More Proof I Can't Work On Cars Anymore

So my little Honda Fit ran over a staple.

I didn't know it until the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) warning light lit up on the dashboard.
Thanks, Honda... you probably saved me from changing a tire on the I-10 at 4 in the morning.
While the tire shop had the casing off to repair the puncture, I happened to look at the inside of the rim.

WTF? Here's this plastic chunk on the far side of the stem, about half the size of a cell phone.
I had no idea what it was.

Turns out, it's the TPMS sensor that radios the car's on board diagnostic system. How? I don't know. I hope to hell there's no battery in them. How do you balance a wheel with that thing in there, I have no clue. And what if the gas station you go to for air has a crummy compressor and pumps moist air into the tire? Will it rust?

I suppose they'll want to install new ones every time you buy a new tire. And they certainly will if you have a blowout, because it will become part of the road debris in the ensuing carnage.

Reading up on the things, it takes all sorts of special tools to diagnose and fit one, get it to talk to the computer, and, of course, there's almost a different sensor for every different Honda. Gag. Good luck fitting custom wheels to one of these cars. Oh, and don't use a copper stem core, or even an unplated cap -- this can cause the sensor to fail. Great. Just great.

Good thing I quit working on cars, because I'd be tempted, in about another fifty thousand miles,of ripping the whole damn system out when I start paying for all these parts and diagnosis. Just give me a damn valve stem, OK, Mr. Tire Man? Make mine copper, too.

Reminds me of that scene in "2001 A Space Odyssey":

"Open the Pod Bay doors, HAL."
"I'm sorry, I can't do that, Dave."
"HAL, open the Pod Bay doors."
"I can't do that, Dave."

....and later Dave has to pull HAL's plug, circuit by circuit.