TPMS on winter wheels

[swishtony]

Ouch! Just got quote from Volvo to supply and fit 4 TPMS valves onto my winter wheels. £323.45. Considering you can buy the valves for £140 that's steep I think, I asked them for a breakdown and never realised that they charge about £100 per hour for labour! Apparently it is a 1.8 hour job so that's where the cost is.

[Infrustria]

Ouch indeed.

Actually, this got me thinking; where are the sensors located? In the valve stem, or elsewhere?

[swishtony]

Originally Posted by Infrustria

Ouch indeed.

Actually, this got me thinking; where are the sensors located? In the valve stem, or elsewhere?

They are part of the valve but actually sit inside the wheel. I'm still trying to find out if legally they need to be fitted. Nobody seems to know! Neither Vovlo nor Volvo insurance have a clue. Insurance company are contacting their technical department to see if they can find out legally, and from their point of view, if I am required to fit them to my winter wheels.

It would pretty much make sense that I would have to as the car came with them on. I can see these being a bit of a problem when your average tyre fitter replaces tyres, they look flimsy and I bet easy to break. My dealer told me they also need to be calibrated to the car via the software system, I'm not sure I believe that as from what I've read once a set has been on the car and linked to the software, any other set put on the car would be picked up automatically as they are an inentical piece of kit?

[Whyman]

My son has them on a SH Passat he bought. He tried to remove the valve caps and found them to be seized on. WD40'and a little more brute force he broke one. Had an ordinary valve fitted and had a warning message every time he stated the car.

They are a little module that bolts inside the rim in place of the valve. Presumably it measures the pressure and will have a battery which will also eventually go flat.

He bought some replacement off Ebay not sure of the cost but had them fitted by our tyre fitters about £10 per wheel. Not sure if he had to have them calibrated to the car but I don't think so.

Since then he removes the caps regularly to stop the seizing again.

[Infrustria]

This brings feelings of dread, for when the time comes to replace a tyre.

[Bonefishblues]

Reading the Winter Tyres thread over on Pistonheads and a Honda owner is explaining that his car uses the ABS system to monitor rolling diameter and indicate whether a puncture has occurred.

Seems smarter and cleaner (and a whole less susceptible to tyre fitters!) than the in-rim TPMS being used by Volvo - or am I missing something?

He can reset for himself using his dash computer after a tyre replacement, incidentally.

[swishtony]

Originally Posted by Bonefishblues

Reading the Winter Tyres thread over on Pistonheads and a Honda owner is explaining that his car uses the ABS system to monitor rolling diameter and indicate whether a puncture has occurred.

Seems smarter and cleaner (and a whole less susceptible to tyre fitters!) than the in-rim TPMS being used by Volvo - or am I missing something?

He can reset for himself using his dash computer after a tyre replacement, incidentally.

Yes that system seems a lot more sensible. Volvo still cannot find out if legally I have to have them fitted. They said any information available to them is very sketchy. The one thing they did say is that if I had to get an MOT done it would fail as the car was supplied with them so it becomes an item that is testable. I think from that statement we can pretty much assume it must be illegal if it would be an MOT fail, or is that an incorrect assumption?

[uniqueue]

Originally Posted by swishtony

They are part of the valve but actually sit inside the wheel. I'm still trying to find out if legally they need to be fitted. Nobody seems to know! Neither Vovlo nor Volvo insurance have a clue. Insurance company are contacting their technical department to see if they can find out legally, and from their point of view, if I am required to fit them to my winter wheels.

It would pretty much make sense that I would have to as the car came with them on. I can see these being a bit of a problem when your average tyre fitter replaces tyres, they look flimsy and I bet easy to break. My dealer told me they also need to be calibrated to the car via the software system, I'm not sure I believe that as from what I've read once a set has been on the car and linked to the software, any other set put on the car would be picked up automatically as they are an inentical piece of kit?

If TPMS was fitted as OEM when manufactured then it will have to be working when the car is submitted for an MOT test. Thats the EU directive bit. I am not aware that the UK construction and use regs have been changed to make working TPMS a legal requirement to use the car on the road in the UK.

So...... it wont be an issue until your first MOT which for XC60 drivers with OEM TPMS will be around November 2017.
(There are different rules for cars that obtained type approval after 2012, which included TPMS as a mandatory requirement. These will be MOT tested from next year)
So you should be able to swap to winter wheels without tpms so long as its all working when you have your first MOT.

There may of course be insurance issues if you "modify" the car and remove or disable TPMS though I doubt that you will get a consistent answer from them... until you make a claim - bit like fitting winter tyres in the first place!!

Not sure if you can disable whatever "beep" happens when the sensor isnt there . Could get a bit infuriating :-)

[Spitfire4]

Think it's one of those where you're damned if you do and damned if you don't, the reason why I'm just changing tyres. Was offered winter tyres on alloys with TPMS for £1200, but stuck with just the tyres.

[wimorrison]

Originally Posted by Bonefishblues

Reading the Winter Tyres thread over on Pistonheads and a Honda owner is explaining that his car uses the ABS system to monitor rolling diameter and indicate whether a puncture has occurred.

Seems smarter and cleaner (and a whole less susceptible to tyre fitters!) than the in-rim TPMS being used by Volvo - or am I missing something?

He can reset for himself using his dash computer after a tyre replacement, incidentally.

I understand that the new legislation that has forced Volvo down this route cannot be met using this method as it is too inaccurate, not being able to provide an actual pressure within the tyre.

The in-rim TPMS is what everyone is moving too, it has been used by some marques for several years