Problem with Valve Stems on '05 LTD

[dimitri128]

HELP!!

For a Christmas present, my son bought a set of custom valve stem caps by Camisasca Automotive Manufacturing of Lake Forest, CA. These caps are solid brass and are chrome-plated and bear the Toyota logo on them. The package carries the Toyota logo and "Official Licensed Product" on the back. My wife and son think they bought it at the dealership (who denies selling 'aftermarket' parts.

The problem I have is that when I brought the 4Runner in for my 20K service the dealer told me they can't check the air pressure because the valve stem caps "froze or melted" onto the stems.

Apparently the 4Runner has wireless pressure sensors built into the valve stems which monitor and transmit the air pressure to the computer. This 'nifty' feature will cost me 125 per stem to replace - just for parts and I've been told by 2 dealers they charge 1 hour per wheel to 'program' them to the right frequency and I need to replace the unit on the spare (eventhough it still has the original cap on it).

The dealer told me that since it is "an aftermarket part of unknown quality" Toyota won't cover this under warranty. I never imagined that valve caps could melt onto a valve stem, but I did look at the owners manual after being told this and sure enough there is a warning that non-factory caps can melt! Who'dda thunk??

I'm puzzled by why these valve stems would generate so much heat and why Toyota would license a product (with their logo on the label) and not insist on a warning label to have buyers check their owners manual before installing the caps.

Has anyone heard of a similar problem? What can I do to resolve this? Is Toyota responsible? Is Camisasco? Any siggestions of how I can get this issue fixed without having to dole out close to $1,000???

I'd greatly appreciate any help anyone can offer.

Thanks,
Dimitri

 

[sharp4runr]

Have you tried to remove the caps yourself or did you just take the dealerships word? I forgot how many miles I had on the truck, but the TPMS light came one because the spare tire was low pressure over the winter. When I went to fill the tire, the valve cap was stuck on there and this was the cap that comes on from the factory. I could not get them off by hand, but luckily I had a set of pliers in the truck. The took a lot of force to take off and it mangled the cap to the point that I didn't want to use them again. They looked like they were an aluminum like material, but I'm not really sure. I ended up buying a set at the local autostore and the inside of the cap is actually plastic so I don't believe it will ever fuse to the valve stem again.

I'm not sure if it is the different types of metal being in contact, but maybe that is what caused the metals to fuse. Anyways, try to see if you can take off the caps yourself with a set of pliers.

If one dealership won't help, try another one.

 

[Gromulus]

Ditto

The same thing happened to me a few months back. In early 2005 I bouhgt a set of nice aluminum valve caps (as I have always done for my vehicles) and things were fine until this past spring. I wanted to check my air pressure one day and ended up stripping the soft metal valve while trying to remove the cap. I tried the other three and while two came off, the third wouldn't budge. I took the Runner in tot the dealer and was told the same thing (and price) as you. Evidently Toyota doesn't recommend anything other than plastic valve covers. I wish I knew that BEFORE this incident. My warranty expire 5,000 miles previous but the dealer replaced both for free - after I told him we were in the market for a new vehicle for my wife and we were strongly considering the 2007 Camry (which we did buy). The other day I noticed that one of the valves on my Runner is somewhat stripped.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17845

I could do without the TPMS system. (Thanks Ford, Firestone, and careless owners).

 

[dimitri128]

Thanks sharp4runr,

I did indeed try to remove the caps and have tried several "Miracle Oil" type products to no avail. Just as with your instance the cap on mine (I only tried one) shredded.

Will have to try another dealer I guess.

 

[dimitri128]

Re: Ditto

Hi Gromulus,

Thanks. I'd expect this kind of crap from a Hyundai or maybe a Chrysler - but not a Toyota! I've never had a problem with valve stems prior to this vehicle.

Will go back to the selling dealer who is about 65 miles further away - they may be more inclined to help.

 

[bonedoctor]

My '05 Limited came with these flimsy aluminum ones, not plastic. I replaced them with a set of TRD metal (chrome plated) ones and haven't had any problems.

 

[dimitri128]

Hi bonedoctor,

Thanks. Where can I get these TRD caps? Are they 'official' Toyota caps or 'after market' parts?

The ones I had were flimsy too, that is why I agreed to the brass ones my son gave me.

 

[bonedoctor]

Hi bonedoctor,

Thanks. Where can I get these TRD caps? Are they 'official' Toyota caps or 'after market' parts?

The ones I had were flimsy too, that is why I agreed to the brass ones my son gave me.

Here's a link showing the TRD caps. I can't remember where I ordered them from and they were kind of expensive (although not $49!), but nice. Seems like they have a rubber or plastic insert inside. I can't imagine how those caps would "melt". You can sometimes get galvanic corrosion from dissimilar metals in contact, but that's usually fairly weak and takes a long time to really make much of a difference. Maybe in the harsher environment of a wheel, it occurs quicker.

http://www.brandsport.com/trdjavastca.html


This place has what looks like the same thing for a more reasonable price:

http://www.trdracing.com/accessories/accessories.htm

If I remember correctly, the package was from Japan and had Japanese writing on it, so I think it was a TRD Japan item not found in the US.

 

[loner]

My '05 came with the aluminum caps too.

It's somewhat ironic that my next "upgrade" will be to run by AutoZone and get some cheap-o plastic valve caps to replace what the OEM part.:bonk:

 

[Uneek]

My '05 came with the aluminum caps too.

It's somewhat ironic that my next "upgrade" will be to run by AutoZone and get some cheap-o plastic valve caps to replace what the OEM part.:bonk:

I think the factory puts those silver caps on all TPMS equipped cars. I took mine off the first week and replaced it with regular black caps because some members here mentioned people stealing them. What it sounds like is the material used on the caps are reacting with the valve stem material causing them to fuse together.

On the other hand, I think it was posted on another thread that no other cap should be used other the metal one that came with truck because it interferes with the TPMS sensors communicating with the computer. Who knows? I'm not having any problems with plastic caps, so those will stay.

 

[bonedoctor]

I haven't noticed any unusual problems since putting on those TRD caps. On some cool mornings, the light would come on. After driving a little to warm up the tires or if the outside temp warmed up, the light would go off, but that's just Charles law in action. The temp goes up, the gas mix inside the tires expands but the volume of the tire is mostly fixed so the pressure goes up enough to turn off the light.

 

[ddd269]

Moral of the story guys...

Check your air pressure often! I know we tend to rely on the TPMS for "low air" warnings, but driving on low pressure till the warning comes on is not proper maintenance practice. The TPMS is a safety device, and not a maintenace device.

I think I read somewerher that the warning comes on at about 23psi. Can't remember the exact psi. I might be wrong on this.

Either way, if you check you tire pressure often, then the chance of the cap freezing will be minimized.

Some of you guys might be saying; "Shut Up. Don't say it after the fact!" ...but we do need a kick in the rear once in a while.

 

[mtnracer]

The valve stems probably "cold-welded" to the caps.

I see this quite often when I work on mountain bikes. When using dissimilar metals you should always use anti-seize compound or at least a good waterproof grease.

Of course this would be kind of tough with valvestems...