Tyre Pressure Sensor Malfunction Warning

[Jojo2002]

On 11/20/2022 at 10:20 PM, Alans Car said:

I have seen both situations said as working, it's just the specific model\year that seems to be what makes the difference, but what Ford will want is too much at the wrong time, the tyre place are happy to install it, they will even program it if I can get the code from Ford, but can't see that at all, may be forced to wait until next year now, depends what the state of play is, so time will tell.

Does your car show each tyre pressure individuallly?

If not then the sensor won't need any special programming as the car will pickup the new sensor once fitted and you use the reset button inside the car and follow the other instructions in your manual. 

If you get a flat tyre the system will just display a low tyre pressure warning and you'll have to check all 4 to find the low one. 

 

Similarly if you fit the temporary spare - the system will tell you there's a malfunction as it can't detect all 4 sensors therefore an incomplete system, which is similar to your circumstances where you're missing a sensor. 

[Alans Car]

Sorry for a slow reply, not been good lately, anyway, just when you think you have finally got somewhere, you are back to nothing all over again, I will start with an update of this so far, the guy on eBay had the right one (I sent my reg and VIN to check) and he said it was, he also said I would have to get it programmed, but I can't answer your question about the display, I have never seen anything but the warning icon, it's never given each wheel out, but then in my ownership, it had 1 sensor missing, which IIRC it was said previously that I wouldn't see this until all sensors were fitted.

When I got back into my car, I went through the menu options to see what it showed, and I couldn't even see the setting for it, and it's not the first thing that I can't find either, I had previously set the speed warnings to +3mph, now I can't even see the option, so I am going to have to sit in the car when I can get well enough and go through the settings, one thing I have noticed, is an option to reset the entire cars settings, in my head it sounds like a good way to go, not knowing what has gone on before so I start with a blank canvas, is this a wise move?

I also went to my Ford (local dealer) and asked about the cost for programming (given the eBay dealer), after a lot of seesawing it turned out to be around £55 (just to program it), a part of the seesawing was due to supply and fit parts, to which I said Ford online has nothing, but eBay had, they said ask their parts guy at the next counter, he said how bad the site was and said basically never trust it lol, he went out back and got me the one I needed for an extra couple of £'s (compared to eBay), and he said there are basically 2 types, mine was a square, the other was a triangle (marking on the unit) and they were a very common part used by many, so I got that, he said the same as most (if not all) here, it will set itself, so I went to my tyre place and they fitted it, brilliant I thought job done.

Nope, I had a low pressure warning up again, although the sensor warning had gone at first, there was a low-pressure warning again, it was the nearside front tyre, it too had a leaking valve, because it was wet, I literally saw air bubbles around it's neck when pumping it up, it also needs a new tyre, but they didn't have my tyre in stock, so I've carried on looking for options.

I had to go to Oxford after and it wasn't long before the sensor malfunction popped up again, but unlike previous it went off after, that's where I am at now, so due to needing a new tyre I asked if mine were all season tyres or not (Michelin Primacy4), and apparently, they are not, so I have been looking at all season tyres since, and as I would have to change all 4 at once, it can come with a hell of a price tag for top end choices, so I don't know if any of you have any thoughts as to what is good\bad and affordable?

I'm hoping the mid-range are a reasonable trade off, or just get another of what I already have?

Thanks for the reply.

 

*edit; A new message is coming up as well now when starting the car, something like tyre Repair system service(?), something like that, it's the kit to use if you get a puncture in place of a spare to get you to a garage, does this need replacing or something?

[iantt]

Was the Square type like I said it was, as for another tyre valve leaking, make sure the tyre fitter you use for the new tyre has got one ready to fit. Is it only 1 tyre you need? Normally tyres wear out in pairs ? What's the tread depth of the others? 

Did the sensor you bought come with the rubber valve too? 

