Scot Holloway, CEO of Bartec USA, stated that “how the TPMS diagnostic tool guides technicians through the TPMS repair process is “critical”.

Tire Pressure Monitoring Service (TPMS) can be regular or profitable. Respondents to the MTD 2021 Tire Dealer Automobile Service Study stated that they perform an average of 120 TPMS services per month. Respondents also reported that the average profit margin for TPMS work is 65%—higher than air conditioning work, shock absorption and pillar replacement, braking, and many other services.

Generally speaking, what are the main things that technicians should keep in mind when using TPMS scanners and servicing TPMS? Here is what representatives from various TPMS scanning tool providers have to say:

John Rice, Marketing Manager, 31 Inc.: Keep your tools charged. There is nothing more frustrating than being servicing a customer’s vehicle, reaching for a TPMS tool and realizing that the battery is dead. We recommend charging your tools every week.

In addition to tools that cannot be turned on, tools that have not been updated are equally frustrating. Some TPMS tools—such as smart sensors—have free lifetime updates.

Also check the lights on the dashboard. Constant light means that one or more tires are obviously underinflated. A flashing light-or the letter "TPMS"-indicates a system failure.

Confirm direct or indirect TPMS. Direct TPMS uses sensors in wheels/tires. This accounts for about 90% of all TPMS. The indirect system works through the vehicle's ABS. Although they account for only a small percentage of the total number of TPMS-equipped vehicles, it is important to identify these vehicles early through initial inspections. And test it before you touch it. After checking the dashboard lights, the next step is to check the sensors. This can be done by simply scanning the sensor with the TPMS tool.

Emily Humpert, Marketing Communications Manager, ATEQ: When using a handheld TPMS tool, it is important to remember where you are holding the tool relative to the tire. In order to read the TPMS sensor in the tire, it is recommended to place the antenna of the tool on the sidewall of the tire, close to the sensor. If the antenna passes through the rim, is on the wrong side of the tire, or is not close enough to the sensor, the tool may read incorrectly or not at all.

Hiba Anjum, Autel North America Technical Support Supervisor: When I train potential TPMS technicians, I will explain to them the three main steps of TPMS-diagnosis, programming sensors, and relearning. If you stick to this order, it will be difficult for you to work without TPMS. With our Autel ITS600, we listed these exact options in order. Encourage technicians to diagnose the problem first. This allows them to check every existing sensor in the car. For example, suppose that a quarter of the sensors trigger. This means that three sensors need to be replaced. In this case, it is best for the technician to replace all four sensors. Otherwise, the last sensor will also be eliminated. If all four sensors are triggered, it means that we may have to relearn these sensors into the vehicle. In this case, we will assume that we must replace the sensor.

The last step-and the most important step-is to relearn the vehicle's new sensors. Successful completion of this step will turn off the TPMS light.

Scot Holloway, CEO of Bartec USA: We have always adopted a process-oriented TPMS service method. Typical TPMS service steps include determining the brand, model, and year; "test before contact"-check the vehicle's sensors and control modules to best understand the problem; sensor programming-configure the process of replacing the sensor before use; and TPMS study again. Most reliable TPMS tools now have this feature. Among the four basic TPMS concepts, pre-check is the key. The pre-service inspection brings many benefits to the technicians. It establishes a baseline for vehicle TPMS. Are all sensors actually working? Are there diagnostic fault codes related to TPMS in the control module?

After determining the status of the TPMS, you can now provide customers with accurate instructions about their TPMS and the conditions required to make it work. At the very least, when there may not be a MIL, a "pre-touch test" can find a damaged or faulty sensor. If there is no such inspection and a faulty sensor is found, the technician will be open to customer problems.

Sean Lannoo, Sales Technical Training Director of Continental Group: The most important first step a technician should take when buying tools is to do their homework, because not all TPMS scanning tools are the same. Is this tool suitable for most OE and aftermarket sensors? Can the tool handle the service work of your store? Can it read diagnostic trouble codes? How much does the update cost? Does the tool have tire management options, such as tread depth gauges? Being able to check the tread depth is not only a good sales function, but also a valuable customer benefit. How to enter vehicle information? Some tools can scan the vehicle's identification number and quickly and accurately extract the model, brand, and year. Is the user interface of the tool easy to understand and use? Is the screen readable under all lighting conditions? This is the key, especially in stores with insufficient or limited lighting.

Hamaton Inc. Sales and Technical Support Manager Jake Henderson: Technicians must ensure that their TPMS diagnostic tools are kept up to date. That's because each software update includes a larger coverage area, which means they can serve more vehicles. (The Wi-Fi update feature of Hamaton H56 makes it easier than ever to stay updated.)

Before servicing the TPMS sensor, the technician should determine whether the vehicle is a low-pressure or high-pressure TPMS. When the tires are under-inflated, the low-pressure system only triggers the TPMS warning light. The high-pressure system displays the pressure of each tire on the dashboard and reports the fault location.

Technicians should not assume that all models have the same TPMS, because some may be low-line or high-line.

Yanick Leduc, Global Technical Training Manager for Schrader TPMS solutions: In addition to fully charging your tools before use, our first (1) recommendation is to always keep your tools in sync with the latest software available.

Every TPMS tool manufacturer frequently releases software updates to provide new and improved features, content, and functions. Tool manufacturers often use updates to fix "bugs" and improve performance. More importantly, the software update includes new or updated coverage information about different types of programmable sensors, such as Schrader's EZ sensor series.

Chad Schnitz, Vice President of Topdon, USA: With the rapid development of modern vehicles and vehicle networks, manufacturers are integrating TPMS information into the response methods of vehicles.

As an example. When a customer comes in, the traction control or stability control light is on, but this is not just a light. This is a beam of light. Our next step is to scan the code. We can use expensive workshop tools or even cost-effective service tools, such as Topdon’s ArtiDiag 800BT. We scanned the code and found that all modules and systems pointed to the TPMS system failure. In fact, the code clearly states that all other modules are not working properly because the TPMS shows that the tire pressure is too low. Think about what the car tells you.

Mike Manges is the editor of Modern Tyre Dealer. He is a veteran with more than 20 years of experience in the tire industry. He has won the International Automobile Media Association Award three times and a gold award from the Association of Automobile Publishers and Editors. Mike travels around the world looking for stories that can help independent tire dealers drive their business. Before rejoining MTD in September 2019, he held corporate communications positions in two Fortune 500 companies and served as senior editor of MTD from 2000 to 2010.