tire pressure monitors

[clogan]

This morning, I'm tooling down the interstate in my wife's Focus, doing 70 or so, and the "low tire pressure" warning appers on the dash. Lights, dings, dongs, flashing warnings...all that stuff.  It was cold out...10 or so, thus I thought maybe it was temp related. Then again, this all started right after I had driven over a piece of rebar or something in the road...so, there was a tiny voice of concern too. It was  a couple of miles before I could safely get off the road to do a visual, and luckily, all tires passed the eyeball test. Too cold, and too risky on side of road to do anything else, so I got back in car, and continued my trip, still accompanied by the lights, dings,dongs, and flashes. When I got home, I did another visual, and all tires are fine. TPMS not only gave me a false alarm, it did not tell me which tire or tires, were low. More trouble than necessary, IMHO. Now that temps are backmup in 40s, warning went away.

[VirginiaJim]

None of us work well in the cold..

[wingrider]

I can't tell you for sure which vehicles they are but some also include a sensor for the spare tire. If the pressure was low enough in the spare and it has a sensor that could trigger the light. The newer systems also look a range of preset pressures besides just one tire going low.

[charles r]

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.

As B.D.F. mentioned, the system is still working. I have also gotten both warnings, because my pressure was kind of low to start with, and the temp dropped overnight. So the next morning, the two warnings cycled until the battery warmed up. Then the low pressure warning remained until the tire temp climbed a bit more. When I got to work, I refilled to the proper pressure.

I do a visual pre-ride check. Just to see if anything LOOKS out of whack... But beyond that, I know that air is always just a gas station (or two) away should I actually need it. And I know that if I CAN'T locate a gas station... I have a CO2 powered tire filler in my saddlebag at all times anyways.

To me... total non-issue.

[sycamoredave]

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.   

Shoe:

2014?  Tell that to Ma Kaw.    I am not debating that it is a useful safety feature, just that this version is poor.  My cars have it, and it works fine.  We need to stop drinking koolaid and defending poor engineering.

Dave

[wingrider]

I will try to show how I fixed what I consider to be a completely inadequit factory system. I am not computor literate so if there are no pictures give me another chance.  If they do come thru we will condider it a great acomplishment for me.

[wingrider]

More pictures

[wingrider]

oops, one duplicate. As I post the rest of the pictures you can see that this system allows you to read the tire pressure at any time and is very accurate.

[Shoe]

Wingrider,

How does that system work at highway speeds? Or better yet how does it work at C14 high speed transit? I would be a little concerned about centrifugal forces.

The other concerns I have with external mounted sensors are weather resistance and theft. 

I would like to know how they work.

[wingrider]

Shoe, I ran this setup for 123,000 on my wing in all kinds of weather and had no problems. So far they have seen over the century mark on the concours with no problem. I don't see any down side to this system.

[Shoe]

Shoe, I ran this setup for 123,000 on my wing in all kinds of weather and had no problems. So far they have seen over the century mark on the concours with no problem. I don't see any down side to this system.

I have a 2010 Wing with factory installed 90 deg. valve stems and I have installed the same type on my C14. Is there enough clearance to install the Doran sensors?

[VirginiaJim]

Did you have to re-balance the tires?  That sensor appears huge on the valve stem.

[wingrider]

Shoe,

You can see in the picture I had to turn the front valve stem to clear the brake caliper. On my wing they cleared with no problem.

Jim,

I have them installed on the stem before balancing.

[MAN OF BLUES]

Shoe, I ran this setup for 123,000 on my wing in all kinds of weather and had no problems. So far they have seen over the century mark on the concours with no problem. I don't see any down side to this system.

INTERESTING...
they Can be mounted internal to the tire, like the OEM's....
making them theft proof.... but I can't see any benefit to these over the stock ones... as they have non replacable batteries also....

 
 
Doran 360M™ Tire Pressure Monitoring System SpecificationsDoran Tire Pressure Monitor System Sensor Specifications:
 
Operating frequency: 434.1 MHz
Operating temperature range: -40°F to +185°F
Storage temperature range: -40°F to +185°F
Sensor weight:  0.49 oz
Sensor dimensions: Width: 1.07” – approximately the same size as a quarter
Height: 0.928” - extends less than 0.75” above the stem when installed
Sensor batteries:  internal, non-rechargeable with expected life of 3-4 years
Sensor pressure range: 10 to 87 PSI ±1.5 PSI
 

the manual has nothing showing battery replacement....
http://www.doranmfg.com/PDF/Doran_360M_3600M2__User_Manual_-_4-9-09.pdf

[Shoe]

As long as I can do it myself its and advantage to me. Some may disagree. If the OEM sensors are removed will I get a continous flashing error message? 

[VirginiaJim]

Nope, it will not flash after the sensor is totally dead.  It only flashes when it's mostly dead.  I'm sticking with the old sensors as at least I can change the batteries in them.

[B.D.F.]

Miracle Max: Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there's usually only one thing you can do.
Inigo Montoya: What's that?
Miracle Max: Go through his clothes and look for loose change.

   That movie kills me all these years later.

Brian

Nope, it will not flash after the sensor is totally dead.  It only flashes when it's mostly dead.  I'm sticking with the old sensors as at least I can change the batteries in them.

[VirginiaJim]

Me too, Brian.

[wingrider]

Nope, no battery replacement. However they have only charged me 25.00 each for a replacement sensor and they are easy to program into the system. When the battery gets low it will flash the red light and then still show the other tires pressure. I couldn't handle the entire display being hidden and then have to wait until the tire is replaced because it is mounted inside. I wasn't willing to pay to have the tire dismounted just to replace the batteries on such a poor design.

[Conrad]

I will try to show how I fixed what I consider to be a completely inadequit factory system. I am not computor literate so if there are no pictures give me another chance.  If they do come thru we will condider it a great acomplishment for me.

2003?