Hello all, new guy here. Thanks for the great site.

I've got a 2010 Grand Caravan with the aluminum TPMS valve stems. I've have broken two of them, (once in a "feather touch" car wash and once while just driving down the road. Local dealership and the Consumer Advocate phone line says no joy on the warranty for these stems because they were not defective at the time of failure. Do to the nature of when each of these happened, I could not get to a dealership to repair, so I had the local tire guy replace with rubber stems to get me through. Because I did not go to the dealer, I am not covered under the warranty for replacing the temporary rubber stems with the real aluminum ones. My questions are:
1) Anyone seeing the corrosion on the aluminum stems that makes them so fragile?
2) Anyone get satisfaction from a dealer to have them fixed under the warranty?
3) Anyone know how to disable the TPMS system so the light isn't in my face all the time? Since 2 tires do not have the sensors, it's not doing me any good.

Thanks all in advance for your help!

 

Yes, they are fragile, we all hate it. Unfortunately you can not disable it because it a government mandated safety item thanks the the Ford Exploder incident.
if you are under 3yr36k miles, they are covered under waranty. But you need to give ur dealer back the old one. We waranty them all the time at the dealership. But is like if you want to waranty a Fridge at Sears, you need to bring the old one back.
To make them last longer, always keep a PLASTIC cap on it semi-tight. NEVER use a chrome metal cap.

 

I was under 3/36K but now am over. Because I did not initially go to a dealer to have the repair done, they will not cover under warranty. I was at a carwash with my 2 babies and miles away from a dealer at the time. The tire place shared a property with the car wash, so of course I limped over there. Dodge could care less about the situation and a said I should have driven to the dealer instead. I escalated to the Consumer Advocate department, a.k.a the Dealer Protection department and did not have any compassion about the situation. So I guess I'm screwed to pay the $150 per unit cost. Or leave the rubber ones in and check my pressure as Daddy taught me, with a tire gauge.

 

We got brand new tires about 9 months ago from Big O in New Castle, IN on our 2010 Grand Caravan SXT. We're from Fort Wayne, IN (1.5 hours away) and were visiting family when we got a flat, and were told we needed all new tires. Went to Big O because that's where my in-laws went and got 4 new tires. Shortly after getting them, we got a low tire light every time we started the Van... Headed down to visit family again and stopped by Big O, they told us to pull around back and checked the pressure, and re-filled the tire. After that we could go a month or so and then the tire needed air. Lately we had to put in every week as the tire was near flat by that time.

Took it into Big O and asked them to take a better look. Apparently the "plastic" tire sensor thing broke while we were putting air in it. $74 fix... I informed them this has been happening since we got the new tires but they said we broke it when putting more air in the tires. Now when all was said and done i took a look at the valve stems, and they look pretty rock solid to me. I'm not sure how my wife or mother-in-law could've cracked one by simply putting air in. Needless to say we weren't happy and Big O was very un-apologetic that it happened and just happened to be a problem right after the install of new tires. (Never had tire pressure warning with our old tires.)

So anyway, it sucks that these things break so easily, but based upon how solid they feel, i don't buy that they just crack for no reason.

Moral of the Story, Don't go to Big O, we weren't happy and their staff handled it really bad.

 

I think it is unfair to blame Big O or any Service center, and let Chrysler off the hook on using crappy sensor that breaks so easily.

 

I understand, but the issues.started after.the new tires were.installed, so they either were part of the reason they broke,.or.didnt say anything upfront. It was more the way they handled it than the fact it broke...

 

+1

Twodavez, it was just a matter of time before you need new TPMS valve stems.

 

$150 ea????

Ebay has the factory black Chrysler OEM TPMS sensors for $40 each. Countless sellers offer the gray Dorman equivalents for about $110 for a set of four. I don't think I'm paying extra for the factory parts because we know they are marginal...Dorman can't be worse lol.

The Exploder issue was caused by Firestone SUV tires with rubber so hard that it lasted forever on the rear. Traveling salesman would drive 80MPH for 100K miles on tires with low air pressure until they exploded. The tires would never wear out unless rotated to the front, so the carcass deteriorated and failed from heat cycling.

It has been proven that idiots will never check air pressure unless an idiot light instructs them to do it.

 

My son's 2012 van has the TPMS sensors with a rubber stem on his stock alloy wheels. He purchased alloy wheels with winter tires and a rubber valve stem with TPMS sensor, all from the Dodge dealer. The rubber valve stem and TPMS sensor were $97 each (Canadian $).

Perhaps the newer rubber valve stems and TPMS sensor will fit earlier models.

 

TPMS Valve stems on 3 tires broke, one leaving my Wife and Children stranded at a gas station when it broke off as she was trying to inflate it. After that happened I had all of the TPS systems replaced by regular valve stems. I kept the last TPMS that had not failed. I was able to break it with my bare hands, really it was by accident when I did it. I have kept it as a reminder of why I don't want them on the vehicle.


I figure the OEM replacement will be made with the same materials and quality. Why should I have to pay for something that should not be as fragile as they are. It is only a matter of time before one of these systems fails and causes a real accident.


The Dodge Dealer in Dumfries VA said that it was our fault that we broke the valve stem. I can't manage that on my bicycle valve stems unless I was trying to with tools. I am 37 and I know how to put air in a tire without breaking a valve stem.


Hope this helps.


Bottom line: Yes, there is a problem with material the TPMS are made out of. Nothing as important as your tires should ever have a system that is so fragile.