Tire Pressure monitor

[jmueller065]

On my commute in this morning I got the yellow triangle...It did startle me for a sec and before I looked closely I did think the worst...but on closer inspection it was the TPMS telling me I had low air pressure!?

Pulling off into the nearest parking lot all four tires appeared to be full of air (and the horn did honk twice when I got out and shut the door to inspect the tires while leaving the car "running").

So I drove to the nearest gas! station on my route and picked up a pressure gauge. The drivers front was down to 25lbs, all the other three were 30+ (which is still low since the recommended is 38). Wow I guess the TPMS works pretty well (according to this thread at Focus Fanatics it alarms when the pressure is 25% below recommended: http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=301692 )

So check your tires; especially if you are in an area where it gets colder in winter. With almost no maintenance on these cars it is easy to forget some of the basics.

 

[Washingtonian]

Is there a way to display tire pressure using Sync? TPMS has the data... I just haven't figured out how to view it in the car. Do I need an OBD2 reader to see the data?

 

[hybridbear]

Is there a way to display tire pressure using Sync? TPMS has the data... I just haven't figured out how to view it in the car. Do I need an OBD2 reader to see the data?

You can view the individual pressures using FORScan or the special EV ScanGauge. One thing to note is that when the tires are rotated they'll need to reprogram the TPMS so that it shows the correct pressure for each tire.

 

[jeffand]

How does tire pressure monitoring work. Inside of each rim typically by the valve stem is the sensor. So the reason the sensor may of tripped was that colder air will reduce the tire pressure. These sensor are battery powered, and after 7 or 10 years , or up to 100,000 miles the battery may become depleted. This should trigger a tire pressure fault. To fix the problem will require replacing the sensor. Apparently the battery is not replaceable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtWuEIfEuMQ

For more information chick on the following link.
http://www.ebay.com/gds/How-to-Trai...nitior-Sensors-TPMS-/10000000177044847/g.html

 

[unplugged]

One thing to note is that when the tires are rotated they'll need to reprogram the TPMS so that it shows the correct pressure for each tire.

I'm a bit confused on this. Wouldn't the sensor just send out the pressure whatever tire it was attached to? Aren't the tire sensors the same for each tire?

 

[WattsUp]

One thing to note is that when the tires are rotated they'll need to reprogram the TPMS so that it shows the correct pressure for each tire.

I'm a bit confused on this. Wouldn't the sensor just send out the pressure whatever tire it was attached to? Aren't the tire sensors the same for each tire?

It would matter if individual pressure status was displayed for each wheel. But, in the FFE, this is not the case -- it simply lights up the tire pressure warning icon on the dash when the pressure of "some" tire is low. It doesn't indicate which wheel.

Also, I would think that TPMS transmitter/receivers would have a high degree of proximity before they "connect". That is, the tire location is not be determined from a transmitter ID, but rather the receiver that receives the information. In other words, move a wheel from one location to another, and it will simply start using a different receiver (the one for that wheel location). So, no reprogramming needed and no issue with identification.

But, like I said, for the FFE, tire rotation should not matter. The car does not distinguish which wheel is low.

 

[hybridbear]

One thing to note is that when the tires are rotated they'll need to reprogram the TPMS so that it shows the correct pressure for each tire.

I'm a bit confused on this. Wouldn't the sensor just send out the pressure whatever tire it was attached to? Aren't the tire sensors the same for each tire?

It would matter if individual pressure status was displayed for each wheel. But, in the FFE, this is not the case -- it simply lights up the tire pressure warning icon on the dash when the pressure of "some" tire is low. It doesn't indicate which wheel.

Also, I would think that TPMS transmitter/receivers would have a high degree of proximity before they "connect". That is, the tire location is not be determined from a transmitter ID, but rather the receiver that receives the information. In other words, move a wheel from one location to another, and it will simply start using a different receiver (the one for that wheel location). So, no reprogramming needed and no issue with identification.

But, like I said, for the FFE, tire rotation should not matter. The car does not distinguish which wheel is low.

The car does distinguish it, it just doesn't tell the driver which wheel is low. I had the tires on the Fusion Energi rotated this morning at Discount Tire and they said that they don't need to reprogram anything for the TPMS in Ford's because the system is smart enough to figure it out. I'll test this out tonight since they let a bunch of air out of my tires and now they're really soft.

 

[WattsUp]

But, like I said, for the FFE, tire rotation should not matter. The car does not distinguish which wheel is low.

The car does distinguish it, it just doesn't tell the driver which wheel is low.

Yes, that's what I meant. The car doesn't distinguish it for the driver.

 

[unplugged]

... and they said that they don't need to reprogram anything for the TPMS in Ford's because the system is smart enough to figure it out.

