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Service Tire System Soon - Message

115K views 44 replies 22 participants last post by  FabricGATOR 
#1 ·
We have a 2004 T&C Limited. It has the TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) with the display on the overhead console where the compass and exterior temperature is displayed. About three months ago we began getting the following message:

Service Tire System Soon

It will not go away, and if cleared it reappears in just a minute or two. :mad: Today I took it to a local tire shop and they tested each of the tires pressure sensors with a wireless device and were able to confirm each tires sensor was indeed transmitting. They also dropped the pressure in each tire and the system then reported a tire with low pressure. So, the system is working. How does someone RESET the system? The guy at the tire shop said it most likely needs to go to the dealer, but I have yet to find a dealership that has a service department that ever fixes a problem in one visit. It is like they just swap out parts until the problem goes away.

Anyone have any ideas? :help_wsig
 
#4 · (Edited)
I'd say that maybe one or more of the sending units is sensing low battery voltage... so it tells you to "service" the system..
If this is the case, you'll likely see one or more of the sensors begin to drop out when temps drop below freezing.

That said, I was not aware that TPMS will give you an advanced warning (but maybe this feature was introduced on 2nd ed of 4th gen vans and so we are just beginning to see batteries go bad..)

would you mind telling the forums your approx mileage and if the van is an early build?

BTW, TPMS will only monitor 4 sensors on these vehicles..

PS: the sensors are not serviceable and must be replaced as a whole unit (no battery swap)
 
#5 ·
2005 T&C with 51k miles. It was purchased in June or 2005.

My intentions were to confirm one of the sensors was BAD and then just replace all four sensors, BUT now that the local tire shop tested the four sensors and supposedly they are transmitting just fine. I am starting to wonder if it might be something to do with the overhead display? The local shop has quoted replacing all four sensors for $275, which seems very reasonable, but if that does not fix the message it would be a waste of $$$.
 
#6 ·
Intrigued by your post, I did a little research and learne d a few things about the TPMS.

The Tire Pressure Monitoring (TPM) system uses radio and sensor technology to monitor tire air pressure levels. Sensors, mounted to each road wheel as part of the valve stem, transmit an RF signal indicating their individual pressure to a receiver located in the Sentry Key Remote Entry Module (SKREEM). These transmissions occur approximately once every minute at speeds over 15 mph (24 km/h). The Tire Pressure Monitoring system remains active even if no tire pressure related message is displayed.

The sensors lay dormant (Park Mode), then wake and start transmitting (Drive Mode) when the vehicle first reaches speeds over 15 mph (24 km/h). Once the wheels stop rotating for a period of approximately 20 minutes, the sensors shut down until again awaken. Although not transmitting as when in Drive Mode, while in Park Mode, the sensors still transmit approximately once every 13 hours to let the receiver know air pressure status at that time.

TPM THRESHOLD PRESSURES DESCRIPTION SPECIFICATION
High Pressure ON Threshold 48 PSI (331 kPa)
High Pressure OFF Threshold 43 PSI (296 kPa)
Placard Pressure (Cold) 36 PSI (248 kPa)
Low Pressure OFF Threshold 33 PSI (214 kPa)
Low Pressure ON Threshold 28 PSI (193 kPa)

The only thing I can think is happening, is that since your sensors checked out OK, then perhaps you have a very slow leak in one of your tires.
 
#7 ·
You might want to take it to the dealer or someone with Scanner that can read the codes.
 
#8 ·
I'd wait to see if one or more of the sensors drops out completely.. (just make sure to test the tire pressure every once in a while)
I know it's annoying to see the msg, but it does no harm to the van and throwing money at something as trivial as this seems a waste to me...

If you have an extended warranty, you can try the dealer.. otherwise it will probably be a waste of time and money..

RE:"I am starting to wonder if it might be something to do with the overhead display?"
Absolutely not, the display only displays text corresponding to the PCI bus message it receives...

However, the system operates wireless at 315Mhz and RF interference or problems with SKEEM module can effect it..
(SKEEM is unlikely if you RKE system works without problems)
 
#9 · (Edited)
this is from the owners manual on the subject:
(note that the message name is slightly different)
"
CHECK TPM SYSTEM
The Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPM) system requires
service.
See your authorized dealer for service.
CAUTION!
The TPM system has been optimized for the original
equipment tires and wheels. TPM system pressures
have been established for the tire size equipped on
your vehicle. Undesirable operation or sensor damage
may result when using replacement equipment
that is not of the same size, type, and/or style.
After-market wheels can cause sensor damage. Do
not use tire sealant or balance beads if your vehicle
is equipped with TPM system as damage to the
sensors may result.
"

PS: I have an 05 T&C ltd with over 67Kmi and on the road since ~aug 04 (originally in NJ, now in NY) and I'm yet to see any warning from TPM sys.
 
