TPMS question regarding tire rotation

[SimmZ]

My 2019 RAM Classic is my 3rd recent Chrysler's vehicle, all of them had TPMS sensor, however this is the first time ever I got a broken TPMS sensor so now I am confused... here's my story :

On my winter steel wheels, I use some cheap OEM compatible TPMS sensor from Amazon (40$ for 4x) and after a few month, one of the sensor become intermittent and I have a "fix TPMS sensor" error message appearing and disappearing every few days and I see that my front passenger's side wheel sensor are not responding. So I contacted the Amazon seller and he immediately sent me a replaced unit for the bad sensor (for free).

So I ask a local tire shop to specifically install the replacement sensor in the front passenger's side wheel for me and then I drove a few KM that the sensor register by itself (as expected), but it never registered! So after a few days, I returned to the tire shop to see if the sensor is bad or what happened and then they use a large professional TPMS diagnostic tool to check my 4 sensor and the guy told me that I have a bad sensor (not responding) on the rear passenger's side wheel. So I was totally confused since my dash shown that the missing sensor are in front, this is why I asked to replace front sensor, then the guy from the tire shop ask me this question :

Have you every rotated your tire position? Yes of course!! As recommended in the owner manual and also recommended by the tire manufacturer, so WTF?

Since this is the first time ever I broke a TPMS sensor, I never realized that the car doesn't automatically detect the actual position of the sensor (of the wheels).

So now my question is : is there any cheap (DIY) TPMS tool that I could purchase to reset my TPMS position each time that I rotate my tires (summer wheels and winter wheels as well)? Of course any professional TPMS tool such as AUTEL TPMS tool (like that use at the tire shop) will do the trick, but it's all over 500$...

 

[stimpy433]

You shouldn’t have to do anything, I rotate the tires on my Ram and Challenger all the time and I’ve never had to do anything more then drive a block to two to get them to register correctly. I did have trouble with non oem sensors on my truck that kept losing connection. Dealer changed them to oem sensors and I haven’t had a problem since with them. Dealer told me they have had problems with aftermarket sensors and Ram trucks not playing nice together.

 

[1500ram12]

I'd ditch those sensors. I bought a set of used sensors off of eBay to run in my winter set. I had to take it to the dealer to get the "programmed" because I ran without them for over a month and had to have them reset something to get rid of the service tpms system, it probably was the rf hub and I could have done that myself. I did have one dead one and they replaced it under warranty.


2018 Ram 2500 6.4L Hemi Tradesman

 

[SimmZ]

Well those aftermarket sensor are rated 5/5 and they have the highest reviews, so they probably work fine at some point. A DOA unit is something possible and the three other sensor work perfectly for the past 5 months. According to the professional tire shop I visited, you should never rotate your tire without resetting the sensor position with a TPMS tool on a RAM or other Chrysler's vehicle (and on most of other brands too), this is what I was told yesterday.

At some point, can you swear that the position of your sensors is good right now? It's surely possible that they could be wrong and you never noticed if no one fails or become low pressure.

 

[JohnnyMac]

I have the Amazon 4 for $40 sensors and they have been working fine for a year. I haven't noticed any issues with rotating the tires. That being said, I guess the only way I would know they haven't switched positions is if one quit reporting. Which they haven't....

 

[SimmZ]

I have the Amazon 4 for $40 sensors and they have been working fine for a year. I haven't noticed any issues with rotating the tires. That being said, I guess the only way I would know they haven't switched positions is if one quit reporting. Which they haven't....

This is EXACTLY my point... maybe I have this issue for the past 12 years on my last 4 vehicle equipped with TPMS, but NEVER taking note of it because it never failed.

Then also logically if you rotate TWICE, you put back the wheel at the same place... so if you rotate twice a year, your position is wrong half of the year.

In fact this is definitely not a big deal AT ALL and I should not take care of it, except this time I got screwed because I replaced the wrong sensor because of prior tire rotation... BY CHANCE, I didn't discard the (not) defective sensor I removed, I kept it into my garage, so I will probably put it back on the rear wheel and voila! The only $$ I'll loose is 2 sensors installation fees instead of 1x.

 

[hardcharger77]

I rotate my wheels all the time and know for sure the OEM sensors change to the new position on their own without having to manually reset anything.


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[SimmZ]

I rotate my wheels all the time and know for sure the OEM sensors change to the new position on their own without having to manually reset anything.


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How do you know for sure? You are soothsayer?

 

[PoMansRam]

I've got two sets of OEM wheels with OEM sensors in them for my 2017 Ram 1500. Like said above, with OEM sensors they will register their ID and position. Aftermarket sensors typically will not do this.

 

[hardcharger77]

How do you know for sure? You are soothsayer?

No, but I do regularly mess around with tire pressure.

 

[Jendsley06]

To check if they are registering in the right position, lower the pressure in one tire by about 5psi and drive it a while. It should work properly. Could do this to each corner if you want to know for sure on each. I rotate mine each oil change same as my wife's 200. I took hers for a drive a couple of changes ago right after and pulled up the Tpms screen, and looked down just as it changed them. I'm pretty sure they register automatically after seeing that.