Yup, that is what I was told..

 

Had my 2010 XF SC in the dealer today to have snow tires fitted. I asked them about replacing the TPMS and they said they only do this if there is a problem (and mine hadn't kicked out any error codes etc). However - while fitting the snow tires onto the wheels, one of the TPMS sensors was stuck and it broke off from metal fatigue. So they did decide to replace all 4 TPMS sensors (on warranty of course).

 

The caps that came on my 2012 XF sure seem like metal to me. Could they be plastic?

 

no, it was struck by the tire machine dismounting the tire and broken. But jaguar doesnt warranty that so "metal fatigue" is the correct wording

 

doesn meen that a "unknowing" salesperson didnt do it, OR, that theyre the ones with a metal cap but a plastic insert in the cap

 

You can use plastic or Aluminum with no problems.
I bet the first owner had somemetal or chrome caps on before I bought the car to fatigue it.

Now I am using the R Aluminum caps from Mina Gallery with no issues. I added a touch of never seize to the threads just incase which is over kill but I am super careful now.

I must say when this accident originally happened I was very scared and could have been really hurt or killed. And for me to say that goes a long way as I have done many stupid high speeds, corning, burnouts and other dumb things over the years.
So this high speed blowout on a bended highway was enough for me to soil my shorts.
I now always have this reminder in my head no matter what I drive now.
I am very happy how Jaguar handled this in the end and it made me buy another Jaguar shortly after due o the support they gave me to resolve this issue.
Initally the dealer and the customer support people were rude and not helpful. But being I analyzed what caused this and was able to explain it they then took proper action.

 

It's not metal fatigue but electrolytic corrosion caused by the dissimilar metals. The valve stems are also anodized to reduce the risk of corrosion. Metal caps could nick the anodizing which would not be good. However, aluminum caps could be ok, esecually if made of anodized aluminum. However, aluminum has a tendency, like stainless steel, to seize to itself. There's a technical term, I think it is called "galling". Also, pure aluminum is relatively rare so unless you know the aluminum caps are exactly the same alloy as the stems they could still corrode each other. Use of never seize is a good idea if you wish to separate aluminum threaded fittings in the distant future. I'd still go with plastic myself.

 

The original post on this thread is still BS. TPMS stems will not cause the shreading of your tires. Driving on flat tires until they are destroyed will cause them to seperate from the wheels . Driving on tires that are worn down to the steel cords, under inflated, dry rotted, punctured,etc... could cause them to delaminate and separate from the wheel but then all of these conditons can be averted through proper tire maintance and replacement.

 

You do not know what you are talking about and so should stop misleading people.

At 75 mph a blowout can destroy a new tire in seconds, well before you can stop. This is one reason among many why blowouts are so dangerous. A failed valve stem is so dangerous these TPMS systems ought to be withdrawn from the market until they can be guaranteed 100% not to fail.

High performance European cars have valve stems secured by a nut, as do most TPMS. Some cars have tires mechanically secured to the rims, for example Nissan glues the beads on their GTR because the torque is so enormous the wheel can rip itself right out from under the beads, especially when cornering under high acceleration. In older times with tube tires it was considered safer to physically screw the tire bead to the rim on very powerful cars.

You should refrain from opining from ignorance.

 

I should also add, when the stem had failed so did the warning system in not showing me on the dash display and thus never knew the tire almost instantly deflated. And at that speed on a bend I can see how the tire shredded off.
One must know the scenario before judging, and if it were not true or could have been true Jaguar USA would not have taken care of the bill after they inspected the car.