#10 ·
An Update

I figure I own everyone an update.

Late Friday afternoon, I decided to try the Ask a Mechanic Online from Just Answer. It cost me $13, and I hope it will be worth the money I paid.

=======================================================
My Question:
We have a 2005 T&C Limited. It has the TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) with the display on the overhead console where the compass and exterior temperature is displayed. About three months ago we began getting the following message:

Service Tire System Soon

It will not go away, and if cleared it reappears in just a minute or two. Today I took it to a local tire shop and they tested each of the tires pressure sensors with a wireless device and were able to confirm each tires sensor was indeed transmitting. They also dropped the pressure in each tire and the system then reported a tire with low pressure. So, the system is working. How does someone RESET the system? What is going on?

Optional Information:
Year: 2005
Make: Chrysler
Model: Town & Country Limited
Engine: 3.8

Already Tried:
Tested the Tire Pressure Sensors and they are transmitting.

=======================================================
Posted by Mopar Certified
Answer:

Hi,

The most likely reason for this message is that one or more of the sensors has a battery that is starting to fail.
The life expectancy of these sensors......and their internal batteries......is 5 years. With the 2010's coming out, that pretty much puts your sensors at 5 years old and they will likely need replacing soon.........just like the message says...soon, not immediately.
Thank You
Mopar CertifiedTechnician
22 Year Factory Trained and Certified

=======================================================
My Reply:
Thank you - I can pickup four OEM Sensors for about $200, and the local tire shop said they will install them for $75, but since they were not able to confirm one of the sensors was BAD, they were apprehensive to go this way.
With the 2005, there is no reset function on the overhead display. If we choose the replace the four sensors (since there is no way to figure out which one is week). Do we need to somehow retrain the system, or will it just recognize the new sensors and reset itself?

=======================================================
Posted by Mopar Certified
Answer:

Once the sensors have been replaced, Drive vehicle for a minimum of five minutes while maintaining a continuous speed above 15 mph (24 km/h). During this time the system will learn the new sensor ID code and will clear any DTC's automatically.

=======================================================
My Reply:
Thank you - As an engineer this seems like a poorly designed system. If I had known these typically only last 5-6 years I would have replaced them when I did the tires back at the first of the year. Also, the warning message should not be consistent. There is no way to temporary clear it for more then a minute or two before it returns. I could understand it being constant once it has completely lost the signal, but as long is it is just week, it seems to be an overkill.

Thank you again, and I will get off of my salt box now.

=======================================================
Posted by Mopar Certified
Answer:

Thank you

=======================================================
So, now I will order the parts and report back if this fixed the problem.

I did my Ask the Mechanic Question at 3:15pm on Friday. If I had seen MoparChickie's great post I might have been able to save $13, but it helps to have it confirmed before I go off and spend about $250 to fix this problem.

This does explain why when others have seen this message and they take the vehicle in to the Dealership, it becomes a crap shoot as to which sensor needs to be replaced. :eek:
 
#11 ·
Wonder if you could measure the signal strength with an RF meter to determine which sensor has the weak battery. Anywho, yours is at the 5 year limit so probably best to change all of them anyway.
 
#12 ·
it might be possible, but it would not be 100% accurate.. (many factors can effect RF signal strength) not to mention that the sensors could be from a mixed batch (different dates / components / factories)

besides, i'm fairly certain that it's not low RF signal that triggers the warning. Rather, the sensors monitor the battery voltage and at certain level transmit a "code" to the system..

Since flash9 recently replaced the tires it makes little sense to wait to see how long the batteries will last.. (although, on some TPMS you may have up to 18 months before they start to drop out)

RE: battery life
obviously the more hours the van is driven, the more use batteries will be subjected to. that said, lithium batteries can (theoretically) last over 10 years - primarily depending on the "quality" (purity) of the materials used.. and secondly on the capacity / current draw...
*if mopar (or whoever designed for them) wanted these things to last, they would put a small generator into the sensor (it could easily recharge a small LiION battery or even a capacitor and last far longer)
but there's no profit in that..
 
#13 ·
Seems to me they could have put one of those things in the sensors like some watches have... you know the kind that charges themselves with movement... plenty of movement in a spinning wheel...
 
#14 ·
If it makes you feel any better I have the same problem with my 2002 and it went away when the weather became warmer.

Once it starts up again once it gets cold I will replace all the wheel sensors and see if it corrects the problem.

But it is still warm enough that it has not dropped the battery voltage in the sensors yet.
 
#16 ·
No more Service Tire System Soon Message!

