NHTSA Complaint #10499576 — 2009 MAZDA MAZDA3

THE TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SENSOR MOUNTED IN THE RIM FAILED AND THE TIRE LOST AIR PRESSURE WHILE TRAVELING ON AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY UNTIL IT WAS FLAT AND THE SPARE TIRE NEEDED TO BE MOUNTED. THE FLAT TIRE WAS LATER TAKEN TO A TIRE SERVICE DEALER WHO DETERMINED THAT THE FLAT WAS CAUSED BY CORROSION OF THE THREADED ALUMINUM STEM ON THE TPMS CAUSING THE PLASTIC RETAINING NUT TO CRACK AND FALL OFF RESULTING IN A LEAK AROUND THE RIM AND STEM. THE CORROSION WAS SO SEVERE THAT THE TPMS COULD NOT BE USED, AND A RUBBER VALVE STEM INSERTED. THE CORROSION WAS NOT OBVIOUS AS THE OWNER OF THE VEHICLE ROUTINELY INFLATES THE TIRES, THE NUT CONCEALED THE CORROSION. CORROSION THIS SEVERE WAS NOT ANTICIPATED AT 25K MILES OF DRIVING, THE TIRES WERE NOT YET WORN TO THE POINT OF REQUIRING REPLACEMENT. THE DESIGN AND APPLICATION OF THE TPMS USED FOR THIS VEHICLE IS DANGEROUS AS RAPID DEFLATION OF THE TIRE COULD HAVE RESULTED, THE OUTWARD APPEARANCE OF THE VALVE STEM DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY INDICATION OF PENDING CATASTROPHIC FAILURE, THE EXPOSURE OF THE TIRE AND VALVE STEM TO DE-ICING MATERIALS IN THE NORTHEASTERN USA IS A NORMAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE THAT WOULD WARRANT SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER CORROSION PROTECTION THAN THE OEM TPMS THAT IS INSTALLED PROVIDES. A FULL RECALL AND REPLACEMENT OF THE TPMS'S INSTALLED IN THIS MAKE, MODEL AND YEAR NEEDS TO BE MADE. THIS TYPE OF FAILURE HAS NEVER BEEN EXPERIENCED BY THE OWNER WHEN RUBBER VALVE STEMS WERE USED IN THE PAST, IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT A NEW SAFETY DEVICE - TPMS - PRESENTS A HIGHER RISK FOR CATASTROPHIC RAPID DEFLATION OF A TIRE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS THAN WOULD EVER BE EXPECTED. *TR