Tire Pressure Monitoring System problems of the 2009 Jeep Patriot

While servicing this customer's vehicle we put an a tire inflator on the vehicle's valve stem. The valve stem broke and was very brittle. The tire lost all air pressure and needed to be repaired at a tire shop for $138.

Valve stem broke while inflating tires. Inflating our customers' tires is part of our service and required by California law. This is a regular occurrence at our oil change facilities. We are usually left paying for the expense of replacing the tpms sensor, mounting and dismounting the tire by a tire shop.

Driving on interstate highway ,low tire pressure warning flashed on dashboard, car pulled to the right, stooped car, looked for cause of flat, the valve stem was corroded, 1/4 of stem came off air leaked out flattened tire. It cost over one hundred dollars to repair, this is a major saftey issue.

The tpms on my 2009 Jeep Patriot indicated low tire pressure. When I took the cap off one tire to check the pressure, about 1/8 inch of the end of the valve stem was inside the cap. I could not check the tire pressure or add air. This is a safety issue. If the valve stem breaks while driving, it could result in quick loss of tire pressure. The Jeep dealer will replace the vavle stem/tire pressure monitor unit for $115. I will save the old part.

Chrysler is intentionally inflating tires to 40 psi to prevent low pressure warning light from comming on. I took my Jeep Patriot to rochester hills (mi) Chrysler for a tire rotation I found the tires inflated to 40 psi when I inquired, the service rep said it was "to prevent the warning light from comming on when it gets to 0 degrees. " 40 psi is 8 psi over the door sticker recommended 32 psi. If you use the "12 degrees changes the pressure by 1 psi" as per the operators manual and you inflated the tires at the record high ambient of 62 degrees and checked them again at the record low of -11 degrees (73 divided by 12= 6 psi) the departure from average low 19 degrees to record low -11 equals 2 psi. The departure from the average high 33 degrees to average low 19 degrees equals 1 psi. Chrysler's actions indicate a problem with their tire pressure sensors.