Hello again! Heheh.. So I bought my w204 in the beginning of December after totaling my w203(R.I.P ) anyway.

So Tuesday I wanted to gear up a bit before the snow so I went to put air in my tires, I put air in the front two, passenger rear and when I got around to the drivers rear I noticed the tire valve was cracked, kinda off. Where the threading would be for a cap was gone and I have like a push pin there, unable to do anything except let air out.

Now I live 5 minutes from the dealer I bought the car from, so I went back to them and the service guy is trying to tell me that because it's cracked off it's not covered by warranty or my after market service contract, which I guess I can understand but should I expect the dealership to cover the cost of repair being as though the car is like a month old or am I being unreasonable?

They tried to tell me it'll be 105 for the valve/sensor with 70 labor to put in then it needs to go to Benz in AC which is like 50 miles away(they'll take the car) which I'm not comfortable with and have them program it for another 119. So I'm looking at like 300 to fix something I didn't break and "isn't covered".

Any ideas/opinions on how to handle this would help. I explained to the service guy I'm in a business where I deal with this daily and I make exceptions for my customers, especially if I want them to come back and I'd like to take the car back to them but not if they screw me over, ya know?

Help =[

Mike

 

This is standard issue Mercedes Benz *** widening. Have you checked the after market?

 

Nope, well I didn't get it from a MB dealership which is why I feel like I'm getting screwed.

 

well first off, 70 for labor is the min charge even for a 2 min job, which this is. replacing a valve stem is unscrewing then screwing it in. 45 seconds max. just buy the part for cheap and put it in at a gas station air pump. reset the tpms and your off. am i right?

 

How would I go about resetting the tpms? I know I sound dumb but I really don't want to screw up the new car haha

 

and where can I order from?

getmercedesparts.com -
Description Year MSRP Price Core Price Your Price
Valve stem 2008 $3.70 $2.78


Would this be all I need? wtf they want 100 dollars? My sensors not broken just the valve stem... Sheesh

 

Never seen anyone replace a valve stem without pulling the wheel and removing the tire?

I don't think you should have to, see below.


Take a picture of one of the unbroken valve stems. If they are aluminum and not rubber, they are TPMS - which I'm 99% sure they are since it's a W204 - so the part you've listed above is not correct. If it's a "normal" rubber stem, run down to TireRack and they will sort it for all of about $20.

The good news is that if it's just the stem, you can get a replacement stem kit and not replace the sensor. If you just replace the stem, no reprogramming or anything else required.

Here's a shot of mine with a TPMS stem. If you have these (and I'm not a W204 expert by any means!), shoot me your VIN and I'll give you the part number of the stem assembly. I'm pretty sure it's A0004004513 and a standard Schrader AirWave sensor. You can find 'em every once in a while on eBay, but keep in mind the "Stem" is not included in the "Service Kit".

 

The stem broke not the valve.

 

You could pick a new sensor from tire rack for about $45 and any tire shop can replaced it for about $20

 

I'm gonna snap a picture today when I put my new 8K bulbs in. Give me like an hour.

 

Lights are done.. snapped pictures of broken and unbroken.

Broken:


Unbroken:


I just don't think I should have to pay the dealer I bought it from a month ago to have it replaced, I think that's crazy. If it's a simple fix I'll do it myself but I'll never go back to them for service, that's horrible customer service.

Mike

 

It's pretty obvious that the valve stem was struck by something and broken off so it's not a warranty issue.

The valve stem is part of the sensor unit which is inside the wheel, So, you must buy a new sensor and the dealer is not the place for that. Tire Rack is one place to buy these and there may be others BUT it must be compatible with the MB system. Current prices will be shown on the Tire Rack website. When I bought four from them in 2007, the cost was about $70 each and they sold the same unit as MB uses, made by Schrader.

In the meantime, carefully screw another valve cap onto the remains of the valve stem so as to protect it from further damage. Just enough to grab the threads but not to contact the valve core.

 

Completely wrong, in fact.

 

What happened to the roughed up looking area around the valve stems? Mine is smooth there so it looks like something pretty destructive has been going on both wheels.


You actually have to pull the tire off as the body of the system is bolted on the the other side of the stem...think "iceburg"

 

That schrader valve is barely holding on with very few threads. Consider installing the spare until you get this sorted.

 

That looks like someone tried to phuk with you... by vandalizing your wheel and stem.

If there's damage to the rim - I think that's what I see there - then call your insurance company and file a claim for vandalism - it would be covered under comprehensive... and the fixed issues would be covered under insurance - since this type of issue is not covered by a warranty. As long as your comprehensive deductible is lower than $250, it should be fine...

But if there's no damage to the wheel and if your deductible is more than $500, then saddle up, swallow some pride, and have the dealer take care of the problem.

The last thing you want with after-market crap is a TPMS issue haunting you for the rest of the car's life - like what happens to VW owners.

 

IIRC, the TPMS sensors that Tirerack sells are manufactured by the same company that supplies to MB dealerships. I purchased a set of four, for my aftermarket rims, and have yet to run into any problems. I am sure other members have had similar experiences.

 

SO that looks like the "standard" MB OEM Schrader AirAware to me. You can go get a new sensor as others have suggested or you can get A0004004513 from your favorite web MB parts supplier for about $29 and have TireRack or any other tire service center replace it for you. I'd also pick up A0004011214 for $.99 - that's the nut holding it in place - yours looks intact, but for .99 I'd replace it as well.

If you insist on getting a new sensor from TireRack, make sure they give you a Schrader Airaware 433.92Mhz version and you'll be fine.

Looks like corrosion around the valve stem on both your pictures - I'd take care of that before it spreads as well. No clue how it got broken, but I can understand your dealer saying they are not going to cover it. If you just purchased your car from 'em, I'd be hitting them up for some goodwill, though - you buy the stem, they replace it for free sorta thing.

The stems are machined aluminum, so either someone really knocked the crap out of it or you took a pretty weird hit to the wheel that didn't leave obvious marks.

Also, as others have said, I'd seriously consider popping the spare on - if you lose the valve at speed, your tire is 100% flat in about two minutes......

 

First of all, the tire pressure sensor is a seperate $100 part that is inside of the tire. It fits between the inside part of the tire valve and the rim.

What you have broken is a much less expensive part. To replace the tire valve, you will have to remove the tire/rim from the car, seperate the tire from the rim, so that you can unscrew the tire valve from the outside and remove it from the inside. As you do so, you'll see how the sensor is attached. Its pretty straight forward once you open it up and will make sense.