Tire Pressure Monitor - Freak!

[SidwaySRT]

Hey guys, hopefully someone can help explain this to me:

Driving home from the NAIAS (Detroit auto show) last week on the 401 in Canada (crusing at 90). I see literally "piles of scrap metal" in the left lane. I swerve right, i swerve left. I missed em phew.

Car in front of me runs over one and it flys at my right front valence/tire. I run over it and immediately think i busted my foglight/slashed my tire. I cut over into the right lane and slow down and bring up the tire pressure monitor. It's holding at 31 and car is riding fine.

Suddently it drops to "0". I pull over immediately and stop car. Inspect all tires and they are fine. Shut off car, still says 0. I knew that if the tires were rotated and sensor not changed it could be one of my others so i check them all. After im freaked and have no other choice (its snowing/9 degrees/no spare) I drive off and within a minute the pressure jumps back to 31!

What gives???

Is there something in the way they operate that could make them temporalily hit zero in response to force/bumping?

thanks for any and all insight! Gavin

[srt8danno]

There are quite a few posts on the TPM system where people reported errors only to find there was something wrong with the tires. Now maybe hitting something jarred the module. I have no idea. I haven’t read a case such as yours either. Has it registered anything strange again? Maybe someone else will have an idea…..so here’s a bump. Keep us posted on what you find out.

[dodgeboy]

Originally Posted by SidwaySRT

Hey guys, hopefully someone can help explain this to me:

Driving home from the NAIAS (Detroit auto show) last week on the 401 in Canada (crusing at 90). I see literally "piles of scrap metal" in the left lane. I swerve right, i swerve left. I missed em phew.

Car in front of me runs over one and it flys at my right front valence/tire. I run over it and immediately think i busted my foglight/slashed my tire. I cut over into the right lane and slow down and bring up the tire pressure monitor. It's holding at 31 and car is riding fine.

Suddently it drops to "0". I pull over immediately and stop car. Inspect all tires and they are fine. Shut off car, still says 0. I knew that if the tires were rotated and sensor not changed it could be one of my others so i check them all. After im freaked and have no other choice (its snowing/9 degrees/no spare) I drive off and within a minute the pressure jumps back to 31!

What gives???

Is there something in the way they operate that could make them temporalily hit zero in response to force/bumping?

thanks for any and all insight! Gavin

The sensor is in the wheel well, just in front of the plastic insert. Maybe it got knocked by the piece of metal and just freaked out for a minute? They don't update instantaneously. Sometimes you'll have to go almost a mile before the number will update. Other times it will happen as you roll down the driveway. I'm not sure what the sampling rate is, or what affects it, but it certainly is not consistent.

Seeing as how the sensor operates on RF and you ran over metal, I wouldn't be surprised if it cause a momentary hiccup. Has it read ok ever since?

Dave

[SidwaySRT]

yup, it has been fine ever since the incident. Probably have 200 or so miles on it since with absolutely no issues and the pressure holding...

got me stumped!