[mrp10000]

Got my Volt a few months ago. Had to have rotors and brakes worked on as mentioned in another post, and all has been good since then. I did, though, have a recent alignment done and two new tires purchased. I had the old tires moved to the front and new tires installed in the back since I had put about 5000 miles on my car since it was purchased.

On my front driver side tire, my TPMS tells me, from time to time, there is a problem. It will last for a while (10-15 min of drive time). TPMS has been relearned by local chevy dealer (and when they looked at the tires, they could find no problems with TPMS), and pressure is ok..The sensor shows that this tire has a problem (I'm assuming with low tire pressure), but readings from gauge/digital pump shows everything is ok.

What are possible causes? I'm only familiar with cars that tell you a tire is low, but my Volt measures pressure for each tire. This has happened for about two weeks. Tire warning light goes on. I measure pressure. Tire pressure is ok. Warning light goes off after a few more minutes of driving.

 

[caronjeff]

Low pressure warning comes on at 28. That's way too low. Most of us are running 40 psi , some even as high as 45. Blow them all up to 40 and see if the display agrees.

 

[ampera_jed]

The temperature sensor could have gone bad, the pressure sensor could have gone bad, the battery might be going flat, or any combination of those.

It's a machine, they go wrong. Just swap it out next time you change the tire. No biggie!

Or of course your tire pressure gauge could be wrong and you have low pressure in the tire?

 

[llninja]

You didn't mention what year your car was, but like another poster, I'm guessing the battery in the TPMS sensor is dying. I don't think the batteries are replaceable, you might need new TPMS sensors all around (the others might go shortly).

A cheaper solution would be to ignore the warning and check your tire pressures all the time. A good tire gauge is much cheaper than having a tire shop replace TPMS sensors.

An even more expensive solution is to get a whole new set of wheels, tires, and TPMS at Discount Tire or Tire Rack, upgrading the look of the car. I got new tires and wheels, then put snow tires on the original OEM wheels.

 

[Raymondjram]

TPMS Is a good system but never perfect. My first experience with TPMS was in a rental 2009 Chevy Impala in Orlando, Florida. (Enterprise), in January 2009. The following day after I rented the Impala, the left rear tire gave a warniing on the DIC (26 PSI), while the other three were at 31 PSI. I have no air pump, so I visited a local Walmart and bought a cheap 12VDC air pump and a mechanical tire gauge. When I measured that tire, its pressure was 29 PSI, so I used to pump to increase its PSI to 31. The gauge measured 31 PSI in all four tires. But the DIC still had the 26 PSI reading.

When I returned the Impala after the week, I reported the problem to Enterprise because the next rentee will probably have the same issue. Now I have a 2009 Chevy Equinox, and the TPMS reports all tires one or two units below the mechanical gauge PSI readings. So I don't trust the DIC readings 100%. I prefer to go "old school" (as posted above) and manually measure the tire pressures, but I do use the Equinox DIC as a warning when the TPMS PSI reading drop below 30 PSI.

I have also seen and read about the Ford system. Their TPMS PSI readings are taken by the BCM but stored, and the DIC only reports the "low pressure" warning when the TPMS reading drops below a specific level. It doesn't report the actual TPMS PSI reading, nor give you which tire! A Ford owner must carry the gauge to find which tire has the low pressure (The new Ford cars do come with air pumps in the trunk, just as new GM cars do).

So the GM TPMS is more user friendly, but I will never trust their readings completely.

 

[mrp10000]

TPMS Is a good system but never perfect. My first experience with TPMS was in a rental 2009 Chevy Impala in Orlando, Florida. (Enterprise), in January 2009. The following day after I rented the Impala, the left rear tire gave a warniing on the DIC (26 PSI), while the other three were at 31 PSI. I have no air pump, so I visited a local Walmart and bought a cheap 12VDC air pump and a mechanical tire gauge. When I measured that tire, its pressure was 29 PSI, so I used to pump to increase its PSI to 31. The gauge measured 31 PSI in all four tires. But the DIC still had the 26 PSI reading.

When I returned the Impala after the week, I reported the problem to Enterprise because the next rentee will probably have the same issue. Now I have a 2009 Chevy Equinox, and the TPMS reports all tires one or two units below the mechanical gauge PSI readings. So I don't trust the DIC readings 100%. I prefer to go "old school" (as posted above) and manually measure the tire pressures, but I do use the Equinox DIC as a warning when the TPMS PSI reading drop below 30 PSI.

