Think it's required on all new cars. *NM*

Pulled my 2007 Boxster out of storage yesterday as spring has arrived early here in SW Ontario.
The flat six fired right up without hesitation.
One of the TPMS sensors is not responding and I figure the battery life has expired.
I did some research and it looks like I have to have all 4 sensors replaced.
Does anyone have experience with replacement of their sensors and is this a DYI project?

It is not a DIY project because the tires have to be dismounted, the old TPMS sensor has to be removed, the new one installed, the tire remounted and balanced.
Apparently the complete sensor (not just the battery) has to be replaced, and it ain't cheap
Call your dealer and ask them.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

Found one (1) for $110, then re, re tire mounting and balancing.

Wow, I could buy a handful, maybe two of tire gauges for that.

Are there any warning lights or buzzers that would annoy when TPMS is not working? Duct tape over a light is one things while driving, but ear plugs would be annoying.

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Guenter in Ontario

Are there any warning lights or buzzers that would annoy when TPMS is not working? Duct tape over a light is one things while driving, but ear plugs would be annoying.

When I put my DE/Autox tires on which have no TPMS installed, I drive about three miles and get ( if I remember correctly) the one chime and warning screen and warning light comes on. I move the operating lever for the computer down one and back to original to remove the warning screen. Then a little later the central warning light comes on. From what I have read there is no way to hack these lights to not come on. It really does not bother me as I'm driving way to fast and must pay attention to the road.

Another question on TPMS. I also have a 2007 and all four sensors work fine. However I am getting close to needing two new rear tires, but the fronts still have good tread. When getting two new rear tires should I have the rear TPMS sensors replaced at that time and do nothing on the fronts for now?

Call your parts department at your local Porsche dealer. When I was changing my rears in my '09, i thought I'd change the batteries in the sensors. Turns out you have to replace the entire sensor at about $100 a pop, but the parts manager told me that they should last for a long time. I forget the exact number of years, but it was something like seven, maybe even 10 years. Not certain how frequently you have to change your tires, but your sensors are only five years old. You can probably wait and do it next time. Me, I love the sensors. My OBC is set to the tire temps all the time. With no spare tire, I like to know if i have a slow leak. good peace of mind. On a roadtrip up north, even noticed my right sides (east side of the car) in the morning were running one pound higher than the left side (shade). Think the sun played a role in that one. Just found it interesting. So, if you are going to go four or five years on your new tires, it might be worth it to change them now, that is, if you like them as much as I do.

They want $900 to replace the four sensors including shop time.
Guenter your right that would buy a lot of tire gauges.
They did suggest that letting the air out of the tire that is not responding, then filling it back up and repeating will sometimes "shock" the sensor into
responding. I'll give that a try first, if that doesn't work it will be duct tape to cover the warning light....

That's for the 4 sensors. Obviously, the labour and balancing are extra.

HTH

Namely, don't buy TPMS. What an expensive hassle.

I forget where I heard or read that there are two kinds of tmps's. one you have to take the tire off, install, rebalance, etc at great cost. the other is a unit that installs in the valve stem. I don't know if Porsches can take the valve stem units, but apparently some other cars can. It might be worth looking into.

I didn't do a lot of research, or carefully read this link, but it is a start.

[www.theautochannel.com]

1999 Arctic Sivler/black/black (sold)
2008s Silver/black/black - so predictable
2011 Outback
8/24/2011 first Grandson

I'll have to do a little more digging. I haven't found the government link.

Here's the wikipedia info.
[en.wikipedia.org]

[www.nhtsa.gov]

She must have one that only goes off when pressure is low. Since I check them at least once a month, it never goes off. Me, I love the Porsche ones that tell you the pressure in all four tires. In a HPDE with my local PCA chapter, my rears got up to 55 psi on the hot laps. I could really feel the tires getting a bit "greezey" and sort of sliding more.

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db997S
She must have one that only goes off when pressure is low. Since I check them at least once a month, it never goes off. Me, I love the Porsche ones that tell you the pressure in all four tires. In a HPDE with my local PCA chapter, my rears got up to 55 psi on the hot laps. I could really feel the tires getting a bit "greezey" and sort of sliding more.

I would check the lights in the dash at startup. There should be one that lights up to show a tire or tread to make sure the light is working.

My wife's BMW light shows up at startup. After that it only lights up if one of the tires is low (experienced it once with a nailed tire). It doesn't tell you wish one. I think the Porsche TPMS is far more useful with the information it gives.

