I have a volkswagen 2009 vw routon van...aka rebadged chrysler mini van. the oem tpms has a non-anodized aluminum valve retaining nut which cracked and caused a deflation at highway speed on the front driver side tire. to have a safety device that causes an unsafe condition and a catastrophic failure that could lead to injury or death is unacceptable. i have inspected the other three retaining nuts on the valve stems and found one that is cracked and the others have severe corrosion that will need repaired and replaced. a rubber and brass valve stem that was true and tried and "safe" for so many years was the accepted norm to be replaced when you put new tires on a vehicle. i now find myself asking, have engineers ignored and forgotten the principles of corrosion and the environment has on aluminum metals to make such a tire pressure monitoring system, that is set up to fail? *js
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 volkswagen routan. the contact stated that while driving 60 mph, the front driver's side tire went flat. the contact installed the spare tire and took the tire to an independent mechanic for diagnosis. the contact was informed that the valve stem had become extremely corroded. the manufacturer was notified but offered no assistance. the failure and current mileage was 52,000.
Recently i noticed a low tire pressure on the left front wheel of my volkswagen routan. when i attempted to add air to the tire, the stem pushed into the wheel and the tire deflated. the metal tire pressure stem is attached to tire pressure sensing units on each wheel. when i examined the stem i noticed that the nut that locks the stem in position had disintegrated from corrosion. the only thing holding the stem in position was the pressure within the tire. when the stem was touched and moved, the tire immediately deflated. i found the same defect on the other wheels. any contact with the tire pressure servicing stem, caused the retaining nut to break off into pieces. each stem and retaining nut showed signs of severe corrosion. due to the extreme high cost of replacement sensors, i was forced to replace the sensors with standard rubber tire stems. the vehicle is a 2009 with only 36,000 miles. the vehicle is exposed to road salt and im sure that accelerated the corrosion of the attaching nut, but this is a serious design flaw that might result in a tire deflation without warning. i feel these sensors are defective and need to be recalled. this is a single vehicle with low mileage, having four severely corroded and failed tire pressure sensors. i suspect there are many others. these faulty sensors could very well be the cause of a serious accident or injury. it seems to be a known issue with the car dealer but i dont believe there is any specific inspection or service requirements for these valves/sensors. the parts are marked with the following identification numbers: daimler chrysler 56053031ad #0193ht-2 siemens vdo i have saved the failed parts and i will provide them if required.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 volkswagen routan. the contact stated the tire pressure monitor failed due to corrosion. the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who stated the failure was caused by the tps system valve stem nut which was corroded. the contact also stated that the drivers rear tire blew out due to the nut corrosion. the vehicle was repaired. the tire pressure valves were replaced. the failure mileage was 65,000 and the current mileage was 74,000.
Two tires have blown out on my routan due to corroded valve stems. the first time, on 3/16/11, i had just pulled into a parking lot when i heard a loud noise and felt my tire go flat. belle tire told me that the valve stem had corroded and popped off, essentially blowing out my tire. stupidly, i didn't think anything of it. the second time happened on 12/31/11. my 19-year-old daughter was driving the routan on an expressway where the speed limit is 70 mph.. she said she heard a loud noise, and then the car started veering. she managed to keep control of the routan and get it over to the side of the road, where the tire was flat and shredded. again, belle tire told us that the valve stem had corroded and fell off, blowing out the tire. a third valve stem and nut on the routan is cracked and corroded. they also told us that general motors and ford have switched to rubber valve stems because of this problem. contacted vw. they looked at the car. the will not fix the problem. this car is an accident waiting to happen. *tr