I have also seen and read about the Ford system. Their TPMS PSI readings are taken by the BCM but stored, and the DIC only reports the "low pressure" warning when the TPMS reading drops below a specific level. It doesn't report the actual TPMS PSI reading, nor give you which tire! A Ford owner must carry the gauge to find which tire has the low pressure (The new Ford cars do come with air pumps in the trunk, just as new GM cars do).

So the GM TPMS is more user friendly, but I will never trust their readings completely.

Thanks for the replies. I do have a tire pump that reads pressure digitally that I keep in the car, and I just purchased a digital gauge. When sensor is functioning, the reading is correct. Both sensor and gauge agree as to the air pressure in the tire. When it is not functioning, no pressure reading is given. I will keep a close eye on the issue and if it isn't resolved I'll take it back to my local dealer.

 

[Steverino]

Thanks for the replies. I do have a tire pump that reads pressure digitally that I keep in the car, and I just purchased a digital gauge. When sensor is functioning, the reading is correct. Both sensor and gauge agree as to the air pressure in the tire. When it is not functioning, no pressure reading is given. I will keep a close eye on the issue and if it isn't resolved I'll take it back to my local dealer.

Then as others have said, bad sensor or failing battery. One other possibility is EMF interference from a dash cam power brick. However when we have seen that, it usually affects all the tires with "--" readings.

 

[llninja]

TPMS Is a good system but never perfect. My first experience with TPMS was in a rental 2009 Chevy Impala in Orlando, Florida. (Enterprise), in January 2009. The following day after I rented the Impala, the left rear tire gave a warniing on the DIC (26 PSI), while the other three were at 31 PSI. I have no air pump, so I visited a local Walmart and bought a cheap 12VDC air pump and a mechanical tire gauge. When I measured that tire, its pressure was 29 PSI, so I used to pump to increase its PSI to 31. The gauge measured 31 PSI in all four tires. But the DIC still had the 26 PSI reading.

When I returned the Impala after the week, I reported the problem to Enterprise because the next rentee will probably have the same issue. Now I have a 2009 Chevy Equinox, and the TPMS reports all tires one or two units below the mechanical gauge PSI readings. So I don't trust the DIC readings 100%. I prefer to go "old school" (as posted above) and manually measure the tire pressures, but I do use the Equinox DIC as a warning when the TPMS PSI reading drop below 30 PSI.

I have also seen and read about the Ford system. Their TPMS PSI readings are taken by the BCM but stored, and the DIC only reports the "low pressure" warning when the TPMS reading drops below a specific level. It doesn't report the actual TPMS PSI reading, nor give you which tire! A Ford owner must carry the gauge to find which tire has the low pressure (The new Ford cars do come with air pumps in the trunk, just as new GM cars do).

So the GM TPMS is more user friendly, but I will never trust their readings completely.

After monitoring my Volt's TPMS for 3 years, the car's readings match my manual round dial tire gauge exactly

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Got my Volt a few months ago. Had to have rotors and brakes worked on as mentioned in another post, and all has been good since then. I did, though, have a recent alignment done and two new tires purchased. I had the old tires moved to the front and new tires installed in the back since I had put about 5000 miles on my car since it was purchased.

On my front driver side tire, my TPMS tells me, from time to time, there is a problem. It will last for a while (10-15 min of drive time). TPMS has been relearned by local chevy dealer (and when they looked at the tires, they could find no problems with TPMS), and pressure is ok..The sensor shows that this tire has a problem (I'm assuming with low tire pressure), but readings from gauge/digital pump shows everything is ok.

What are possible causes? I'm only familiar with cars that tell you a tire is low, but my Volt measures pressure for each tire. This has happened for about two weeks. Tire warning light goes on. I measure pressure. Tire pressure is ok. Warning light goes off after a few more minutes of driving.

Hello mrp10000 ,

Have you have the opportunity to reach out to your dealership and have them check on the TPMS in your vehicle? If not, I can reach out to them on your behalf to get you scheduled for a diagnostic appoint, and assist during any potential repairs/service. If this is something I can do for you, please feel free to send me a private message.

