TPMS sensor communication error after flat tire

[bobejones]

Wife was in the 08 Tahoe. I was not aboard so getting reliable explanation of the chain of events is sketchy... She called during a road trip and indicated the low tire icon was lit. It is unclear if it was "low tire" or a "service TPMS" warning. I told her tires needed physical inspection before proceeding. She indicated all tires looked fine (doubt it). An hour later she suffered a blow out. I rescued her and inspected the mess. The TPMS was still intact, no wheel damage, and I considered the TPMS was likely still ok as there was no visible damage.

 

After the replacement tire was installed, I noticed the sensor was not sending data and only getting dashes in the display for that wheel.

 

I cannot be sure if the tire house damaged something, if the sensor really is toast, or if I need to wake it up somehow? I suspect it should be working by now and the fault should auto correct?

 

With no physical damage, I can only suspect either damage from tire install or possibly the heat that caused the tire failure also took out the TPMS?

 

Thoughts?

[Duelin]

When the batteries get weak in the sensors you will get just Dashes. A lot of times when it starts getting cold out side you will start to see this problem. Sometimes driving and getting the tires warmed up will bring them back on line for a while if the battery is marginal.

[Doug_Scott]

If the tire blew due to low pressure, that means there was a very high temp in the sidewall of the tire. That gets passed on to the wheel, and the tpms valve stem will also see that heat. Were it mine, it would get a new sensor, and the wife would be asked if she now understands that simply looking at a tire from three feet away is not something even a trained professional could accurately diagnose. Perhaps she needs to see some of the Florida Ford rollovers caused by underinflated Firestones to learn that tire pressure warnings need to be heeded. At the very least, stop in any gas station and check tire pressures with the air machines.

[Jsdirt]

I've had the stems themselves fail before any battery failure. The OEM sensors in my '07 were still working in '14 (even in sub-zero weather) before I sold them, but the stems all leaked just enough to piss me off with constant low tire warnings. Ended up just installing regular stems and throwing the sensors on eBay.

 

So far, 5 years on the summer wheels, and those sensors are still working. Those don't see super-cold weather though - they get put in my house until spring.

 

Wouldn't surprise me if GM cheaped out on batteries in the later model years.