I have heard the phrase "cloneable TPMS sensors". What are they, and what can they do for my car if anything? I bought 4 steel wheel rims with winter tires, including TPMS sensors, back in 2016 when my FXT was new. At that time, it appeared I would be stuck doing twice-annual sensor resets, to prevent the yellow dash warning light and preserve flat-tire detection capability. This was especially aggravating since my dealer's price then was $65 (now higher??) Discount Tire will do a reset for free, which is great, but still a nuisance since they are 5 miles away and always jam-packed with customers. My HOPE is that cloneable sensors provide a way to make two sets of wheels (eight total) be interchangeable without any TPMS resets. Is that true? Can my 2017 handle such sensors? Do I have to buy eight of them? Or only four? I did ask TireRack recently, "are the TPMS sensors you sold me in 2016 cloneable?" They said, no. I haven't asked Subaru about my car's OEM sensors, which I still use for the 3 warmer seasons. I do know that 2019+ Foresters have quite a different TPMS system, operating on a different radio frequency. Is that part of "cloneabilty"?
whobodym
I'm hoping you got the answer by now, but in case someone is searching....
The answer is yes. Cloneable sensors will enable you to swap between seasonal tire sets without paying a biannual fee, or hassle.
But you may have to buy the tool as well as the sensors if you cannot find a place that will do it.
The dealership won't, and most places that charge a fee won't. It's not profitable for return visits in the narrow minded view of most of them.
Subaru simply won't do it because they are not Subaru approved parts being used in their safety related system.
The answer is yes. Cloneable sensors will enable you to swap between seasonal tire sets without paying a biannual fee, or hassle.
But you may have to buy the tool as well as the sensors if you cannot find a place that will do it.
The dealership won't, and most places that charge a fee won't. It's not profitable for return visits in the narrow minded view of most of them.
Subaru simply won't do it because they are not Subaru approved parts being used in their safety related system.
I didn't see this until now either.
Lots of questions....
Yes, you could get the sensors in your OE wheels cloned so that you could do a seamless swap between your OE 3 season set and your winter tires.
Should you? I've gone back and forth on this question. If you keep your winter tires at least 10 feet from your car, then probably yes. It's the most convenient way to go. If no, then there is risk of two tires with the same credentials but different temp/pressure responding on each channel. Some have found that to be problematic, and it wakes up and eats battery power in the set that should be in long term deep sleep. For these reasons I've gone back to assigning unique ID's to my programmable sensors, and just doing the upload thru the OBD port (REGISTERING) of the 4 tires in use with each seasonal change.
I did make clones for my daughter, and it's great to be able to swap them without taking out my Autel gizmo. But the tires are stored miles from her car.
If you take a photo of the sensors TireRack sold you, I'll tell you if their coding can be modified to make clones out of them.
Top quality TPMS tools aren't all that expensive today. $170 for the Autel TS508. I love that tool!
Lots of questions....
Yes, you could get the sensors in your OE wheels cloned so that you could do a seamless swap between your OE 3 season set and your winter tires.
Should you? I've gone back and forth on this question. If you keep your winter tires at least 10 feet from your car, then probably yes. It's the most convenient way to go. If no, then there is risk of two tires with the same credentials but different temp/pressure responding on each channel. Some have found that to be problematic, and it wakes up and eats battery power in the set that should be in long term deep sleep. For these reasons I've gone back to assigning unique ID's to my programmable sensors, and just doing the upload thru the OBD port (REGISTERING) of the 4 tires in use with each seasonal change.
I did make clones for my daughter, and it's great to be able to swap them without taking out my Autel gizmo. But the tires are stored miles from her car.
If you take a photo of the sensors TireRack sold you, I'll tell you if their coding can be modified to make clones out of them.
Top quality TPMS tools aren't all that expensive today. $170 for the Autel TS508. I love that tool!
thanks @Black21Limited and @Fibber2, you both sound quite astute. I had not considered the issue of the "cold-storage" tire set being still sensed by the car. My storage spot is about 30 feet away from the closest possible spot we ever could park the car, does that sound surely safe? Or iffy?? Getting the TPMS tool sounds superior now that you mention it - I've already got a VW/Audi VCDS scan tool + software for our other car, so I believe I can learn one more new trick.
My understanding is that the sensors do not "wake up" until the wheel is spinning at at least 20 mph, to preserve battery life. Hence why you cannot get a tire pressure reading if the car has sat a bit.
Neither me nor my brother have had issues with tires stored nearby. YMMV.
My 2010 Impreza and my '21 Forester are the same in that aspect, of no pressure reading until moving. I can't say if the newer sensors are any different, but the centrifugal force method makes more sense than an RFID method like key fobs.
Neither me nor my brother have had issues with tires stored nearby. YMMV.
My 2010 Impreza and my '21 Forester are the same in that aspect, of no pressure reading until moving. I can't say if the newer sensors are any different, but the centrifugal force method makes more sense than an RFID method like key fobs.
The reason is that many cars initialize sensors on start-up with a 175 KHz call, similar to what the handheld tool does when you ping the sensors. I'm not sure about the older 315 MHz Subaru system, but I'm pretty sure the newer 433 MHz system does, as do some systems in use by Toyota. The system designer kits list all sorts of features, and it's up to the system integrator to pick and choose what they want to use. But fortunately the 175 KHz call is a very low power broadcast, so 20-30 ft separation should be fine.
On the '21 Forester: You need to remember that the dash 4 tire reading is a secondary output provided to the driver for casual information. The primary output as an alert is the amber light. You may think that nothing is happening because you don't see a 4 tire dash immediately. That's because the system was likely programmed to depress an output to the display until PAL (phase angle detection/location) has had a chance to sort out which signal is coming from which corner of the car, and it can put digital data in the right place on the display. I'm under the impression that an initial ping likely collects an initial response from the 4 wheels, a basic data check is done and baseline satisfied, and then the behind-the-scenes processing of where the signals is coming from starts. But that's just my guess culled from various tech docs from Schrader/Sensata. Like everything on your car today, it's complicated!
And yes, there is a 2 axis accelerometer (a MEMS device) incorporated also.
On the '21 Forester: You need to remember that the dash 4 tire reading is a secondary output provided to the driver for casual information. The primary output as an alert is the amber light. You may think that nothing is happening because you don't see a 4 tire dash immediately. That's because the system was likely programmed to depress an output to the display until PAL (phase angle detection/location) has had a chance to sort out which signal is coming from which corner of the car, and it can put digital data in the right place on the display. I'm under the impression that an initial ping likely collects an initial response from the 4 wheels, a basic data check is done and baseline satisfied, and then the behind-the-scenes processing of where the signals is coming from starts. But that's just my guess culled from various tech docs from Schrader/Sensata. Like everything on your car today, it's complicated!
And yes, there is a 2 axis accelerometer (a MEMS device) incorporated also.
Lowest price I've seen in a while. $165 I have no affiliation with Autel or the seller. I just like their stuff.
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I had cloned sensors installed by a Subaru repair shop & tuner (not a dealer) in my winter wheels. Not sure which brand but they work, most of the time. Sometimes I don't get any reading, sometimes the reading is off by a few PSI. But I've never gotten any TPMS warning lights.
Stock wheels are stored a few miles away.
Stock wheels are stored a few miles away.
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