Actually, for my wife's Lexus IS250. I forget the numbers, but the Lexus dealer wanted over $100 for each unit!!!!! I needed them because I have a second set of wheels and tires for winter. I got them from eBay for, again, I can't remember but I think about $40.00 - $50.00 for ALL FOUR. Then I went to a Toyota dealer, NOT a Lexus dealer, and they did the installation and programming for an amount that I don't remember. I dragged in a loose set of wheels, tires, and sensors, and they did the work. The Lexus has a button on the dash for 1st/2nd tire sets so I am fine for the swap. Two seasons of flipping and no issues.

I had the confidence to order these from eBay because of the reports on the Lexus forums.

My Boxster is a 2000 S so I never checked into this for Porsche.

Besides, I doubt that the sensors they have on $10k cars have a replacement retail for $900 as the Porsche ones do. And the technology is likely to be identical.

Whilst TPMS is undoubtably a PITA is some respects. It's saved me a blow out on a highway on one of my cars. For that reason alone I'm adding it to the family car( can be enabled with manufacturer parts and minimal coding)

For my 2004 986 I'd even consider an aftermarket solution. Anyone know of any decent ones with an output that looks reasonably integrated?

I do not like TPMS being mandentory. Let's see, I can get 4 new tires for the Explorer online for under $500, yet new monitoring adds $280 to the bill. The car is only 6 years old. Not worth it.

dghii
2000 Boxster S 6speed 112k miles

Whether justified or not, wasn't it the Explorer controversy that led to TPMSs?

Only if the batteries are dead I guess. The originals in my Mercedes from 2008 are still going strong through 2 sets of tires.. Even so, 280 every 5 years for potential blowout advance notice.......priceless ( MasterCard)

the TPMS system as suggested by the Porsche Tech by removing air from the tire that wasn't sending a signal and re-inflating 2x, then did same to the 3 other tires.
The result was now no tires/wheels registered on the TPMS, I had a message "learning" but after going for a drive for an hour still nothing (it was a great top down day so didn't mind that much..)
Took the Boxster into the Porsche dealership today to try plan B which was to deactivate TPMS (service mgr. thought this could be done but I had my doubts) turns out Harvey and I are correct TPMS cant be deactivated.
At this point I was thinking about duct tape over the error light on the dash but after speaking to the Porsche service tech he said the other 3 sensors he tested still showed 26 months of battery life remaining and recommended trying to replace just the one sensor and see if the others would then register.
Turns out this worked and hopefully the other sensors will be good to go for another 2 years...
Bonus was I took out a new 991S for a test drive while I waited, very nice, especially liked the sport exhaust option, would still want a stick vs. the PDK though.
IMO didn't have the same seat of the pants feeling that the Boxster has but it was my first drive in a 911 and was very impressed.
Apologies for the long post.

Full of info some can use, personal experience and dealer comments, facts, followed up on an initial problem post. What more could we want in a post?

How were they able to determine that the other sensors were good for 26 months? Just wondering how they can determine the life of a battery that accurately. I would have thought that temperatures and amount of use would have a bearing on battery life.

If sensor life can be determined that accurately, that information would come in handy when buying new tires. That would seem to be the most logical time to replace the sensors if they're not likely to last until the next set of tires. Again, it depends on how often you go through sets of tires.

indicated they can scan or test the sensors, I didn't watch them do this but wish I had.
Your right that temps. etc. can affect the longevity of the sensors.
I was surprised that they could replace just one sensor as the service rep. originally said if one goes then all 4 would have to be changed.

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DougW
indicated they can scan or test the sensors, I didn't watch them do this but wish I had.
Your right that temps. etc. can affect the longevity of the sensors.
I was surprised that they could replace just one sensor as the service rep. originally said if one goes then all 4 would have to be changed.

Sounds like maybe a bit of "upselling" going on?

Normally, you would think that they would all last a similar amount of time.

I guess if you order sensors, or get them installed, it would be a good idea to find out the manufacture date. If they'be been sitting around for a couple of years, you'd think they wouldn't last as long on the car, as the batteries would have drained some while in storage.

Guenter
2014 Boxster S
GT Silver, 6 Speed Manual, Bi-Xenons, Sports Suspension (lowers car 20mm), Porsche Sports Exhaust, Porsche Torque Vectoring, Auto Climate control, heated and vented seats, 20" Carrera S Wheels, Pedro's TechNoWind, Sport Design steering wheel, Roll bars in GT Silver
[www.cyberdesignconcepts.com]

controller for the sensors' battery state.

While he didn't say so, I suspect that a regular service, at least one that involves connecting a PIWIS2 diagnostics computer to the car, would include a check of the TPMS battery state for all sensors.

Sincerely,

MarcW.