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jestew3 · 03-29-2019, 05:27 AM

Good Morning,

There is a new Spartan TSB on the streets for brief signal interruption in the tire pressure monitoring system. I first discovered this in my '19 Anthem back in September. When I reported it to Spartan, I was told there was no fix for it at the time. How the issue presented itself to my coach was by displaying the driver's side driver axle outer tire pressure spiking to 188 PSI and 401 degrees Fahrenheit and still remaining green without the high pressure or temp alarm. I am not sure how many other owners have experienced this fault, but at least there is a fix for it now.

Spartan TSB TSB19-560-001 was released on 26 Feb 19. Spartan will relocate both TPMS antennas and reprogram the Valor system. I have not had this done yet as Cummins of Harrisburg, PA does not have the software to reprogram the TPMS system. I will have to find a service center that does.

Ted

brobox · 03-29-2019, 05:51 AM

Thanks for the heads up. For some reason I am not receiving the latest TSB's. Maybe I am to far south and it takes a couple of extra days.

Sure glad you guys are posting the TSB's, some of us may not have a clue that fixes are out. I know C310 will be glad to hear of this one.

I am still going to need to see better preformace out of the TPMS before I consider adding the toad, one is the narrow temperature range before amber warning lights. I hope the TSB addressee that issue in the reprogramming.

jestew3 · 03-29-2019, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brobox

Thanks for the heads up. For some reason I am not receiving the latest TSB's. Maybe I am to far south and it takes a couple of extra days.

Sure glad you guys are posting the TSB's, some of us may not have a clue that fixes are out. I know C310 will be glad to hear of this one.

I am still going to need to see better preformace out of the TPMS before I consider adding the toad, one is the narrow temperature range before amber warning lights. I hope the TSB addressee that issue in the reprogramming.

I did not get a notice in the mail from Spartan, I called them about an issue I am having with the Hadley system and asked about the TPMS issue. I agree, not impressed with Valor TPMS.

brobox · 03-29-2019, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jestew3

I did not get a notice in the mail from Spartan, I called them about an issue I am having with the Hadley system and asked about the TPMS issue. I agree, not to impressed with Valor TPMS.

That is strange with as many complaints with the Valor system (I am one of them) that no TSB has been sent out, just keeping it a secret unless you complain. Spartan is not involved in toad sensors so I guess that part is off their profit screen. Will call Spartan today and express displeasure with the notification of previous complaints of the Valor system.

Gary.Jones · 03-29-2019, 08:19 AM

Chuck

I haven't received that one yet either. It does seem to take more than a little time to get the TSBs mailed out to the crowd.

I dont know much about it, but I have never experienced the problem that the OP has had with getting the false readings. The problem that Steve C310 brought up I dont think has anything to do with the false readings.... it has to do with the fact that if communication is lost then it can be a considerable period of time before the loss of the signal is noted by the dash and the system. I thought that when that happens, you simply lose the pressure for that sensor on the screen, not an excessively high pressure or temperature and a warning. Maybe I am wrong.

In the 15,000 miles I've put on the coach in the last 10 months, the only thing I have seen is that when you first fire up the coach, it may take 20-30 seconds for the "system" to see and recognize all the coach tire pressures..... before it recognizes them, there is no reading at all (not a false reading) for that tire position. This often occurs for 2 of the drive wheel sensors.... either inner or outer. They are not there initially, but come on line within a half minute or so. By the time that the driver remembers that he/she must add the toad tires to the display, they are on line and ready to go.

So, those of you who are talking to Spartan about all of this, be sure and see if the issue they are dealing with is this issue of the sensors needing to be "found" (e.g., moving the antennas around), or what I think is a very different issue (C310's issue) and that is how quickly the system detects that it has lost communication with one of the toad tires, which I think is a completely different issue. C310's issue (no indication that pressures have been "lost") is far more important, to me at least, than a false reading.

Gary

brobox · 03-29-2019, 09:02 AM

Gary, that is one of the problems with the Valor, they are all over the board. Your problems are different than C310's and mine is the stupid narrow margins of the TMPS for temperatures. I can't understand why this expensive system cannot do what a $300. aftermarket TPMS can do error free. Then to hear that Ted did not get a TSB in the mail, but by word of mouth when he called in regarding another issue...huh?
The system should be working at the time of sale and one should not have to purchase extra equipment to make it work.

Gary.Jones · 03-30-2019, 08:57 AM

Chuck

As you know, I have put a lot of miles on the coach in the first 10 months of ownership, and this is what I can tell you. Once I got the coach weighed and I knew the typical weights I was carrying when I hit the road (usually for ~ 3 months at a crack), and I programmed in the baseline values given those tire pressures and loads, I have not experienced a single warning for the coach tires being either below pressure or above pressure in the last 14,000 miles (since all hell broke loose when I was driving back from picking up the coach in Atlanta, where all the baselines had initially been set and were way wrong).

Now, I have routinely experienced my toad tires showing as a low pressure warning when using the coach in cold weather climates in the winter. The bandwidth of toad tire pressures is VERY narrow, and the routine loss of pressure on a cold morning will trigger warnings on the toad tires (but has never bothered the coach tires). The system reads out the pressures and the toad tires which are set to 30 psi will throw a warning when the cold morning pressures hit maybe 28 psi (which doesn't throw a warning on the Honda's own TPMS system itself) but will show as below baseline on the Valor before you start traveling. I just ignore that data for 10 miles and then the system is happy as the tires warm up. I know there is nothing to worry about because I can see the toad tire pressures which are maybe 27 or 28.

We programmed my front passenger tire on the Honda with a higher baseline (a couple of pounds more than 30 psi) as the coach exhaust significantly heats up the right front tire of the Honda while pulling it down the highway. If it was set to the same baseline as the other tires, I would most likely be getting a high pressure warning on that tire just due to exhaust heating.

I bought the programmer from Valor (~$200) and I will make some minor adjustments to my drive tires which I think are still a bit over-inflated, but in ~ 14,000 miles, the Valor system has not shown me a coach tire fault due to baseline problems even once. The issue is to know the right pressures (from 4 corner weights) and then proper baseline setting given those weights. I know you are leery of the system, but my experience is that it works just fine once you get it set up right.... the problem that C310 raised is the one problem that I worry about.

Gary

brobox · 03-30-2019, 09:19 AM

Gary, once my tires are aired up properly, I should not have to return to the dealer or purchase a programmer to readjust the Valor system to stop the constant amber lights when the tires heat up, no matter how many miles I have on the coach. If it came working I may not be down on it, but it did not without a lot of tweaking.