tire pressure monitors

[clogan]

My reaction exactly.  Three years is a joke.  How about 6??  My old ones are just now turning 3 and are occasionally starting with the low battery warning when it is cold.  My car is 4.5 years old and still no warnings.

My F-150  is a 2008 model, that I bought in Nov. '07... still no TPMS battery issues, going on seven years. My 'Vette is a 2006, that I bought in August 2006. No TPMS battery issues, going on eight years. How can they last so long in cages, and not in bikes? Do other bike makes have similar 3-year life expectancy, or is it a Kawasaki issue?

I do not get it.

[VirginiaJim]

Car tires...

[PH14]

Car tires...

[VirginiaJim]

 

[Shoe]

I didn't know I had sensors in my Xterra until I picked up a nail. They came in handy.

I bought it new in 07and just had the two rear sensors go out a week apart. The service department said that after six years they start going out. They're expensive to replace. My opinion is that if its a safety issue it should be good for the life of the vehicle.

I am not looking forward to replacing the two front sensors.

[clogan]

I didn't know I had sensors in my Xterra until I picked up a nail. They came in handy.

I bought it new in 07and just had the two rear sensors go out a week apart. The service department said that after six years they start going out. They're expensive to replace. My opinion is that if its a safety issue it should be good for the life of the vehicle.

I am not looking forward to replacing the two front sensors.

Cost?

[clogan]

Did a bit of Googling, and it seems car/truck TPMS batteries have an expected life of 10 years or 100,000 miles. Lots of variables, though...duty cycles, sampling rates, temperature extremes, etc. but ten years for a car/truck and only three for KAW? Wonder why that is?

Also found that a typical price for a set of four new car/truck TPMS, with new batteries, was $150, not including installation.

[Shoe]

Cost?

$182

[sycamoredave]

BTW - my $2 tire gauge has been trouble free.   

I'm just sayin ...   
Dave

[Shoe]

Dave,

The year is 2014. I spent more than 50 years of my life without em but Tire Pressure Sensors are on most 4 wheel vehicles when they leave the factory. You can't read a tire gauge at 65 mph and a TPS is a early warning that something is wrong.   

[ZG]

You can't read a tire gauge at 65 mph and a TPS is a early warning that something is wrong.   

 

[charles r]

I guessing the issue here is the occasional low battery warning when it's cold out, that goes away after a few miles? I can certainly see it being more of a nuisance if you doing an extended run in weather cold enough to keep the warning on... But I've never had to look at that warning for more than a couple minutes.

But for those worried that seeing that warning means the battery could fail at any moment... I first saw a front tire warning early in my second year of owning my bike.(bought in 2007) That was right around 30,000 miles. I now have another 86,000 miles on the bike, and really the only difference is that I'll see a rear warning as well. But in terms of frequency, or length of time the warning is on? Pretty much the same as it ever was.

Heck, now that I think about it... I needed to change my KiPass fob batteries before I needed to change my TPS batteries.

[Conrad]

My F-150  is a 2008 model, that I bought in Nov. '07... still no TPMS battery issues, going on seven years. My 'Vette is a 2006, that I bought in August 2006. No TPMS battery issues, going on eight years. How can they last so long in cages, and not in bikes? Do other bike makes have similar 3-year life expectancy, or is it a Kawasaki issue?

I do not get it.

Not all systems use a sensor in each wheel. Some, such as my VW, use the antilock system to 'see' which tire has a lower air pressure as compared to the other tires. No maintenance required on these.

[gPink]

Not all systems use a sensor in each wheel. Some, such as my VW, use the antilock system to 'see' which tire has a lower air pressure as compared to the other tires. No maintenance required on these.

How's that work? Different rotating speeds?

[Conrad]

How's that work? Different rotating speeds?

Right. The system uses the tone ring from the ABS system to compare the rotational speeds of each tire against the others. A tire with a lower pressure than the others will have a smaller diameter and the system picks up on that and alerts the driver. If all the tires are low, then you're on your own. This is one of the drawbacks of this system.

[maxtog]

I guessing the issue here is the occasional low battery warning when it's cold out, that goes away after a few miles? I can certainly see it being more of a nuisance if you doing an extended run in weather cold enough to keep the warning on... But I've never had to look at that warning for more than a couple minutes.

And how far can you drive in a few minutes?  That puts you further and further away from home on tires with unknown pressure.   And it means you can't see anything else on the display without stopping and F'ing with the controls so you can instead be blinded by a red light.

[maxtog]

Right. The system uses the tone ring from the ABS system to compare the rotational speeds of each tire against the others. A tire with a lower pressure than the others will have a smaller diameter and the system picks up on that and alerts the driver. If all the tires are low, then you're on your own. This is one of the drawbacks of this system.

The other is that it is not very precise or accurate.

[VirginiaJim]

BTW - my $2 tire gauge has been trouble free.   

I'm just sayin ...   
Dave

Got C10?

Not all systems use a sensor in each wheel. Some, such as my VW, use the antilock system to 'see' which tire has a lower air pressure as compared to the other tires. No maintenance required on these.

Same as my Rav4

The other is that it is not very precise or accurate.

This is true, but I'm not looking for accuracy.  I just want to know I've got a tire going flat.  The only problem I have is training my wife to let me know about yellow indicators on the vehicle when they occur.

[B.D.F.]

The TPS warning system still works with a low battery warning. They just sort of take turns on the display :-)  But if a tire goes below 32 PSI, the system will warn you even if there happen to be other warnings being displayed, including the low tire pressure sensor battery(s). I guess we could have three 'non critical' warnings at the same time easily enough: two low TPS battery warnings and the low fuel warning, all in rotation. Low tire pressure could cause one or two more warnings. Throw in the occasional FI warning out of nowhere and the dash is starting to become something like a reality TV show....

Brian

And how far can you drive in a few minutes?  That puts you further and further away from home on tires with unknown pressure.   And it means you can't see anything else on the display without stopping and F'ing with the controls so you can instead be blinded by a red light.

[VirginiaJim]

As the battery levels get worse and worse, the low battery warning will come on at a higher temp and will stay on longer.  My front battery is crying the blues all the time now and I'm just waiting till I wear out the front to get the battery sorted.  Although, I may just say the heck with it and just do it, but I hate to pull a tire and then have to do it again in a short amount of time.