I Never Tire from Car Repairs

My current generation Dodge Challenger did not have a spare tire, jack or lug wrench. Over the years, the Challenger’s optional wheels have outgrown the spare tire well in the trunk. Cars like mine, with large 20-inch wheels (51 cm), came from the factory with just a small air compressor and can of tire sealant.

Tires are built sturdier than ever and cell phones make it easy to cry for help, but I plan on driving this car on the most remote, scenic roads I can find. I do not want something as simple as a flat tire to leave my family stranded. Relying on a can of tire sealant is too risky for me. Is the can past its expiration date? Does it still have enough pressure on a winter day in Minnesota? Will I connect it to the tire’s valve correctly or will all the sealant goop end up on my hands and shoes? Will the hole in the tire be the perfect size and shape for tire sealant to work? How much more will the tire store charge to get all the sealant off the wheel?

Even if it takes up a lot of trunk space, I want a spare tire when I head out of town. I watched the Challenger wheel inventory in the RockAuto catalog for awhile and snapped up a reconditioned wheel that matched the wheels on my car. Some of the most common wheel styles are always in stock, but customers with rarer wheels might want to sign up for an RSS feed so they can be notified automatically when new wheels and other parts become available for their vehicle. (Look for the RSS logo  next to your vehicle’s engine displacement in the catalog.) My reconditioned wheel from RockAuto looks like new, but was about $1,000 less expensive than getting a new wheel from a car dealer.

I will be rotating my spare tire with the other tires on the car, so I equipped the new wheel with a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) sensor. I picked a TPMS sensor by Standard Motor Products (SMP) that has an aluminum valve stem just like the originals. I inserted it in the hole in the wheel and used a torque wrench to put on a nut from the valve stem side to hold everything in place. The SMP instructions included the correct torque specification for their particular seal material. My TPMS sensor installation was done in less than a minute.

I put the sensor-equipped wheel in the trunk and drove to the tire store. I wondered if the Dodge’s centrally located radio receiver might detect a TPMS sensor reading zero air pressure and activate the TPMS warning light. The computer ignored the stationary sensor in the trunk and only monitored the four moving tires. The tire technician said some other brand vehicles with full-size spares do monitor spare tire pressure. Mini-spares typically do not have TPMS sensors.

The Dodge service manual says, “The TPM module (computer) automatically learns and stores the sensor IDs while driving within 20 minutes continuously above 15 mph (24 km/h) after a sensor has been replaced. The learning sequence will initiate when the vehicle has been stopped for more than 20 minutes.”

I installed the new tire/wheel on the car once I got home. I put the tire/wheel I removed in a far corner of the garage. I started the car and the TPMS light immediately went out after the normal diagnostic check and before the car moved. I spent at least twenty minutes installing the tire/wheel, putting away my tools and preparing for the test drive. Maybe that gave the computer enough time for its vehicle-stopped “learning sequence” to recognize the new sensor. The computer never saw low pressure or a missing sensor and never needed to turn on the warning light. It is great news that TPMS systems on some cars have gotten so user friendly.

In the RockAuto catalog, find OE style wheels, TPMS sensors and model specific tools under the Wheel/Tire category. Find TPMS reset tools, torque wrenches, jacks, lug nut wrenches and everything else you might need to equip your car with a spare tire (except for the tire) under the Tools & Universal Parts tab. 

I Followed Through on My New Years Resolution

Most cars built in the last 25 years have a long serpentine belt that drives the alternator, power steering pump, air conditioner, and other engine accessories. A spring loaded belt tensioner pulley holds the serpentine belt at the correct tightness. The belt manufacturers (ACDelco, Dayco, Gates, Goodyear, etc.) strongly recommend replacing the belt tensioner when the belt is replaced. Some of the belt manufacturers also manufacture belt tensioners, but their urgings to replace tensioners are not just an effort to sell more parts. They are concerned about the reputation of their belts and warranty claims when a worn out tensioner causes damage to a new belt and or engine accessories.

With my own cars, I must admit I have not always been replacing the belt tensioner every time I replace the serpentine belt. The tensioner often costs more than the belt and my really old cars with V-belts have done just fine without any fancy fine-tuning of the belt tension.

I need to pull my head out of the 1970s. Cars now often last beyond 200,000 miles, serpentine belts must often drive a half dozen accessories while winding through a series of contortions, and perhaps most importantly, engine accessories are not as cheap as they used to be. An alternator for my 1979 Chrysler 300 is around $25 (at RockAuto). Alternators for “newer” cars like my wife’s 1993 Ford Tempo are typically $100 and up, sometimes way up. The Tempo’s original AC compressor still works fine and is filled with very expensive Freon. That compressor and its bearing alone are worth protecting.

Last weekend I followed through on my new years resolution to replace the serpentine belt on my wife’s Tempo before another month passed. The belt tensioner had over 90,000 miles (145,000 km) on it so I remembered to replace that too. The old belt tensioner (in photo next to the new one) did not make any noise and it did not visibly vibrate. Off the car, the cover over the tensioner’s spring popped open a bit and I could feel some wiggle in the pulley bearing. Maybe it could have lasted longer or maybe it and the new belt would have put too much or too little tension on one of the engine accessories. The new belt tensioner and the thirty seconds it took me to bolt it on bought me peace of mind. I do not have to imagine trying to explain to my wife why the new belt squeals, why it fell off, or why I need to spend a day replacing the new belt and a leaky water pump or some other failed engine accessory. My wife can immediately recognize when I am feeling guilty and I would hate to lose my position as her main Tempo mechanic!

Tom, RockAuto.com