[Alans Car]

Yeah, many people have been right on the money from the start, I have not questioned anything people have said as such, I've simply been trying to understand, when I experience something I'm usually right on the ball more often than not, but this is a first for me so learning as I go, the really distressing thing is how company's\businesses can be so wrong, made worse when it's their own products, I should be surprised, but the amount of times I have told council contractors to get out as their work is so bad, even as a cripple I can do better, the problem these days is I pay dearly when I do, but I'm rapidly approaching the point I can't even do that anymore.

But yes, it's just the 1 tyre, and you can't buy the sensor alone, it always comes with the valve, but you can buy the valve alone, I don't know what the depth of the other tyres are but they have lots of life left, but the one that needs changing is\was 2mm, a tyre centre measured it to see if it was still legal as I had to go to Oxford later that day, and no garage had my tyre in stock, so after I got back I started looking, and as my daughter is an 11 hour round trip I thought all season tyres were the wisest choice, but some are like £1k for a set, other good brands (usually) are around £500 to £600 a set, with bargain basement around £200 ish or less.

Obviously, those would probably be worse than the Primacy4 tyres already on the car, but it's whether the £500 to £600 are as good as those of £1k(?), Continental keep coming up, as do Goodyear, Avon, Bridgestone, Pirelli and Yokoyama (but I remember these hit a low spot many years back and many went over to other brands), Michelin also have some just a bit more than these, but no one has A and A rated *wet\fuel* (for all comments here), which is what I go for usually, but the most common in these is A and C, maybe 1 A and B, and a couple of B and B, what I have no experience of is how this is the best option for all season tyres.

As usual it's always at the worst time, and because you can only change all 4 tyres when going over to all-season ones, it's a big expense, and the cost of the same tyre doing just the 1 tyre sticking with what are on it is even more expensive than these all-season tyres, but the fact of I only need 1 makes it cheaper, but it also adds some years to getting all-season tyres as they have a lot of life left in the existing 3 tyres, hence wondering if anyone has experience with these?

Any thoughts about a system reset on the car?

Thanks for the reply

[Jojo2002]

If it's all season tyres you're looking for. I recommend Bridgestone weather control Evo. I used them on a previous car and was very happy with them. I've also used Goodyear vector 4s. 

What size wheels do you have? 

It's better to shop around online as some garages get better deals on the same tyres. 

Give me your tyre sizes and I'll have a look for you. 

I've just fitted winter tyres to a set of steel wheels. 

[Alans Car]

Sorry for the delayed response, I didn't get a notification of a reply, I know Good Year was at the top of the options when I looked for previous tyres, but went for Michelin Energy ones for fuel economy, and have looked at them closely again this time around, and more so tyres that help avoid kerbing the wheels, as I have hit both front alloys which has hacked me right off, because our road is a nightmare to get down, as our neighbour shares the drive and has 5 or 6 cars\vans there at times, the family opposite also has 4 or 5 cars, and there is a speed hump as you come off the drive, and the wheel has fallen into the gap between kerb and hump as it slipped off a few times now, and messed the alloys up, which is gutting as they were spotless until then.

The grip is the major requirement as my daughter lives in Durham now, so they get some extreme weather there, but the better they are for fuel economy they are would be a major advantage as well for the same reason, as the car is nowhere near it's mpg, I know that it's never near book figures, but there is a site where drivers update their mpg and produces real world numbers, and this car doesn't match that, but there are many variables that are impossible to evaluate in such matters, but anything that helps is always good, but I agree the online prices can be a major saving on some places, but still looking at £500 to £1k for a set of 4.

Anyway my tyres are 235/45 R18 98Y XL, back in the day (30 years +) I always got broader tyres for better grip, that's when you could get German imports part used cheap given they have a much stricter regime meaning they have to change tyres every so often no matter how little wear they have, not sure they still do this, but then technology as made significant leaps since so that is no longer a concern as the tyres have much greater ability these days, anyway Thanks for the reply.

