I took my H3 in to get the "Desert Protection Package" that came with the vehicle re-applied. I am supposed to do it every six months but it must be done at the dealership from which I bought it, no others, which means a 3 hour drive.

Other than bending my personalized plate, they did a good job of detailing it for me at no cost and applying the protection. The tires needed rotating and they did that but they did not rotate in the spare. I asked about it and the service guy told me they don't rotate in spares because they tend to cause "ride problems".

Is he right? Sounds fishy to me.

I told him about a few other problems. One being the tire pressure light coming on now and then. I checked with my gauge and found all tires on the vehicle right at 40 psi. When I took it in the dealer told me the reason the light was coming on was not the four drive tires but rather the spare was under 30 psi. That spare, he said, was setting off the low pressure light. He told me all five tires are monitored, and he muttered something about some sort of remote sensor.

Is he right? Sounds VERY fishy to me.

My check engine light has been coming on now and then and has done so about 30 times. Goes on, I call onstar they give me their diagnostics and am told to take it in within 7 days, I have the message recorded on my onstar advisor playback if anyone wants the entire message, but basically it says there is a problem with the emissions something or another and to take it in within 7 days. The first time it happened I took it in but the light was out by the time I got to the dealer. The dealer ran a check and found no code inthe computer.

This time I arrived at the dealer and was glad to see the light still on. He ran a check and found a code (I can provide code later if needed, Im not driving the H3 today) that indicated a bad relay. He said the relay was replaced and I should not get the check engine light. I hope he is right.

So, do all five tires get monitored or is he full of it? And why would they not rotate in my spare or is that correct also.


Thanks,

Rob

p.s. Forgot to tell you I went ahead and took in my own Mobile 1 synthetic and had them change the oil. What is lifespan on new oil? Will Onstar get reset or will it say I need to change it in a few months?

 

HI,
ok, first, depending on what year H3 you have....you may have a tire monitor on the spare. The only way to tell is to see if your valve stem is black rubber or does it match the other four tires? If it's black rubber than he is full of it.....if not I guess the monitor could throw it off....not really sure.

Your spare is new and doesn't have the same wear as the rest of the tires....that's why they don't rotate that in......

They should of reset your oil gauge. If not you can reset it yourself......

Good luck!

 

Its my understanding that you select which 4 of the 5 tires you want monitored when you reset the monitoring system. If you had the tires rotated once before and the spare was included in the rotation(which, in my opinion, it should be) the monitoring system might not have been reset and the vehicle continued to monitor the spare.

As far as not rotating the spare in because it will cause "ride problems" I don't buy this unless the rotation hasn't been done to schedule and there is a big variation in tread depth between the spare and the other tires. I like to rotate the spare in to use up all the tires so when I buy my next set, I can choose any brand or any tread design and have a spare that matches.

I have an 08 that did not come with a sensor in the spare and a different rotation was recommended, not to include the spare. When I got my larger tires I had them install a new sensor in the spare so I can rotate them the way I prefer.

 

This was my first rotation and first dealer maintenance as I was at 5800 miles. They have never been rotated prior to the dealer doing it. I would think with 5800 miles on the tires the spare could have been rotated in but I guess not.

I have an 07 H3 with adventure package, manual 5sp.

 

What's the "Desert Protection Package"

It sounds like something the dealer or Dianne Feinstien invented?

 

I think at 5800 miles you could too. Your dealer is probably trying to minimize service returns. They might have experienced a lot of complaints after the spare was rotated in, excess tread differences, the spare out of balance could contribute to it, The 07's were equipped to rotate the spare in and it probably says so in the manual. The dealer, instead of evaluating each rotation individually, has taken the easy way out by not including the spare. Perhaps the more aggressive treads should be rotated sooner in order to include the spare and not experience ride problems. My plans are to rotate every 3000 because I'm running Mud Terrains.

 

Sounds like you bought from Lund, Legends or Kachina here in Phx with their legendary Desert Protection Package.

If you read the manual on resetting the TPMS, you'll see you only mess with the four tires on the ground. Hence, it is not monitoring the spare. Your spare should be able to be flat and not have the TPMS go off.

With an 07 you do have the TPMS in the spare and it's your choice to rotate it in or not. I had my original tires for 18K miles before I upgraded to bigger beefier tires. I rotated them two or three times with the spare and with zero problems. The only hassle is that you have to reset the TPMS and the guys rotating will often do that for you.

Assuming I'm correct about the Phx thing I've had good luck at Lund. Even though all three are at the same dealership I've heard better service stories about Lund than Legends.

For the oil the dealership should've reset the monitor for you. I always do it myself just to make sure. All you have to do is follow the instructions in the manual.

To reset the Engine Oil Life system, do the following:
1. With the engine off, turn the ignition to ON.
2. Press and release the stem in the lower center
of the instrument cluster until the OIL LIFE
message is displayed.
3. Once the alternating OIL LIFE and RESET
messages appear, press and hold the stem
until several beeps sound. This confirms
that the oil life system has been reset.
4. Turn the key to LOCK.

FYI - putting in Mobil 1 will not change the oil life span that Onstar reports to you as that is based on conventional oil. But, what you will know is that the engine is better protected during that span.

 

I'm not sure if this is the case on the H3, but I read somewhere that most tire monitoring systems work using the ABS sensor on each wheel... Supposedly, these sensors are accurate enough that they can pick up minute variances in the rotational speed of each wheel, and from that infer what the radius of the wheel is when bearing the load of the vehicle, and thus infer a tire pressure.

 

As of '08 all older H3s have the tire monitor on the spare and the manual evvens shows the five tire rotation to be done every 5,000 miles. As of '08 they took that page out of the manual and removed the tire sensor from the spare. I got the same response from my dealer about putting the spare into rotation.
But what the heck is "Desert Protection Package" now that sounds like a bunch of crap?!?

 

Desert Protection Package is a dealer-added waxing or "special paint protection". I think it also covers the leather, maybe carpets. You bring it in every 6 months to be reapplied/cleaned/whatever. I refused to pay for it, I hate that kind of dealer add-on stuff, so they left it on at no charge.