Purchased four of the Dorman Part Number 974-028 Tire Pressure Sensors on Friday.



Last night on my way home from work I took the van back to the small tire shop, and we proceeded to replace all four valve stem / tire sensors on the vehicle. The instructions say to wait 20 minutes after pressurizing the tires. After starting the van, I drove home, which is just a couple miles away. At first I was still getting the Service Tire System Soon, message as well as 3 Tire(s) have Low Pressure message. About half way home the Service Tire System Soon, message went away, but the 3 Tire(s) have Low Pressure message stayed lit. When I got home I inflated all four tires to 38 PSI. The 3 Tire(s) have Low Pressure message proceeded to stay on for about another 10 minutes of driving (I was getting concerned) and then the display finally went back to compass and exterior temperature! :biggrin: :beerchug: :biggrin:

Total cost $140 Parts, $40 Labor, Total $180.

Not cheep, but a lot less then the dealership wanted to do the work. :Wow1:

I hope this information will help others in the future. :ThumbsUp:
 
#18 ·
I am betting in the next couple of weeks once it cools off ours will start setting service soon again and I will do as you did and replace the sensors. I am betting though that I will be able to put the sensors in myself by lower an object along the side of the tire to break the bead off and replace sensor and refill tire.
 
#19 ·
... I am betting though that I will be able to put the sensors in myself by lower an object along the side of the tire to break the bead off and replace sensor and refill tire.
You very well might be able to do this. On the first tire we tried this, but struggled to get our hand inside the tire in order to install the tire pressure sensor. :Wow1:

After working at it for a few minutes, the mechanic said, the he11 with this, and went ahead and used the tire mounting machine, and separated one side of the tire from the rim. This made it a lot easier to mount the tire pressure sensor per the instructions.

I guess if you try this and it does not work, you can always call some tire shops to see what they would charge. For me, the $40 was money well spent. :thumb:
 
#21 ·
No relearning for 2005

... Did you relearn the sensors with the magnet?
Believe it or not Chrysler actually simplified the system in 2005. There is no relearn procedure. Basically, if one of the tires is low, it displays in the overhead the message "1 Tire(s) Pressure is Low", and if there are more then 1 low pressure tire, it just increments the number from 1 to 4. The thing with the relearn is to tell to car where each tire is so that it can give you the pressure in that particular location. If you rotate your tires, but do not relearn the system, then it will point you in the wrong location when it reports a low tire pressure situation.

So, my relearning was just driving the car enough for the new sensors to transmit their pressure to the cars computer system. :)
 
#22 ·
Same issue here on my 02 Limited. BUT I found the fix! I found wjjeeps .com and they explain how to "train" the sensors. The dealer will use a special magnet with a hole in the center to fit over the valve stem. I used an old Infinity speaker magnet that I separated from the basket and it worked flawlessly. You need to get into the "train" mode via the overhead console. I can't explain all the details here but check it out. The warning message went away, but one question I have is, is the system supposed to let you know the tire pressure automatically or only if it detects a low tire? The owners manual is incredibly useless in fine details like this. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
 
#23 ·
New Sensors Working Great!



Please Notice in my post from September 24th, Chrysler actually simplified the system for the 2005 MY. There was no manual re-learn feature, for your 2002 that might be the case, but in my case, I needed to figure out which sensor was week and replace it. Since in all likelihood all four would be going dead soon, I just replaced all four sensors. :thumb:

Everything has been working great for the past two months. :beerchug:
 
#24 ·
It is the same with an ABS sensor, you know one is bad, would be nice if they told you which one, but then, what would they have to do? Is it possible one was damaged when they put your tires on? I posted a question about replacing my sensors when I replace the tires coming up soon (05 TC w/ 70k) and the consensus was that it was not worth it. If I have your experience, it would mean spending 250 to save 75, which is about a 30% savings, if this becomes a common problem, might become SOP for 05's around 75k. Keep posting. Thanks, I am already up $13.
 
#25 ·
My 2004 is the exact same system as the 2005 (VDO). No need the the retrain with a magnet as the system will not tell you which tire is the problem. In any case, the build date for my car was September 2003 and the in service date is January 16, 2004 and all 8 sensors I have (used on 1 set of Blizzaks and one set of Michelin Hydroedge) have not stopped working yet. I now have 140,000 kms or about 86,000 miles. So, my sensors are now over 6 years old. I have heard 10 years but also seen 5-7 years quoted more often. At least now I know that if I see the service tire system soon message that it is likely the batteries and just go and replace all of them
 
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#26 ·
My 2005 just started showing this a few months ago. so 12 years, more or less? I have had one one sensor come apart on my wife, the stem separated from the rim. Message is coming and going right now. I went to NTB and by the time I got there the message was off. They scanned all the sensors with their rf reciever, and they all showed good battery at that point. I'll take it back in and have them replace the sensors when I get time.
 
