Always washed my 13 GC myself but went to a local hand car wash and one stem cap is missing. I wouldnt think someone would steal it but sure it was lost there. Can I put any cap on there or are the caps a intragal part of the tpms system?

 

Any cap will do-preferably plastic. The sensor part is in the tire at the other end of the stem.

 

As long as the Cap is Plastic, you are fine. do NOT use Chrome or Metal caps, it will break the valve stem tip off when it gets corroded and seized.

 

The factory ones seem to be made of metal. Maybe its just a coating i'll see.
Thanks all

 

Listen to Steak59, he knows his stuff. The caps on my '08 were metal but I'm not the original owner. I looked on Rockauto and only one of the TPMS stem rebuild kits has metal caps, and more importantly, it is being discontinued. All other kits have plastic.


I just busted the stem off my tpms sensor yesterday. My front metal caps were solidly corroded to the stems and this occurred within 2-1/2 months. I gently held the cap with gas pliers and twisted it and the friggin stem busted off. Upon looking at the stem, it is extremely thin due to the threads inside and out. I never saw a metal stem bust off like that in my life. My caps were nickel plated brass which is the preferred metal cap for TPMS. Needless to say, I am running plastic caps with O-rings for now on. thank goodness I was able to get the other three caps loose. I would have ground the cap off with a dremel bit if I had known the stems were so brittle.

 

Sorry guys, you cannot use just any cap. These caps are special with an internal seal to keep moisture out. Corrosion in TPMS sensors is becoming a pretty big deal these days. In fact, tire shops are now warning customers about the corrosion issue and getting a waiver before they try removing the sensor. They corrode at the cap and the nut and can easily break off once the corrosion sets in.

So go to the dealer and buy a genuine Chrysler cap.

 

Sorry to disagree Rick, but my geniune factory TPMS caps were total garbage and the o-ring in the cap is not special either. In fact, they are the root cause of my van TPMS system corrosion and stem failure. The factory-flawed metal caps are in the process of being discontinued as are similar caps found in the aftermarket. Factory TPMS aftermarket caps are flawed and this was proven on my vehicle.


All premium valve caps have integral O-rings (including the chrome plastic one's selling on ebay for $12 for a pack of 100 and the original o-ringed chrome brass caps on my 1979 Mustang). You simply have to look inside to verify an end seal exists. Any decent automotive valve cap will have an integral o-ring including those hanging in your local auto parts store. I have premium valve caps spanning the last 60 years in my cellar and they all have O-rings. The only one's I've seen that don't have come from $2 Walmart bicycle inner tubes.


Dodge and the OE supplier Siemens switched from their flawed design nickel-plated brass caps to a plastic cap. Of course both have O-rings as do all aftermarket TPMS caps.

 

Guess we can thank all the clueless bone heads of the past who never or rarely checked their tire pressures for adding yet another maintenance headache and manufacturer money maker to the list. Accidents stacked up then some genius came up with TPMS for everyone. Ain't it grand. How did we ever get along without it?

 

The idea of stem-mounted TPMS seems good on paper but it's a horrible idea in practice. Tire dealerships used to replace valves every time a tire was replaced, so leaks were quite rare. With TPMS the tire stores don't replace stem seals routinely because there are so many issues with that job (corrosion issues prevent removal, seal kits vary etc). As a result, everyone is seeing stem seal leaks and experiencing low air pressure every few weeks, some almost daily. The friggin' line at the air machines grows longer each year. I spend more time filling my tires than my gas tank...they lose several pounds a week.