C5 X7 - Advice

[Adam82]

Good evening all,
I hit a really bad pothole about 4 weeks ago at night and the car has been off the road since due to a buckled alloy.
Back in early January I bought a fair amount of parts that have been fitted over the last week. This includes front arms, lower pivots and lower pivot support bushes.
I spoke to an alloy wheel refurb company today to get all four alloys refurbed and they may be able to help in the next few weeks.

Please may I have some advice on TPMS sensors?
If i get a set of sensors that can be fitted after the wheels have been refurbed what information will be relayed to the dashboard or multifunction display? I would really like to see the pressures of all four tyres and if I carry out a RT6 nav install would this information also be displayed on the nice colour screen?

At the moment I only have one partly functional sensor, according to DiagBoxand and that's on the buckled alloy. I’m only seeing “nominal” in the reading. There is no pressure output stats for this one and the rest. Could this section have been disabled on the car's displays?
I don’t get any warnings.

I have my VIN to hand if needed.

Adam.

[GiveMeABreak]

You won't get actual pressure values displayed, only the warnings for under inflation or punctures for example.

When the TPMS sensors on the wheels are replaced or rotated, they need programming. This has to be done with Diagbox and tyre inflation valve enforcer tool. The pressures are displayed on the LCD in the dashboard console, not on the RT6.

The system is either active or not, The batteries in the sensor modules have an expected life of 10 years, so this needs to be factored in.

The system can be disabled using Diagbox, but in order to reactivate it at a later date, all the wheels will need reprogramming again, along with any spare set of wheels you may have, which requires both of said equipment to do.

I've had several occasions where one of my tyre sensor modules was giving under-inflation indications and the pressures were correct - and 3 times it went to Citroen in the hour. After driving away each time, after 2 minutes, the fault appeared on another sensor - the technician finally realised that he had to programme all the sensors again not just the faulty one. Once he did that, they have been perfect since. I mention this as in case you do need them programming, so that you make sure the entire set are done in the session.

[Adam82]

Hi Marc,
Thanks for helping.
I have activated the system and I’m now getting puncture warnings and when pressing the check button I can see “--” for each tyre on the dash. I can also see on DiagBox that there are programmed sensor codes too.
Are most TPMS sensors ubiquitous and can be obtained from any manufacturer or must these be from Citroen under P/N: 5430 93 ??

Adam.

[GiveMeABreak]

f you are getting dashes, when pressing the check button - be aware that after 20 days of not being used / operated it initialises itself and you will get these dashes displayed whilst it works out what is going on.

If there is a monitoring fault, the display will change thus:

"g" Several tyres not monitored.
"h" Wheel pressures not monitored.

Not all the sensors are the same. Although you can get these on the aftermarket - make sure they are still the correct part number. The newer replacement sensor part for the C5 X7 is 5430T4. I had all mine replaced with the later ones after a complete TPMS valve exploded out of the wheel like a bullet! It was the galvanic corrosion of dissimilar metals that was the problem. Also watch out and make sure that tyre fitters don't fit brass cores to the stems as this can have the same effect.

I would go for a drive first to allow the system to calibrate itself and see if that makes a difference - especially if the they have not been active for some time - but if they are not being monitored, then that warning should be displayed on your panel.

[Adam82]

Hi Marc,
Thanks for the advice, it's really appreciated.
I did a bit of a rush/panic buy and got these this evening from eBay. I’ll be dropping the alloys off tomorrow for refurb.
I’m just concerned that after looking at so many sensors now. There has been no mention of the inside radius or size, surely the sensor body is affixed to the alloy and has to match the same radius?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VDO-TPMS-Sen ... 4034129044

Adam.

[GiveMeABreak]

They just attach on the inside rim. The sensors are pretty standard, but it's important to make sure you get the right ones for the vehicle of course. Those look to be the older ones though. That part number was superseded Adam, but they will fit.

[Adam82]

Hi Marc,
As these have been superseded, let hope the batteries last.
Do you know what the difference is between these and the newer ones?

Adam.

[GiveMeABreak]

I believe it may have something to do with the materials in the construction.

I had the old ones replaced under warranty when the one blew out on the dual carriageway at about 60 MPH. I demanded the whole lot be replaced with the updated ones - which they did, as I didn't want the same thing happening again - imagine if I had been driving in a town centre when it happened and the valve exploded out into a small child...

So it may be that they changed the materials to help prevent galvanic corrosion. I can't be sure - but just watch out when you have your tyres replaced in future - make sure the tyre fitters are aware you have direct TPMS sensors and that they don't fit brass valve cores to these or you will get galvanic corrosion. They should be special nickel-plated valve cores that won't react with the stems.

[Adam82]

Today I programmed the sensors and it looks like the car has accepted and is reading them.
Blimey, that's scary…
I kept all four nickel plated valves after your second response and sent the tyres deflated to the alloy wheel refurb shop.

Adam.

[GiveMeABreak]

Nice one Adam!

[mostcho]

Today I programmed the sensors and it looks like the car has accepted and is reading them.
Blimey, that's scary…
I kept all four nickel plated valves after your second response and sent the tyres deflated to the alloy wheel refurb shop.

Adam.

Did you just enter the IDs with Diagbox and start driving or you needed to use tool like EL-50448 to activate them too.

[GiveMeABreak]

For new sensors, they must be paired to the TPMS ECU using Diagbox. However, to prevent battery discharge during storage, they must also usually be activated using an Exciter tool.