Cell tower interference with TPMS

ErnieO · August 16, 2021

Hello, Just returned from a trip up north, in mountains of N C West Va. the DIC informed me to Service Tire Monitor System. when i returned took in to GMC for service they said nothing wrong with system it was cell tower interference. Is this a real problem?

newdude · August 16, 2021

Shouldn't because then everywhere you drove it would do it, not just in West Virginia. Cell towers operate at much higher frequency than the TPMS do. TPM on these new body are 433mHz. Cell towers are 700mHz band up to 2300mHz band for 5g.

ErnieO · August 16, 2021

Thanks for the reply, do not know why this service writer is feeding me this line of info. But wanted more info before I contact service manager for more answers.

diyer2 · August 16, 2021

Service manger didn't want to appear dumb, so he lied. Lying is the norm today.

No codes?

newdude · August 16, 2021

diyer2 brought up a thought I totally forgot about, codes. TPM system will set them. They will pass and go history after so many ignition cycles without a duplicate fault.

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Phantom 4D · August 16, 2021

There are several things that can interfere with TPMS. Cell towers are not one of them. Think about this, if a cell tower interferes with TPMS then it stands to reason, cell phones and bluetooth would also. And if that were the case, you would most likely get a low pressure reading. If I remember, which at my age is suspect, the service TPMS message could be set off by a wheel speed sensor, faulty TPMS sensor, faulty antenna (that is the tire mounted "sensor"), glitch in the module that houses the sensors.