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Has anyone ever had a set of TPMS sensors fail at 4 years? I am looking back at my tirerack order and its from October 2019, so they were put into service around that time frame. I put the car into learn mode (putting on snow wheels and tires) and it faulted out, and I tried again drove around for a solid 10+ miles didn't get anything picking up, and normally they would pick up super quickly. (like under a mile) TPMS was working 100% with the summer wheels and tires. They were HUF brand sensors.
I had a batch of tirerack sensors fail at 5 years. They have smaller batteries than the OEM ones.
I track a lot so they would have been exposed to heat . Bought a new set from tirerack, they are cheap.
Talking to them right now, they said, '10 years is the normal life expectancy for huf TPMS sensors' They fell a bit short of that mark.... Since the date codes on the snowies are from 2015 and 2014 (plenty of tread) but they are aged out so now I am buying new tires too.
They discounted the TPMS sensors by 20 bucks as sensor. What a PIA. I way really hoping to autocross these at the end of the winter just to beat them to death but I guess I won't get that chance.
Other note, if you are ordering tires, actually call in on the phone and confirm the tires were made in 2023. Some of their warehouses have older stock and they ship from the closest location which could give you slightly older tires or an age mix front and back (since we have different widths front and rear)
The 'new' tpms sensors from tirerack are already nearly 1.5 years old before they even see their first rim. They really need a way to activate the batteries externally because the clock is already ticking....
Should we take bets on the life expectancy of these ones?
Replacement sensors are orange the old ones are the classic gray HUF sensors. The dead ones are from 2018, (put into service in October 2019) so there is no real smoking gun here. In theory these are good until ~2028. Shame on HUF.
The new sensors picked up in about 1/4 of mile of driving. Hope they last more then 4 years.
Side note the latest N1 Alpin's while reported as a 295 in the rear and 245 in the front, both my tire guy and I agree they are noticeably wider then old 295 and 245's. They fill out the rim way more. It reminds me more of mounting a 305 on to a 11" rim rather then the original 295.
If my old tire was a true 295 these appear to be a 300 in the back and a 250 in the front. Its kind of a hard thing to capture on camera unless you get the correct angle for a before and after. Either that or they did a lot better with rim edge protection in this generation and its giving the appearance of more width.
Does anyone know if the little device the tire shops use can check battery life when they push on the valve stem?
I have a cheap scanner/exciter tool that I can check sensors with. I've used it a few times to 'wake up' lethargic sensors and I believe it shows battery level, along with pressure reading and sensor ID code. It's a great way to check if a sensor is truly dead or just asleep.
Tire guy took an Altel to it and we could not 'wake' it up or read anything. May as well have been an old school rubber valve stem with no sensor. I also tried the trick of letting a bunch of air out of the tires etc.
Replacement sensors are orange the old ones are the classic gray HUF sensors. The dead ones are from 2018, (put into service in October 2019) so there is no real smoking gun here. In theory these are good until ~2028. Shame on HUF.
The new sensors picked up in about 1/4 of mile of driving. Hope they last more then 4 years.
Side note the latest N1 Alpin's while reported as a 295 in the rear and 245 in the front, both my tire guy and I agree they are noticeably wider then old 295 and 245's. They fill out the rim way more. It reminds me more of mounting a 305 on to a 11" rim rather then the original 295.
If my old tire was a true 295 these appear to be a 300 in the back and a 250 in the front. Its kind of a hard thing to capture on camera unless you get the correct angle for a before and after. Either that or they did a lot better with rim edge protection in this generation and its giving the appearance of more width.
Agree on the new Alpin N spec looking wider.
I just mounted a set of new rear Alpin N-spec tires and they are wider than the ones from 2017, both 295 width.
I just got word from the dealership, (my car is there for the water pump fun) the right rear tire had a leak and the valve stem was found to be defective and needed to be replaced. (This very valve stem and its respective TPMS sensor were just replaced a week ago) Car has gotten maybe 20 miles on it since.
Tirerack's mobile service did the work so its not like TireRack can claim it was poor workmanship. So I am out another $80 for labor plus the valve stem.
10-15-2023, 04:47 PM
TPMS failure at 4 years?
