TPIM module troubleshooting

[Mcgusto82]

Hey Guys.  Hope you're all well.  

Happy to report, my DJ is 12 years old now.  Very happy with it.  Got it new in '12 and its been highly reliable.  Dodge was even kind enough to replace the front heads at 98k miles for free.  We had that burnt valves on cyl 1 issue.  It used to be our secondary car but its now our primary car since im now in a new job field.  Praise the Lord for helping us out.  

 

Anyways, about 3 months ago, we had a massive coolant blow out from the oil cooler.  The coolant was just pouring out from in between the v.  about 5 miles from home.  go figure huh..

Anyways, after letting it cool down for a bit since it happened on the highway and the temp went up up up, i limped it home by feeding it water, actual water.  i stopped at a tire shop that was close by that i like to use, and they sold me a gallon of coolant, but it lasted about a mile, then a gas station nearby, but this time i also picked up a free gallon of water plus another coolant gallon.  Long story short, i stopped for water every mile to keep it cool.  I even stopped and asked for water at some people's BBQ.  No time to be shameful.  

I replaced the oil cooler, no harm to the car.  Got it running a day later even changed the oil while i was at it.  

 

Since that incident, My TPIM light is on, and the front right wheel does not read.  Just the dots.  The front left reads high, like 250, but after about 30 minutes (at first) it reads accurately, and it's been gradually reading accurately faster after start up.  Now after about 5 minutes, the ront left reads accurately. 

The rears read fine.  I already rotated the left side wheels, no change.  I have not changed the module because i do not want to throw money at it blindly.  i feel its got to be something that was messed up from the water / coolant leak up front.  

i've searched left and right for a schematic of the "antennas" but i cant find anything.  Even a schematic of the wiring system.  

 

So, do any of you have this schematic available?  Im thinking the "antennas" could be covered in dry coolant as the entire engine bay was covered in white dust from the coolant steaming out the oil coolant.  

 

FYI, please Do not place this under the current TPIM threat as this does not feel like its a simple TPIM issue.

[5rebel9]

You stated that there is a liked by you TIRE SHOP nearby. GO TO THEM and have them scan each wheel position to check each sensor in each wheel. This is the cheapest and easiest thing to start diagnosing this problem.`2 years old and sensors are OLD and usually only good for around 8 years IF YOU ARE LUCKY.. As I said, FIRST place to start then dig deeper.

[Mcgusto82]

when i swap the tires from front to back, the "front tire" reads fine, and the rear tire does not read in the front position.  this indicates the battery are fine.  

[John/Horace]

Not really. Like OP said,  scanning is only way to know for sure.  The tpms have a built in lithium battery that gets weak over time/miles.  Some  times the weaker battery will be strong enough to get picked up if it’s moved closer to receiver to pick up radio frequency output signal.  Antenna is in lower dash or A pillar I think,  shouldn’t have seen glycol.  Your failure may have just been a coincidence when oil cooler puked.

 

With balancing cost etc people often opt for new sensors when installing new tires. Lots of aftermarket cheap sensors from Rockauto etc.   Some people pop the bead and pull through a new sensor without removing tire or balancing.

Edited December 10, 2023 by John/Horace

[2late4u]

3 hours ago, Mcgusto82 said:

when i swap the tires from front to back, the "front tire" reads fine, and the rear tire does not read in the front position.  this indicates the battery are fine.  

TPM module  NOT the TIPM module    two totally different  modules  and    NO they are not GOOD ,,,,,,,  the tpms module is remembering the last position and giving false readings, I just went Thru what you are experiencing  6 months ago on my 2014 crossroad   was about to give up on it and not bother to fix it and the wife wasn't happy with that,  so I went to my tire shop and they messed with it a while and then said well the batteries are going bad and I had them replaced cost me around $300 parts and labor for 4 new sensors if I remember correctly,,,, and THAT fixed my problem,,,the TPM module is in your rear left wheel well above the top of the tire well