What to do about Seized Caps?

So let me start by saying that we never stop learning unless we choose not to I guess.  Anyways, the last couple of days have been car maintenance days which involved getting the oil changed, tires rotated, fluids checked, tire air pressure checked, engine air filter checked, and cabin air filter checked for one of my vehicles.  So anyways, I just took it into Goodyear and then about 20 minutes late, I received a call from the mechanic letting me know that the caps were seized on the driver side tires.  First off, I said, "What are you talking about?"  Then he explained to me that the aluminum/metal caps on the tires were corroded and rusted inside so he was not able to unscrew them to put air into the tires.   Ok, now I understood.  He said that he was willing to continue to try, but that he wanted to call me first because the stem and the Tire Pressure Monitoring Sensor (TPMS) might break in the process of him continuing to try harder.  I asked him how much the TPMS sensor would be, and he said it would cost around $120 just for the part.  As we stayed on the phone listening to each other breath, I told him to just continue with the rotation of the tires, but to skip the 2 affected tires with the seized caps when it came to putting air into the tires since he couldn't do it anyways.  I told him I did not want him trying to unscrew the caps because I felt like he would most likely break something, but I understood he was doing his due diligence of the Cover Your Ass (CYA) call.   He then responded, "Ok.  It's up to you."  So I concurred that yes, indeed, it's up to me.  Anyways, I did some google searching and interestingly enough, this is a VERY common and FRUSTRATING issue in regards to these aluminum/metal tire caps.  The recommendation was to switch them out with the old school plastic ones in order to avoid the issue.  Anywho, I could not find any discussion group or blog that provided the silver lining for me.  Most of the discussion groups involved the replacement of the stem or TPMS sensor.  I was not feeling optimistic.  I even found a site that recommended soaking the stem in vinegar.  Needless to say, I was feeling very dismal about this thinking that I was going to have to fork over the $240 for both affected tires and also labor.  Not a happy camper at this point.  So then I walked over to one of my co-workers who told me she had the SAME issue with the aluminum/metal caps getting seized.  She told me to go to the dealership since this was a factory issue regardless of whether or not the car is under warranty.  So I called the dealership and talked to someone in Service.  I explained the situation with the seized caps.  He seemed to be aware of this issue.  I basically said, "I want to see if you all can help with the seized tire caps so that I can get air into those tires."  He set me up with an appointment to bring the car in the next afternoon.  At this point, the weather is getting colder so the tire pressure indicator sign was enabled on the dashboard.  It had turned on even before the oil change  Since Good Year was only able to put air in the passenger side tires, the indicator light was still on. 

So this afternoon, I took the car into the dealership to have the seized caps looked at.  I waited in the waiting room for a little while, but my curiosity got the best of me so I walked towards the garage.  I saw the mechanic pull down the air pressure hose from the ceiling.  He then walked over to my driver side and started putting air into the tires.  What a nice sight to see.  So I said, "Were you able to get the caps off?"  He said very calmly, "Yes."  I asked him how he did it.  He showed me this heating tool that fits right over the cap and heats the cap so that it basically expands and pops right off of the threads of the stem.  I am definitely sure that the Good Year where I went did not have this.  Anyways, he proceeded to replace all the caps with plastic caps.  I was so relieved.  They did not charge me for this visit.

So if you end up in a similar situation, go to the dealership.  They are definitely more willing to help you and will most likely have a more comprehensive suite of tools.  Do NOT let just anyone try to troubleshoot ESP with the whole CYA call.  I don't go to the dealership often, but in cases like this, you are better off.  If I had let the GoodYear guy continue to try, he most likely would have caused more damage, causing me to spend more money.  Just be patient and always remember...there is more than one way to skin a cat.