'm inclined to just buy 4 x replacements and be done with it.

No worries.

Look, I mean, it's obviously your money and it's none of my business on how you should spend it, but I'd hate to see you waste $1000 on tyre sensors if the problem could be solved using the repair kit (the sealing washer is only meant to be used once, and over-tightening the union nut can damage the seal and cause leaks).

I seem to have my hand in my pocket a hell of a lot with this car...

Well, that's European cars for you.

[Timlin]

Hi

There's a repair kit?

I didn't know that, thanks for the tip!

I'll do a Google search, but do you know where to get these kits?


AT