Murano TPMS Issues

I'm new to the forum and joined to get some thoughts on issues we've had with our 2009 Murano TPMS system. Here is the background:

Tires replaced in September and during replacement dealer broke one of the TPMS sensors. They replaced it with what I assume was a universal sensor since it was a GM dealer and the valve stem is a bit longer than all the others. Within a day of picking it up, our TPMS light started flashing so we took it back and the dealer attemped to re-program the sensors but couldn't get it to re-program and needed a new tool to fix it. They called a few days later after they got the correct tool, we brought the vehicle back and they fixed it.

The car was fine for about 6 weeks, but then one very cold day the light started flashing again on the way home. We took it back and the dealer re-programmed the sensors again and said if it did it again, we should take it to the Nissan dealer as there were some "wierd" codes coming up they didn't understand.

About a week later (again on a very cold day) the light came back on again. Rather than taking it to the Nissan dealer that is quite a distance away, I figured I'd see what I could figure out on it since I'm normally a pretty handy person. Did some research and found that there was a way to get the trouble codes, without any tools by grounding the white TPMS wire under the dash. The code that came up was #46 that according to a 2006 service manual, it is the transmitter battery voltage low in the right front wheel. Note that the sensor that was replaced with a universal is the right rear wheel.

My questions are this:

1) Can anyone confirm that the code #46 is the same for a 2009 Murano as indicated in the 2006 manual?

2) It seems odd that this problem started after the replacement sensor was put in in the right rear wheel. Do you think there is any correlation between that universal sensor being in the right rear wheel and the low voltage error in the right front wheel?

3) The cold weather would reduce the voltage on a battery slightly - so this seems to add up with the code. Do you agree?

Thanks for reviewing!

Welcome Graphite09,

Looks like there may be a few things causing the issues here. First, it sounds like maybe one of the batteries may be going out on that second wheel causing the new code. If the dealer was able to program the sensor to the vehicle then there should not be a change in that respect over time. I would suggest going to a reputable tire shop that has a has a TPMS scan tool to check all 4 corners and see if the front wheel has a low/dead battery.

As for the dealers replacement you may want to check the sales slip and see if it specifies the part number. Your OE sensor looked like this:

http://cdn3.volusion.com/vfpzc.jmvkr...os/ST042-2.jpg

Dealers and shops are not always up front with customers about what their options are for replacements, OE vs. universals, so unless you ask there is no way of knowing.

Also temperature, unless extremely low should not affect the battery but it does affect tire pressure, possibly letting it go below the warning level.

Thanks
Albert

Albert;

Thanks for the detailed reply. I also should state that I have access to a KTi positioning sensor tool and with it, I'm able to get the car into program mode, trigger each wheel's TPMS sensor, and get the TPMS light to go off (which I've done myself now 2 times). The light will stay off several days, but if the temperature is around 5 degrees or below (which it has been a lot this year!) and the car is out in that temperature for the day, I can pretty much count on the light coming back on flashing after a few miles of driving with the low voltage error in right front wheel. For the heck of it when the error came up on the way home from work last week, I took the KTi tool and tried activating that right front wheel when I got home. It activated fine, so the battery must be good enough to do that yet.


The sensor PN that the dealer put in the right rear wheel was NPN92-304 (I searched that PN on the internet and didn't find anything). One thing interesting is that when using the KTi tool on the wheel that has the replacement sensor, I get almost immediate feedback from the tool that is is activated. All the other sensors take 2-3 seconds to register.


I didn't know that there was a TPMS tool out there that can read TPMS sensor battery voltage - if so, it would seem I'd almost need to have that wheel down at the temperature that appears to be problematic to confirm the voltage at that point. If we test at a warmer temp, I suspect that the voltage will be acceptable since the error doesn't come up on the car.