A set of new (to the car) tires, but TPMS can't detect them

[mzincali]

HI. I bought a set of original Tesla Model S tires for my 2013 Model S. The seller had upgraded wheels and tires, and he had taken out the set and placed them aside for some time.

I put these tires on, and despite all the instructions that say that TPMS will figure things out by itself, or you reset the system and it will eventually do so, it has not. The car still shows a waring message about TPMS, with a note that the issue may resolve itself on the next drive.

- Is there anything I can do to help the car figure things out?
- Could the TPMS sensors in the wheels be dormant or out of battery power?
- Am I possibly missing TPMS sensors or how do I check that I have them?

Any other advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you!!

 

[Ostrichsak]

You're right about the system will figure out out... partially. The cars that were made 2012 to sometime in 2014 had the gen 1 TPMS system and at some point Tesla cut-over to using the gen 2 system. The tire pressure monitor sensors are not compatible between the two generations. So if your car is a 2013 it likely has the gen 1 TPMS and TPMS module. If that's the case, the least expensive option is to get the gen 1 sensors unless you still have your old wheels/tires because a tire shop could just migrate those over for you most likely.

 

[mzincali]

I do have my old tires, and was wondering what to do with them and the rims. How much should I expect to pay to get the tire sensors swapped out of them?

I understand that those sensors may have batteries that are getting rather old. Can they be replaced with new batteries or shall I get new sensors instead?

 

[Ostrichsak]

I do have my old tires, and was wondering what to do with them and the rims. How much should I expect to pay to get the tire sensors swapped out of them?

I understand that those sensors may have batteries that are getting rather old. Can they be replaced with new batteries or shall I get new sensors instead?

Whomever you had install them should be able to do it for you. Kind of depends on the tire shop and your relationship with them as to what/if they charge you. They're sealed so there is no replacing batteries. When they're done, they're done.

 

[ucmndd]

Most of the TPMS sensors I've seen are sealed units with internal batteries. Dead battery = new sensor. at ~6-8 years old, they're definitely at that age where they start to go.

 

[ev-now]

If the TPMS are old enough that they've aged out sat idle, I'd also be checking the date codes on the tires - just so you know what you are dealing with.

 

[Jpandes]

I’m going through this issue right now. I just bought a set of new wheels that came with new TPMS sensors. It turns out that one of them was completely dead and three of them work. The system will not work if one of the sensors is not producing a reading. I ended up taking the car to discount tire/ America’s tire and had them use their tool to read the sensors and they confirmed that one of them is completely dead. I went home and took the wheel off that had the dead sensor and put on one of my OEM wheels and all four sensors came right back on within a 5 min. drive.

The company that I bought my new wheels from sent me a new sensor. I just need to get it installed at tire shop. Just driving around with the new sensor in a box in the car got the other three sensors working.