#28 ·
We have a 2004 T&C Limited. It has the TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) with the display on the overhead console where the compass and exterior temperature is displayed. About three months ago we began getting the following message:

Service Tire System Soon

It will not go away, and if cleared it reappears in just a minute or two. :mad: Today I took it to a local tire shop and they tested each of the tires pressure sensors with a wireless device and were able to confirm each tires sensor was indeed transmitting. They also dropped the pressure in each tire and the system then reported a tire with low pressure. So, the system is working. How does someone RESET the system? The guy at the tire shop said it most likely needs to go to the dealer, but I have yet to find a dealership that has a service department that ever fixes a problem in one visit. It is like they just swap out parts until the problem goes away.

Anyone have any ideas? :help_wsig
This is was done some time ago....we too have a 2005 T&C, that has that exact problem with the TPMS...... so I replaced all the sensors on the 4 tires..........guess what.......it did not fix the problem with the Serivce Tire System Soon indication coming on..... can't figure out the problem so we'll just live with it................................
 
#31 ·
It might just take some time.

My wife's 06 T&C has had issues with the TPMS since shortly after she got it several years ago. Initially I tried replacing individual sensors that were testing bad. I used aftermarket sensors (Schrader I think). The error and/or low tire messages would return. In hindsight I should have replaced all four at the same time. Eventually I just gave up on it and she drove around with the TPMS light on.

A year or two ago the tires needed to be replaced. I got four brand new Mopar sensors from the dealer and had them installed along with the new tires. Guess what? It still showed one tire low pressure even after going through the relearn drive sequence. I tried playing around with deflating and re-inflating tires to see which one(s) would or would not respond. I even have a Miller Tools 9936 TPM-RKE tester that checks signal strength and reads pressure. I was still unable to determine what the fault was and I once again gave up on it.

A month or two later my wife came home and reported that the light and error message finally went out. Everything has been fine ever since. I am at a loss to explain this as it makes no sense at all.

End of story, now time for a rant.

To me the worst thing about this system is that when (not if) there is a problem, it takes over and becomes the default priority view of the overhead display. This is just stupid. No other warning system on these vehicles does that. Low oil pressure, charging system, ABS, Air Bag, coolant temp, seatbelt, Check Engine Light, etc all have a warning lamp in the cluster and a chime that sounds. None of those are even shown in the overhead display much less dominate it completely. You would think that at least low oil pressure or high coolant temp would cause a warning in the display but no. Why is the TPMS so important when it is not even something installed in all vehicles? Apparently it is more important to know that a tire is a little low than that your engine is about to seize up. You can cycle the display back to compass/temp but it shortly goes right back to TPMS error messages if there are any. Totally ridiculous.

I can not understand why anybody would want to intentionally install such a lousy system on their vehicle. It will eventually fail at the very least when the sensor batteries go south after a few years. When it fails it is the only thing you will see in the overhead display regardless of whether there is any actual problem until the system decides there are no more problems. This is a system intended for folks that know nothing about cars and can't be bothered to occasionally check the tire condition and pressure on their own. I wish I could get rid of it.

rant/
 
#29 ·
I am in the process of adding TPMS to my van that didn't come with it.

There are several different sensors in use with Gen 4 vans. The older models work in ~400 mhz band and the newer Gen 4's vans work at 315mhz. There have been many part numbers for both by Chrysler. I have found the aftermarket sensors may or may not work. I have found very few success stories for aftermarket TPMS that work. Schrader TPMS sensors were one, VDO another. Cheap EBay and Dorman sensors dont seem to work or fail soon after install.

Do you know what sensors were installed?

This thread is very old.
 
#32 ·
I am in the process of adding TPMS to my van that didn't come with it.

There are several different sensors in use with Gen 4 vans. The older models work in ~400 mhz band and the newer Gen 4's vans work at 315mhz. There have been many part numbers for both by Chrysler. I have found the aftermarket sensors may or may not work. I have found very few success stories for aftermarket TPMS that work. Schrader TPMS sensors were one, VDO another. Cheap EBay and Dorman sensors dont seem to work or fail soon after install.

Do you know what sensors were installed?

This thread is very old.
It is my belief that on my 2008, that the OEM sensors were the Schrader. Not sure what system you are trying to upgrade to.
 
#30 ·
Does your spare tire have a sensor?
 
#34 ·
I think they should design a special kicking boot. Give the tire a kick and a pressure reading shows up.

Any room under that rock? :)
 
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