[StephenFord]

4 hours ago, Alans Car said:

Sorry for the delayed response, I didn't get a notification of a reply, I know Good Year was at the top of the options when I looked for previous tyres, but went for Michelin Energy ones for fuel economy, and have looked at them closely again this time around, and more so tyres that help avoid kerbing the wheels, as I have hit both front alloys which has hacked me right off, because our road is a nightmare to get down, as our neighbour shares the drive and has 5 or 6 cars\vans there at times, the family opposite also has 4 or 5 cars, and there is a speed hump as you come off the drive, and the wheel has fallen into the gap between kerb and hump as it slipped off a few times now, and messed the alloys up, which is gutting as they were spotless until then.

The grip is the major requirement as my daughter lives in Durham now, so they get some extreme weather there, but the better they are for fuel economy they are would be a major advantage as well for the same reason, as the car is nowhere near it's mpg, I know that it's never near book figures, but there is a site where drivers update their mpg and produces real world numbers, and this car doesn't match that, but there are many variables that are impossible to evaluate in such matters, but anything that helps is always good, but I agree the online prices can be a major saving on some places, but still looking at £500 to £1k for a set of 4.

Anyway my tyres are 235/45 R18 98Y XL, back in the day (30 years +) I always got broader tyres for better grip, that's when you could get German imports part used cheap given they have a much stricter regime meaning they have to change tyres every so often no matter how little wear they have, not sure they still do this, but then technology as made significant leaps since so that is no longer a concern as the tyres have much greater ability these days, anyway Thanks for the reply.

Mmm... I believe the Daily Mail are serialising your response next week 😂

[unofix]

2 hours ago, StephenFord said:

The grip is the major requirement as my daughter lives in Durham now, so they get some extreme weather there,

.....and don't I know it !!

Snow has been falling for most of the afternoon.

[unofix]

2 hours ago, StephenFord said:

Mmm... I believe the Daily Mail are serialising your response next week 😂

I stopped, and put the kettle at half time 🤣

[iantt]

11 minutes ago, unofix said:

.....and don't I know it !!

Snow has been falling for most of the afternoon.

We don't have extreme weather where I live. Little bit of ice and a little  snow once every year or two. 

I've managed with summer tyres since I started driving. Last time we had what I call significant snow, I was driving my focus and tyres were just about wore out. I still got to work when others couldn't apparently. Did take me 2 routes to get there as usual route had a hill I couldn't get up. 

[unofix]

I've spent all afternoon driving a Vauxhall Movano 3.5t horsebox collecting 3 x 300Kg bails of haylage for my daughters horses. We got finished by 4:30pm by which time the roads were getting very slippy. The drive home in the Focus was reasonable although going down a very steep bank, the car in front kept wanting to brake hard for no reason which kept everyone very alert !!

[Alans Car]

Yep my daughter showed us the snow they are getting now, -2 degrees she said it was this morning, and any reason for a tea break is always good lol. 😝

I know from years of driving that some have never seen, let alone driven in snow before, back in the day we always had snow, here, used to have snowball fights in my T shirt, skateboarding down an Icey alley by my stepbrothers coming off nutting the ground, the git was only trying to get me to have some neat Iodine on it, fortunately I knew about it and told him to shove it lol, schools and work stayed open, and the country kept on moving along, today if someone sneezes the country breaks.

But trebling the distance between the vehicle in front is no bad thing to do, more so at speed in such weather, and touching the brake pedal gets those behind a bit further back as you said, just try not to use the brakes to stop in a hurry as you will most likely spin out and doing some breakdancing in the car, and that's the point when all season (or winter) tyres come into their own.

