Tire Valve problems of the 2008 Mazda MAZDA3

The contact owns a 2008 Mazda 3. While driving approximately 50 mph, the vehicle veered out of control and the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. The tire pressure monitor warning light illuminated. The contact discovered that the front passenger side tire valve stem failed and caused the tire to become deflated. The vehicle was not diagnosed, but the tire was replaced. The failure recurred with the front driver side tire, but the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 70,000.

The tire pressure monitoring system is unreliable. Specific incidents: 1. Warning light flashes or lights when the tire pressure is within the specification limits. This has been an intermittent problem for at least a year. 2. One tire pressure sensor fell apart on inspection, after warning of a leak. Dealer replaced it at no charge. 3. One of the tire valves (and hence pressure sensor) was leaking air when the valve cap was removed, replacing the valve cap held the air in the tire. Dealer adjusted the tire pressure sensor at no charge. 4. One of the tire pressure sensors failed. Dealer stated it was no longer under warranty and charged me for replacement. Car is not driven off road. Sensors seemed to be more irregular after driving on rough highway roads, where a layer of asphalt had been removed.

The first time this happened, I was driving on the highway at approximately 75 mph in the center lane of an express road. While driving, the tpms sensor warning light/sound came on and the tire went immediately flate - total catastrophic failure. I was able to pull off to the side of the road without further incident and when we looked at the tire, the tpms sensor had fallen out causing the tire to go flat (it is attached to the valve stem) the treads were corroded and the nut cracked causing the sensor fall out and the tire to go flat. This one was replaced. 8 months later, the same thing happened but this time on the driver's side front tire. The nut cracked and the sensor fell out causing the tire to go flat. Thankfully this time it happened just after I had pulled off the highway for a bathroom break and was not driving at speed when the second incident occurred - although if it had happened a few minutes prior, I would have been driving at approximately 75 mph in wet road conditions. Upon examination we found that the thread were again corroded, causing the nut to crack and the sensor to fall out. This is a very dangerous situation - catastrophic failure of a tire at highway speeds is a recipe for disaster. This situation should be taken very seriously by Mazda.

At approximately 55 miles an hour the in-tire pressure monitoring system's rim attaching nut corroded off of the valve stem on the tire. Tire pressure dropped immediately and had to stop and pull off the road. The valve stem fell into the tire once pulled over and inspected. All 4 tires all corroded evenly and need to have the stems and nuts replaced. I've opted for a rubber valve stem whilst submitting complaints. I still have not had the 3 other tires fixed. Replacement non-aluminum tpms are 35-50 a piece + installation. 1. Cheap nuts that crack and fall off tire stems. 2. Aluminum stems that corrode completely removing the threads. 3. High speed crash hazard.

Approximately three years after purchase, I got a flat tire driving on 1-290 in central massachusetts. When I looked at the issue, it was clear that the tire sensor valve had gone into the tire. I replaced said tire, and since then I have the issue three more times on all four tires total. The second and third time were two consecutive days April 2013 and the fourth one today 12/17/13. The sensors seemed to be rotting out and the stem ends up corroding. I have spent at least 1,000 in the last year and a half fixing this issue and it is very infuriating to say the least. It seems that looking online this is an issue which many have had, yet there has been no recall.

I was driving down the interstate when all the sudden the pressure sensor light went off for no apparent reason at all. I had assumed that is was just some kind of electronic malfunction and continued to drive for a bit until I noticed the tell-tale signs of a flat tire. The was odd since I had recently purchased new tires with less than 1000 miles on then and the was no debris in the roadway that would account for the rapid deflation. When I pulled over the tire valve and was gone and there was a hole in the interior sidewall. When I brought the car into the tire place he pulled the tire off to try to find the sensor to no avail. He said in his 35 years of experience he had never seen anything like this. On closer inspection we noticed a crack in another one of the valve stems. The dealer claims this is due to environmental conditions and not due to component manufacturing, but it seems odd that it would happen to multiple valves likes that. As an addendum, the only other time I have to call road side assistance was when I random got a flat tire and when I tried to refill the tire the valve pushed in. I took it too the dealership where they promptly replaced the valve and sensor without charge. I am glad I had new tires with run flat technology. It this had happened with the old tires I can only imagine how much worse the situation could have been.