Tire Valve Stem Caps--Orginal OEM vs Costco Green!

[morphius909]

Hey Folks,

Just had my summers changed to winters. Costco, in all of it's wisdom, threw away the original black flat metal(?) caps and put on the ugly green ones.

Ummm is this a problem? I argued with the tire tech that it's better for the TPMS with the original, but he started mentioning something about Galvanic rust?

Any insight?

 

[Cruzrtwdgt]

go back and tell them you want what you had on the vehicle when you came in. Their bust on throwing them away.

I had a nice set of chrome ones on my sporttrac and a tire shop lost one of them and replaced it with a black one. I made them buy a set of the chrome ones and give me just one.

 

[Falls]

Our local dealer has plastic blue one's on all the 4R's .

 

[T?@\7]

i too would get the metal ones back.....

 

[morphius909]

What about all the Galvanic Rust crap that the tire tech was spewing off about?

Are the orignals actually metal?

Guess I'll stick with the green for the winter..and then buy some originals in the summer...maybe some nicer ones. What a hassle for just a few bucks. Still just pisses me off.

 

[toto]

The original caps are some sort of metal, and they can corrode and seize up in areas where road salt is used. I think a lot of members have switched to plastic ones for this reason. Honda went so far as to recall their metallic caps a few years ago.

The caps have nothing to do with the operation of the TPMS. The sensors are part of the valve stem assembly, but the caps don't do anything except keep dirt out of the valve.

Still, it's disrespectful for the tech to just throw away something that was on the car and was in perfect working order. I'd complain to management about the principle. That makes me wonder if he realized the valve stems had TPMS sensors. If one of those got messed up through carelessness, then you're talking about big dollars.

 

[SERNNR]

The reason why they are green is because your tires have been filled with nitrogen.

 

[T?@\7]

good to know!
Too bad they arent the green ones that LIGHT UP!

 

[boston_kevin]

I switched mine to black plastic last year. The aluminum/tin valve caps that came with it were getting really difficult to remove every time I wanted to deflate/inflate the tires.

 

[borgzman]

Costco checked and rotated my tires for free. My concern is, they maybe strict and may refuse to service your tires if they don't see the "green caps" and you will lose your "Costco Tire Warranty". You can put chromes on, and keep the greens when you need to avail Costco free services incl. tire repairs and replacements if under warranty period.

Costco Advantage:

"It also includes some Lifetime services that extend throughout the life of the tires you purchase. (Some limits may apply). These Lifetime services include inflation pressure checks, tire balancing, tire rotations, as well as flat repairs.

Upon the service of your tires our Michelin Certified Tire Technicians will also install new rubber valve stems (Note TPMS valve stems and accessories will be an additional charge). Additionally, we inflate your tires with nitrogen, not compressed air. Nitrogen retains tire pressure better over time than compressed air, which can positively impact the life of your tires, as well as the fuel economy of your vehicle. We offer this service FREE OF CHARGE."

 

[4boer]

Not to hijack but...I have had a very slow leak in one of my valves. Seems to be a problem with that pin in the middle of the valve, because when I check or add the air will really leak through the valve afterword. Tire shop says to change valve I must get a new TPMS? I went with a metal cap with an o-ring which seems to be holding. So new valve = TPMS= big $. Is that true?

 

[morphius909]

I'm just gonna leave it, because of our harsh, cold, snowy winters, the metal on metal does scare me a bit.

For the summer, I'll pick up a nice set of chromes. Few dollars, oh well.

Considering costco only charges 33 bucks for seasonal changeover, and pretty much everyone else charges 80-100, I'll suck up the extra few dollars just this one time.

 

[inshore4runner]

next time you go in there, id just take the caps off before i let them pull my car in there..... then youll have your original caps, and keep the green ones as spares,or if someone else needs one.... all caps are the same size.

 

[toto]

Not to hijack but...I have had a very slow leak in one of my valves. Tire shop says to change valve I must get a new TPMS?

If you have to replace the valve stem, then yes, you have to buy the whole thing. The valve stem and the TPMS sensor is one integrated unit. You'll also have to have a Toyota dealer re-program the computer with the ID number of the new transmitter. This is probably a job best done by a Toyota dealer and not a tire place.

 

[RonMAIDEN]

I have nice metal ones but if you remove them regularly as I do when i check my pressure once a month they should never seize up.

The reason most tire places switch over to plastic is because the common person doesn't do this and sometimes goes months w/o removing them thus they seize up.

 

[Kmvreter]

I'm just gonna leave it, because of our harsh, cold, snowy winters, the metal on metal does scare me a bit.

For the summer, I'll pick up a nice set of chromes. Few dollars, oh well.

Considering costco only charges 33 bucks for seasonal changeover, and pretty much everyone else charges 80-100, I'll suck up the extra few dollars just this one time.

I had a problem getting a metal cap off once (you risk damaging the threads on the TPMS; $$$.) I avoid future issues and stick to plastic caps.

 

[Kmvreter]

Not to hijack but...I have had a very slow leak in one of my valves. Seems to be a problem with that pin in the middle of the valve, because when I check or add the air will really leak through the valve afterword. Tire shop says to change valve I must get a new TPMS? I went with a metal cap with an o-ring which seems to be holding. So new valve = TPMS= big $. Is that true?

It's true but you don't have to.
You can do it yourself or get a tire shop to replace the valve core, which is industry standard, to fix this issue. A good shop will do it for free. Literally a 30 second fix on the vehicle and then reinflate to the correct pressure to make up the loss. There is a small tool required. You don't need to replace the entire TPMS.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

I have used metal caps on TPMS style stems and noted the corrosion issue on my old Titan. I just put a dab of silicone dielectric tune-up grease on the threads and never had an issue. I say use whatever cap you want with a light dab of tune-up grease on threads of the stem you'll have no issues. Try to avoid letting the grease get all over. Getting the grease inside of the valve stem may cause a greasy, dirty gook to interfere with the tire valves ability to seal properly. That's why I suggested a light dab on the exterior threads of the stem.

:cheers:

 

[4boer]

Thanks for the info folks!

 

[banker1]

What about all the Galvanic Rust crap that the tire tech was spewing off about?

Are the orignals actually metal?

Guess I'll stick with the green for the winter..and then buy some originals in the summer...maybe some nicer ones. What a hassle for just a few bucks. Still just pisses me off.

OEM Toyota caps were black plastic on my T4R

And rust COULD be an issue with metal caps. My father works for Lexus and said depending on the material, some metal caps will rust to the stem (I think he said it was the aftermarket chrome caps).

He grabbed 4 metal caps that come standard on Lexus vehicles and I used those (the are much lighter than standard chrome caps).