Yep, I would think that any Ford system is smart enough to reset when the wheel is changed.

 

[michael]

An OBD scanner reads out the pressure of each tire individually by position.

 

[hybridbear]

Discount Tire was correct. The Energi did change the sensors to be correct. I'm not sure how long it took but it happened sometime during the first day of our road trip.

 

[CWD]

my 2013 Ford Focus Electric is driving me crazy with the tire pressure monitor system. I put on a set of winter tires and now just about every day the system gives me a warning. All tires are set at 40 psi and I have checked them everyday. There is no wheel pressure sensors in the system. Vehicle uses the wheel speed sensors to determine if a tire is low. I think the coarser tire pattern may set up some sort of vibration that the wheel speed sensors pick up and that is what is causing the system to warn. I notice that some roads have cross cuts that seem to cause the system to go off. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Pearl]

my 2013 Ford Focus Electric is driving me crazy with the tire pressure monitor system. I put on a set of winter tires and now just about every day the system gives me a warning. All tires are set at 40 psi and I have checked them everyday. There is no wheel pressure sensors in the system. Vehicle uses the wheel speed sensors to determine if a tire is low. I think the coarser tire pattern may set up some sort of vibration that the wheel speed sensors pick up and that is what is causing the system to warn. I notice that some roads have cross cuts that seem to cause the system to go off. Anyone else have this problem?

If you don't have TPMS sensors in the wheel, you will get a low pressure warning. I also have a set of winter tire/wheels with TPMS sensors. When I swap them out for snow, I just re-train the sensors, and I have no issues with warnings.

 

[campfamily]

There is no wheel pressure sensors in the system. Vehicle uses the wheel speed sensors to determine if a tire is low.

This is not true, the system in our cars uses pressure sensors in each wheel, not speed sensors. So, if your winter wheels don't have sensors, you'll get the warning.

Keith

 

[Magnetoreluctance]

Many newer cars have switched to wheel speed instead of in-wheel sensors for TPMS, but the FFE is not one of them.

 

[campfamily]

Many newer cars have switched to wheel speed instead of in-wheel sensors for TPMS, but the FFE is not one of them.

Really? Didn't know that. In fact, I was under the impression just the opposite was going on, that early systems were wheel speed driven, but then with better batteries coming on, individual sensors were implemented. Far more accurate, plus you could also give a specific reading of pressure, rather than just a flag that something was wrong.

If everybody goes to wheel speed sensors, what will the tire shops do for an extra fee to replace the $7.50 charge to "rebuild TPMS"?

 

[triangles]

this is the first I've heard of that but it makes sense. If you already have the ABS sensor and can use it to detect the different wheel speed due to a flat then that saves a lot of money for the OEM who then doesn't have to do tire pressure sensors.

 

[campfamily]

I know that early systems used the differential wheel speed to accomplish the TPMS function, but it didn't work very well. If a tire only lost a few pounds of pressure (say, a slow leak), the system couldn't sense it. Or, if all four tires lost pressure the same, it wouldn't work. Also, you couldn't get actual tire pressures from that system. Once the manufacturers figured out how to do this function in a small form factor that fit either in the tire stem or on the inside of the wheel, and could make them reliable enough and get the batteries to last long enough, I thought most manufacturers had abandoned the wheel sensor approach.

 

[TomEV]

I also recently had the yellow triangle warning about low tire pressure. Each tire turned out to be low at around 28-30. I thought it would warn earlier since they were getting very low. Of course I didn't check it for 6 months so that's a problem. I am surprised that there is no individual tire reading at all times. I think is standard in most models by now?

 

[CWD]

When I bought the car this summer it had a bad tire. Previous owner had driven on it when it was very low so it got destroyed. I replaced the tire and I did not see a TPMS inside either on the valve core or on the wheel itself so I figured the vehicle uses the WSS to determine a low tire. Funny thing is there is a road I drive on everyday that is concrete with grooves cut into it for traction and as soon as I get on that road the system goes on. That road is not the only thing that trips the system. Some days I start out and the light goes out and stays out. Other days I get under way and the light comes on right away. Really no rime or reason. The other day I was driving and all of a sudden the vehicle started pulling. I stopped asap and sure enough the right front tire was very low. I connected the air pump and filled up the tire. As soon as I took off the hose the core blew out. WTF. Just got the winter tire/wheel package from the Tire Rack. Lucky I was across the street from an Auto Zone store so I bought a new core and the tool to put it in. The old core was still in the stem but the tool I got has a pointed extractor that actually worked. Put it a new core and filled up the tire. Took about 2 miles of range to fill it up (twice).