[Abhoth]

Long story short... The shop switched snows to summer tires, busted one of the sensors. Got a new one and all back together now. Taking it back to them tomorrow as the indicator is flashing for 60 then on solid indicating there's a fault in the system.
Soooooo.... they're talking about needing to put it on the computer and check it there and calibrate it and blah blah blah.
Is that a true story?? It's a sensor and as I understand it it's pretty straight-forward. It won't reset using the reset button inside the rig so that tells me they put a wrong sensor or just didn't do something right replacing the one they broke.
Looking to know what the process might be when replacing a TPMS. The other day they told me that he was test driving it and re-calibrating and you needed to drive it around to do so. Sounds iffy to me. Looking for some guidance before they really mess up my smart!

 

[jimvw57]

They do need to be driven a bit for them to be recognized as thy only turn on when they are in motion. It is possible they put the wrong one in , or it may be defective.

If they were on all the time. you might start reading the pressure on the smart you are parked next to.

When I change from summer to winter tires, (or back) I don't see any reteaching going on It just plain works (have 4 summer tires/rims and 4 winter tires/rims)

 

[Abhoth]

yeah, I've done this switch 3 or 4 times over the years we've owned the smart and it's always been pretty easy peazy. Until you break the TPMS sensor. Generally you don't need to do much of anything with the sensors once they're set... occasionally it's good to check pressure and do the reset to make sure it knows what's up.

My concern is that the shop has no clue what they're doing.

 

[Rustedwrench]

The process for replacment of the tire pressure sensor is simple. Install the correct sensor. Drive the car. The tire pressure control unit will learn the sensor positions on the fly. The sensors do not require programming the control unit or a learning process as do most vehicles. If the shop has a scan tool that can read fault codes and data in the tire pressure sensor system it will be easy to tell wherein the fault lies, otherwise they are just guessing.

 

[Abhoth]

That's what I thought... it's a pretty easy thing to do. So, like I said... I have my concerns about whether these folks are going to be helping or hindering. But they're the ones that broke it soooooooo....
Let me ask this... What does the sensor look like? What they showed me was a rectangular hunk that I assume is on the inside of the wheel. Sounds right?

 

[Periclaws]

pics

http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=7168

 

[Abhoth]

Thanks Periclaws

 

[PerryA]

I swap my tires (winter/summer) on one set of rims. I think it was when I did the first swap, they told me two sensors were cracked and had to be replaced. They did the replacement and I never experienced any problem. I don't know if they drove it around before they gave the car back to me. Just had a slow leak on one tire after the switch that turned out to be the stem. They told me it was a good thing because the TPMS is $$$ vs. the stem which is $.
My service was at Mercedes Benz. Could it be that the TPMS are manufacturer specific?
Now all I need to do is fix the P key on my keyboard - it seems to have taken your sensors as an example and drifts in and out of service - mostly out. Like you, lots of resetting.

 

[chieftmc]

That's what I thought... it's a pretty easy thing to do. So, like I said... I have my concerns about whether these folks are going to be helping or hindering. But they're the ones that broke it soooooooo....
Let me ask this... What does the sensor look like? What they showed me was a rectangular hunk that I assume is on the inside of the wheel. Sounds right?

Here's what went in mine

TPMS fits Smart Fortwo Tire Pressure Sensor

 

[smartduude]

All,

I have had 5-6 of these replaced on my 2 smarts in the last 6 years.
Purchase them from rockauto.com for about $35.00 and the garage just puts them in and they work.

 

[Abhoth]

Thanks smartduude ... good to know. Luckily this time it was their fault so did the deal for free, nice. The sensor they put in was defective so new part and all good.
Thanks everyone!

 

[jimvw57]

I believe MB dealer charges around $120 each for the same ones..

 

[joeyd0730]

i just installed 4 new rims and tires for my 2012, i used the dorman 974-043 tpms sensors. you can find them for about $33 each. they come complete with stems and sensor. they are a direct fit and no programming was necessary. i just drove car and held the tpms button down for 5 seconds and all is good.. hope this helps people looking for sensors

 

[PerryA]

i just installed 4 new rims and tires for my 2012, i used the dorman 974-043 tpms sensors. you can find them for about $33 each. they come complete with stems and sensor. they are a direct fit and no programming was necessary. i just drove car and held the tpms button down for 5 seconds and all is good.. hope this helps people looking for sensors

Thanks. I'm hoping that when I go back to winter tires next season I can get newrims and tires and make the transition easier. Good to know the TPMS won't end up costing more than the tire or rim it's attached to.

 

[DailyDriverMark]

I have a 2010 with a 60 sec blinking light at startup then solid. Button wont reset. Had the sensors scanned and 1 sensor was dead. Having just purchased the car used, I know that rim had been replaced so the diagnosis made sense. Fix and replace.

I found someone that would install a new sensor for $40. He used an autel-mx 433mhz sensor and scanner. Got a reading off of the sensor and all should have been fine, but the light still wont reset.

The one pulled from the wheel, was a schrader like the one shown in the picture earlier in this thread. It was made in '09 and it is now '19 so makes sense it's dead.

I have a new schrader I paid $80, think that I should pull the autel-mx programmable one for this identical schrader?

Could the problem be that the smart does not like these universal, "programmable" sensors?