Had an 05 Chrysler Town and Country in for various repairs one of which was a tpms light. Replaced the faulty sensor and drove as Chrysler recommends for 10 to 15 minutes at above 15 mph. (Got pulled over once for going too slow and driving on the shoulder.) After informing the nice police officer of the procedure and the fact that I was not happy and had to start all over. Well to make a long story short completed the procedure and had another sensor code. Replaced that sensor and repeated the procedure. Now I had two more codes. Having a hard time believing I had more bad sensors and not being able to relearn the sensors I pulled out my Snap-on Scanner and started searching for answers. What I finally ended up doing was breahing down all four tires, writing down the sensor codes and programing them with the scanner. The light went off and all is well. Recently checked with the customer and he has had no further problems. Part of the problem with these is that if the tires are rotated there is not a good way that I have found to find a bad sensor accurately. No way of knowing what the last guy did. Hope this helps someone else. Any one else have any enlightenment on these systems?
wouldn't the tpms tool have helped. in all the applications that i've had the tool triggers the sensor. even if they're in the wrong position. if it calls for the left front and doesn't trigger i'll go to other tires. the only issue i've had is if the sensor has been trashed. i've had customers come in after they purchased tires at a "whole sale shop" with the light on because the shop told them it needed to be programmed. on one i looked and saw rubber valve stems in the wheels and informed the customer that the sensor was missing in each tire. i waS TOLD THAT THEY WERE TOLD I MAY SAY THAT. sent them on their way and told them that the dealer had the special tool that was needed. saw the car in about 9 months and asked the customer if the dealer had the "special" tool to program non existent sensors. i was told it cost approximately 11 hundred dollars to be repaired. i asked how the tire savings was working out for him. i have no issue with throwing things like this out. i'm over hungry hill and will add and remove help as needed.
never argue with a fool, they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience
I have not purchased a tpms tool cuz my scanner is supposed to cover all of this. Sad to say that it is becoming clear that this is just another empty promise. (Maybe I should not be saying this) But sometimes you have to tell it like it is. Over all the years of independent repair I hate to imagine the number of dollars spent on equipment that is obsolite a year later and feel that the tpms tool will just be another one of those. The frustration comes when you are told that the scanner will handle a particular problem and when you put it to use find out that you have been lied to.
In my opinion, A good tpms tool is well worth the investment. We have a snap on tester and it is awesome. I haven't had a vehicle that I couldn't program within ten minutes. It also comes with an OBDII connector to upload the sensor data to the module. It does this in about five seconds. Very very nice tool, we were working with an OTC Tool and that was kinda a joke. It would read all the sensors but would not reset the tpms system accurately all the time. Here is a link for the tool we have. http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp ... ir=catalog
Oh yeah, it is also completely updateable, and comes with a charging station. Plus it will test keyless entry remotes.
on the subject of obsolete equipment we share the same feeling. unfortunately, if you can't repair a vehicle, down the road they go. some scanners will read the codes through the a.b.s. function. but, i've found that pretty much i needed a specific tire tool. i've gotten customers from shops that couldn't read tire or brake issues. i've had the same tire tool for about 8 years and am still using it. i know that there will be applications that will show up that it won't and i'll deal with it then. i have a room full of obsolete tools including a stand alone scope. for the most part they have paid for themselves by retaining customers or by a flat rate fee for using them such as a diagnostic fee. basically, i feel that we as a repair industry have to accept the fact that we have to purchase tools that are specific. my biggest fear, and a proven one, is loosing a customer to another shop or dealer because i couldn't resolve a simple issue. i've found it much easier to explain away a check engine light as opposed to a low tire one. i have a tenant that's a repair shop. not really a competitor because of the different levels we work at but here's my point. a few years ago right at the beginning of the a/c season he got a great deal on refrigerant, didn't test it, trashed his machine. he chose to send it out for repair and wait. i tried to explain to him that his customers that needed a/c work may not wait 4 to 6 weeks and he should bite the bullet and by another machine. he told me that he put it on a spread sheet and he would save money fixing the machine and loosing the season. i tried to explain to him it was more than just a season issue, there were customers that will be lost to other shops because of this. he felt there wasn't any chance of this. i got three of them and initially i refused to work on their vehicles because of him being my tenant. i was told that if i didn't work on their vehicles they were going somewhere else. they weren't going back to him. i also got a few of his customers because he also plows and would shut down his shop to do so. i tried to point out that plowing was a 6 or 7 week time frame while repairing vehicles was a 52 week a year job. i got a good customer of his when the police called them because their vehicle was in the street during a snow storm and they thought it was in the shop being worked on. they showed up to move it, was good and stuck and i went out just to help them get it out of the snow bank. he tossed me the keys and said fix it. i guess some where in this post is the point of customer retention and on occasion it involves a tool that will end up as a paper weight or dust collector. i still have the specialty tool that installs c.v. boots on older g.m. applications, removes the drive gear on ford distributors, a few code readers, etc. but they were once used to retain customers. my biggest fear is loosing a customer and all the potential future profits because i couldn't perform a simple service such as turning off a low tire light. they can be a head banger but " it's only a simple light, what do you mean i have to go to the dealer? if you can't fix this how can you fix more major issues"?
never argue with a fool, they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience
GREAT INPUT! I was able to take care of the isuue with the light but it cost me in time and frustration. I agree that you must address the customers problems or loose them. I found that out years ago when customers would inquire if we fixed foreign cars. My thought process was that if they had a foreign car and an American car and I did not service the foreign car I would loose both of them. Never give the customer a reason to go anywhere else.
After informing the nice police officer of the procedure and the fact that I was not happy 
and had to start all over. Well to make a long story short completed the procedure and had another sensor code. Replaced that sensor and repeated the procedure. Now I had two more codes. Having a hard time believing I had more bad sensors and not being able to relearn the sensors I pulled out my Snap-on Scanner and started searching for answers. What I finally ended up doing was breahing down all four tires, writing down the sensor codes and programing them with the scanner. The light went off and all is well. Recently checked with the customer and he has had no further problems. Part of the problem with these is that if the tires are rotated there is not a good way that I have found to find a bad sensor accurately. No way of knowing what the last guy did. Hope this helps someone else. Any one else have any enlightenment on these systems?
sent them on their way and told them that the dealer had the special tool that was needed. saw the car in about 9 months and asked the customer if the dealer had the "special" tool to program non existent sensors. i was told it cost approximately 11 hundred dollars to be repaired. i asked how the tire savings was working out for him. i have no issue with throwing things like this out. i'm over hungry hill and will add and remove help as needed.