Amber G.
Chevrolet Customer Care

 

[voganni]

I've a friend who bought a 2013 shortly after I bought mine. One of his sensors went bad. Batteries are not replaceable and last from 8-10 years, unless an old sensor got installed. Beware of cheap sensors on ebay. They are often cheap because they're several years old. The sensors have a born on date on them. They're getting pretty affordable now online too. I think the GM ones can be removed from the valve stem without taking the tire off the rim, but you do have to break the bead to reach the sensor. There's a little screw......I say THINK because it looked possible, but I haven't done it.

 

[mrp10000]

Hello mrp10000 ,

Have you have the opportunity to reach out to your dealership and have them check on the TPMS in your vehicle? If not, I can reach out to them on your behalf to get you scheduled for a diagnostic appoint, and assist during any potential repairs/service. If this is something I can do for you, please feel free to send me a private message.

Amber G.
Chevrolet Customer Care

Thanks for the reply. I have a wonderful Chevy dealer in my area. Right now, the situation seems to have been resolved. I will continue to monitor and provide updates.

 

[ianjay]

I have had problems with my right rear tire. Comes and goes. Twice I had new sensors installed (and sensors relearned) which never really solved the problem. Still comes and goes which makes me wonder if it is not the sensor. I have a good air gauge and compressors in my garages. It is a MY2012. Kind of annoying, but I don't want to risk having the rim scratched any further. I wish you better luck.

 

[llninja]

I have had problems with my right rear tire. Comes and goes. Twice I had new sensors installed (and sensors relearned) which never really solved the problem. Still comes and goes which makes me wonder if it is not the sensor. I have a good air gauge and compressors in my garages. It is a MY2012. Kind of annoying, but I don't want to risk having the rim scratched any further. I wish you better luck.

You wouldn't happen to be using a cheap Chinese dashcam or some other electronic device in your car, would you? Others have reported TPMS issues with various devices in their cars.

 

[mrp10000]

Went one day with no issues, and now the problem is back. I'll keep a close eye on the tire and utilize my OCD. I'll take it to my dealer when I get the chance next week.

 

[mrp10000]

update: after having the issue "come and go," and after having the TPMS relearned a couple of times, I finally had a new sensor installed on the tire that was reading two dashes. So far, no issues since the replacement sensor was installed.

 

[ianjay]

I have used a camera running off the power port in the dash. But even with this unplugged, the right rear sensor comes and goes. My wife sometimes has her iphone plugged in, but only for power when she uses when using the wifi. Could be the iphone although this has been a problem we've had since before the wifi upgrade.On a 80 km trip, it may function on and off three or four times. The annoying thing is that I know the pressure is ok but it kind of takes over the dash display.

 

[mrp10000]

I have used a camera running off the power port in the dash. But even with this unplugged, the right rear sensor comes and goes. My wife sometimes has her iphone plugged in, but only for power when she uses when using the wifi. Could be the iphone although this has been a problem we've had since before the wifi upgrade.On a 80 km trip, it may function on and off three or four times. The annoying thing is that I know the pressure is ok but it kind of takes over the dash display.

Funny you should mention that. Now my right rear tire sensor comes and goes. Right now I'm just keeping an eye on it. When it does read, it reads correctly. It will flame out a few minutes at a time on any trip more than twenty minutes and then all will be ok. Annoying to be sure, but I'm just going to monitor it for now.

 

[ianjay]

The right rear does exactly as you say. I too am just going to keep an eye on it. It is annoying. I guess I could try rotating the RR to another position. But it is just too cold right now. I still haven't put the snows on since I will be going to Florida soon.

 

[mrp10000]

The right rear does exactly as you say. I too am just going to keep an eye on it. It is annoying. I guess I could try rotating the RR to another position. But it is just too cold right now. I still haven't put the snows on since I will be going to Florida soon.

Had the right rear tire pressure monitor replaced...no problems for 45 minutes, then two for two minutes the indicator light told me there was a problem (couldn't have been, the sensor was new!). After two minutes or so, the indicator began reading the tire pressure again. To be continued...

 

[llninja]

Had the right rear tire pressure monitor replaced...no problems for 45 minutes, then two for two minutes the indicator light told me there was a problem (couldn't have been, the sensor was new!). After two minutes or so, the indicator began reading the tire pressure again. To be continued...

So when you are saying the tire has a problem, is it showing a lower pressure number on the dash, or does it just show double dashes where the tire should be showing pressure? Also curious is that in your first post you reported front driver side, and now you mention right rear. Did the problem tire get moved in a tire rotation?