TPMS Sensor Replacement Cost?
03-17-2019, 04:47 PM
#1
AudiWorld Member
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TPMS Sensor Replacement Cost?
What am I looking at for cost to replace a tire pressure monitor sensor for a single tire? Dealer vs Indie Shop? Thanks.
03-17-2019, 05:13 PM
#2
AudiWorld Super User
03-17-2019, 05:51 PM
#3
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
Okay, here's what happened: On a stormy rainy night, my wife drove over something puncturing a tire on her way home over a month ago. She didn't even realize it when she got home, but then left an hour later for an errand, and only got a block when a whole lot of lights came on the dash, including the ABS light, and the TPMS system light, and a few others, maybe even the check engine light. Absolutely nothing was wrong with the car before that. She got out and noticed the flat tire. AAA came and put the donut on, and the next day, we drove and got the tire replaced. All the dash lights were on on the way to the shop this next day. After they replaced the tire, only the TPMS light remained on, until I reset it through the MMI. Since then, it's been coming on again once every few weeks, and the tires are all fine, no loss of tire pressure in any. I have to manually reset the TPMS in the MMI each time. Any ideas about how I should proceed besides going to the dealer's service dept and paying the big bucks?
03-17-2019, 06:29 PM
#4
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you replaced one tire? what's the tread depth difference between the new tire and the user tires? If it too much, the new tire will rotate slower than the others. the TPMS uses wheel speed rotational differences to spot a low pressure tire.
I had to replace all 4 tires recently when I got sidewall damage on one. existing tires still had 6/32" but the new tire has 11/32" and that's too much of a difference for the diffs to be happy. hmm, save money to just buy one tire, potentially buy new diff later.
"
I had to replace all 4 tires recently when I got sidewall damage on one. existing tires still had 6/32" but the new tire has 11/32" and that's too much of a difference for the diffs to be happy. hmm, save money to just buy one tire, potentially buy new diff later.
"
03-17-2019, 06:34 PM
#5
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
you replaced one tire? what's the tread depth difference between the new tire and the user tires? If it too much, the new tire will rotate slower than the others. the TPMS uses wheel speed rotational differences to spot a low pressure tire.
I had to replace all 4 tires recently when I got sidewall damage on one. existing tires still had 6/32" but the new tire has 11/32" and that's too much of a difference for the diffs to be happy. hmm, save money to just buy one tire, potentially buy new diff later.
"
I had to replace all 4 tires recently when I got sidewall damage on one. existing tires still had 6/32" but the new tire has 11/32" and that's too much of a difference for the diffs to be happy. hmm, save money to just buy one tire, potentially buy new diff later.
"
03-17-2019, 07:12 PM
#6
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when I got my tire damaged, I looked to see what the allowable difference in tire depth was to see if I could just replace the one tire.
I saw many postings that stated that Audi allowed 4/32" tread difference.
.
AudiAs published in their vehicle owner's manual, "rolling radius of all 4 tires must remain the same" or within 4/32-inch of each other in remaining tread depth.
https://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech....jsp?techid=18
I also saw many anecdotable postings from people on the forums that didn't replace all 4 and then within a year had a diff failure. for me, it was worth just replacing all 4.
but in your case, think about it. if all 4 tires are inflated to the same pressure, the one tire is going to rotate slower than the rest due to it being larger diameter.. the ABS system is going to see that difference and trigger the TPMS warning.
I saw many postings that stated that Audi allowed 4/32" tread difference.
.
AudiAs published in their vehicle owner's manual, "rolling radius of all 4 tires must remain the same" or within 4/32-inch of each other in remaining tread depth.
https://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech....jsp?techid=18
I also saw many anecdotable postings from people on the forums that didn't replace all 4 and then within a year had a diff failure. for me, it was worth just replacing all 4.
but in your case, think about it. if all 4 tires are inflated to the same pressure, the one tire is going to rotate slower than the rest due to it being larger diameter.. the ABS system is going to see that difference and trigger the TPMS warning.
Last edited by jackhammer909; 03-17-2019 at 07:14 PM.
03-17-2019, 07:34 PM
#7
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
when I got my tire damaged, I looked to see what the allowable difference in tire depth was to see if I could just replace the one tire.
I saw many postings that stated that Audi allowed 4/32" tread difference.
.
AudiAs published in their vehicle owner's manual, "rolling radius of all 4 tires must remain the same" or within 4/32-inch of each other in remaining tread depth.
https://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech....jsp?techid=18
I also saw many anecdotable postings from people on the forums that didn't replace all 4 and then within a year had a diff failure. for me, it was worth just replacing all 4.
but in your case, think about it. if all 4 tires are inflated to the same pressure, the one tire is going to rotate slower than the rest due to it being larger diameter.. the ABS system is going to see that difference and trigger the TPMS warning.
I saw many postings that stated that Audi allowed 4/32" tread difference.
.
AudiAs published in their vehicle owner's manual, "rolling radius of all 4 tires must remain the same" or within 4/32-inch of each other in remaining tread depth.
https://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech....jsp?techid=18
I also saw many anecdotable postings from people on the forums that didn't replace all 4 and then within a year had a diff failure. for me, it was worth just replacing all 4.
but in your case, think about it. if all 4 tires are inflated to the same pressure, the one tire is going to rotate slower than the rest due to it being larger diameter.. the ABS system is going to see that difference and trigger the TPMS warning.
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03-17-2019, 07:52 PM
#8
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when I had my tires recently replaced, the shop charged me for "TPMS rebuild kits". got that refuned PDQ when I asked the manager, "how can you charge me to rebuild TPMS sensors that don't exist?"
03-17-2019, 08:07 PM
#9
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Thread Starter
Like Bob stated above, there are no TPMS sensors. it uses ABS sensors to track rotational speed. if all tires are the same size and pressure, they should rotate at the same speed. if one wheel starts spinning faster/slower than the rest, then the TPMS system assumes that that tire is either softer/harder than the rest.
when I had my tires recently replaced, the shop charged me for "TPMS rebuild kits". got that refuned PDQ when I asked the manager, "how can you charge me to rebuild TPMS sensors that don't exist?"
when I had my tires recently replaced, the shop charged me for "TPMS rebuild kits". got that refuned PDQ when I asked the manager, "how can you charge me to rebuild TPMS sensors that don't exist?"
03-17-2019, 08:50 PM
#10
AudiWorld Super User
Have you checked the tire pressures again when they are definitely cold?
Could other damage been done to the ABS sensor? One dragging brake can do this also.
It takes about an 8 psi loss in one tire to trigger the low pressure warning.
Have you scanned the Q5 for any error codes? If you don't have a scanner go to Advanced Auto, etc., they will scan for free.
Could other damage been done to the ABS sensor? One dragging brake can do this also.
It takes about an 8 psi loss in one tire to trigger the low pressure warning.
Have you scanned the Q5 for any error codes? If you don't have a scanner go to Advanced Auto, etc., they will scan for free.
Last edited by Bob Petruska; 03-17-2019 at 09:15 PM.