I haven't compared prices yet, but can get a set of Bridgestone Weather Control A005 EVO for £556 fitted (A\C rated), or Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 for £600 fitted (B\C rated), and Bridgestone has the better rating of the 2, so looks like that's the winner then, Thanks for the replies guys. ☃

[StephenFord]

27 minutes ago, Alans Car said:

Yep my daughter showed us the snow they are getting now, -2 degrees she said it was this morning, and any reason for a tea break is always good lol. 😝

I know from years of driving that some have never seen, let alone driven in snow before, back in the day we always had snow, here, used to have snowball fights in my T shirt, skateboarding down an Icey alley by my stepbrothers coming off nutting the ground, the git was only trying to get me to have some neat Iodine on it, fortunately I knew about it and told him to shove it lol, schools and work stayed open, and the country kept on moving along, today if someone sneezes the country breaks.

But trebling the distance between the vehicle in front is no bad thing to do, more so at speed in such weather, and touching the brake pedal gets those behind a bit further back as you said, just try not to use the brakes to stop in a hurry as you will most likely spin out and doing some breakdancing in the car, and that's the point when all season (or winter) tyres come into their own.

I haven't compared prices yet, but can get a set of Bridgestone Weather Control A005 EVO for £556 fitted (A\C rated), or Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 for £600 fitted (B\C rated), and Bridgestone has the better rating of the 2, so looks like that's the winner then, Thanks for the replies guys. ☃

Screw the serialisation, I believe a book deal and Netflix series is being signed 🤣

[Alans Car]

Well finally got the new tyres fitted the other week, and thought that would be it now, but it's still in the air a bit, I got the Evo's suggested by Jojo2002 (Thanks), and the steering feels very solid, also had 4 wheel tracking done which found a rear wheel was out, so I thought that was it at last, but the other day it reported a low pressure again, obviously I took it back and they saw no reason for it apart from 1 tyre lost a bit of pressure, so they pumped them up and said come back if it happens again, so fingers crossed just a freak thing.

One thing that surprised me was when they said they won't put the valve caps I bought back on it, said the steel reacts to the copper thread, are there any specific types to look for in these locking dust caps for the valves (just wanted something that was a bit different)?

But there is zero sign of any tyre pressure that I can find, only the menu sensor reset, but no physical display at all I can see, am I looking in the wrong place (left hand menu system on the steering wheel)?

I also commented to them as I left I was going to reset the cars entire system as I'd been getting some niggles lately, he said don't do it, other than the resetting of the data like oil life etc, would this cause any problems (I'm going to try updating the maps again soon as going up north next week again)?

The niggles are things like auto rain sensor\wipe, auto high beam, reading the wrong detail from speed signs, and something else I can't recall currently, these items do work, but sometimes they are a bit temperamental about when they decide to work, and he said it's a Ford job and that the sensor was playing up, does this sound right? And any idea on price if it is?

[StephenFord]

3 minutes ago, Alans Car said:

Well finally got the new tyres fitted the other week...

Good to see another one of your brief posts, I'm almost finished the 'Spare', and was wondering what to read next 

[unofix]

4 minutes ago, Alans Car said:

said the steel reacts to the copper thread,

I can confirm that a steel cap reacts with the brass thread and seizes solid - Ask me how I know !!! 😧

[Alans Car]

28 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Good to see another one of your brief posts, I'm almost finished the 'Spare', and was wondering what to read next 

Well I tried my hardest to dumb it down lol 😝🤣

 

27 minutes ago, unofix said:

I can confirm that a steel cap reacts with the brass thread and seizes solid - Ask me how I know !!! 😧

Yeah I know metals can cause issues when connected to an element that won't play nice, just struck me as weird as I'd never heard that before in this context, and the previous tyre place said nothing either, are there any such dust caps that are different, and safe to use?

[unofix]

You either need to stick with using plastic caps, or if you can still find them (not from China) there are brass caps that are chrome plated. They look super nice and sometimes last nearly a whole week before they get nicked. 😧

[StephenFord]

43 minutes ago, Alans Car said:

.. are there any specific types to look for in these locking dust caps for the valves (just wanted something that was a bit different)?

You should have no issue if you smear some grease on the tire valve thread...

[unofix]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255605821114?hash=item3b834b4eba:g:R5MAAOSwaINivBhZ&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4J1gFBhNTG%2Bg2Uh62xGpog5GRAlrkayD6cF9SkPakR%2F1N5b0Dz26I0EsEB%2Bd%2BgBGDNhO25DgBWbzw7zrY4TO8AbNbNTcMQy0c1PdJjSDVZv0HmK%2BLXflxiS0Xd3Dk%2BCSZs%2FIYDY00uONUkftwpWyocnqilHOcQSxIqDUJewAbfa8Stho9Ob7JhpShesydxrp%2BdBIGrMlBEtUJESpY40RVDUTSqTCGDKH319wk3xiA2AHoGK1jO%2FIuLPiDJBY3%2BaG4SWXmifbWQOUmrnPlFySMbsp9YEpPGGi7fykx5wPpiWg|tkp%3ABk9SR76e38W1YQ

[StephenFord]

1 minute ago, unofix said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255605821114?...

£2.45?? Do you think the poor guy is made of money? 

[unofix]

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

You should have no issue if you smear some grease on the tire valve threaded...

Yes that's what I thought. Sadly 3 months later I had to very carefully use a junior hacksaw to cut length ways down the cap and peel it off the valve. Not fun !

Back to using black plastic now

[StephenFord]

4 minutes ago, unofix said:

Yes that's what I thought. Sadly 3 months later I had to very carefully use a junior hacksaw to cut length ways down the cap and peel it off the valve. Not fun !

Back to using black plastic now

I also had the metals welding together issue. Thereafter, I simply used general grease on the threads and never had another issue for years after. Maybe the type of grease was important? Oh, I use plastic now too, though, I do have steel wheels with plastic trims LOL

[unofix]

1 minute ago, StephenFord said:

with plastic trims LOL

There you go again Stephen, you spoil that car of yours. I bet you even give the tyres a wipe over with that tyre shine stuff 🤣

[Alans Car]

5 minutes ago, unofix said:

You either need to stick with using plastic caps, or if you can still find them (not from China) there are brass caps that are chrome plated. They look super nice and sometimes last nearly a whole week before they get nicked. 😧

Looks like I'll leave them be, for now at least, but that's why I went for the locking ones,  so they didn't get nicked.

4 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

You should have no issue if you smear some grease on the tire valve thread...

I wouldn't do that though, sod's law it's me that may need to blow them up at some point, messy enough job without that as it is, but Thanks for the thought.

4 minutes ago, unofix said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255605821114?hash=item3b834b4eba:g:R5MAAOSwaINivBhZ&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4J1gFBhNTG%2Bg2Uh62xGpog5GRAlrkayD6cF9SkPakR%2F1N5b0Dz26I0EsEB%2Bd%2BgBGDNhO25DgBWbzw7zrY4TO8AbNbNTcMQy0c1PdJjSDVZv0HmK%2BLXflxiS0Xd3Dk%2BCSZs%2FIYDY00uONUkftwpWyocnqilHOcQSxIqDUJewAbfa8Stho9Ob7JhpShesydxrp%2BdBIGrMlBEtUJESpY40RVDUTSqTCGDKH319wk3xiA2AHoGK1jO%2FIuLPiDJBY3%2BaG4SWXmifbWQOUmrnPlFySMbsp9YEpPGGi7fykx5wPpiWg|tkp%3ABk9SR76e38W1YQ

I know I said different but 😵, design needs to be worth it.

3 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

£2.45?? Do you think the poor guy is made of money? 

I can stretch to aluminium ones if they work lol. 😂

3 minutes ago, unofix said:

Yes that's what I thought. Sadly 3 months later I had to very carefully use a junior hacksaw to cut length ways down the cap and peel it off the valve. Not fun !

Back to using black plastic now

I guess one of the small fortunes in finding a place that will tell you about this. 😎