TPMS witchcraft - Replacement not working like original

[G.T.]

It is recommended that you replace all the sensors at the same time. The battery inside is only good for ten years. If you have two different part numbers, you may be confusing the RFD. I would just replace the other three so that all of them are the same part numbers.

He replaced it because of physical damage, not because a battery ran out.

But yeah they dont fail far behind each other when a battery runs out.

I'm thinking Ford maybe changed the programming in the sensors to send out less, to maybe conserve battery life. The car can only recognize and receive, it doesnt control the sensors transmitting IIRC.

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[Craig Brown]

It doesn't matter why he replaced it! It is still recommended that they all get replaced at the same time! The sensor sends out a radio frequency signal and if they changed the new sensors, it may be in conflict with the old sensors.

 

[Vlad Soare]

Can anyone verify that their fordpass app shows tire psi changes overnight?

I checked at 7 PM yesterday, and then at 10 AM this morning. It looks identical. The pressure doesn't seem to have updated over night. Unless, of course, it just happened not to vary at all in any wheel, but I find that extremely unlikely.

2020 GT, still on factory sensors.

 

[G.T.]

It doesn't matter why he replaced it! It is still recommended that they all get replaced at the same time! The sensor sends out a radio frequency signal and if they changed the new sensors, it may be in conflict with the old sensors.

Ok, ok!

Decaf might be a good idea sir.

 

[Mach VII]

My understanding is that TPMS sensors stop transmitting after a period of time to conserve battery life, takes centrifugal force of the wheel rotating to bring them to life again... That being said the system no doubt can 'ping' them to activate as well when it deems necessary such as when you bring the car out of sleep by touching the door handles or come close with the fob.

 

[Mike Pfeifer]

Generally, in my experience, the sensors update / wake up in 2 ways. Either by motion, or by a large enough pressure change. Cant say how large a pressure change, but a suddenly flat tire should do it. You can test this by letting the air out of the tire, so long as you have a way to air it back up, and see if it changes the display (may take a small amount of time for the data to go everywhere it needs to).

 

[Turbo Cow]

The original ones seem to update a few times overnight. The new one (left rear) doesn't update at all after being parked.
This was yesterday when I parked and this morning when I woke up.

 

[Johnnybee]

I imagine new part has different thought processes than the originals. If it’s any consolation, my wife’s Rogue (and probably many other brands) work this way. Her car takes about 500’ to start sending data from the valve stems.

 

[Turbo Cow]

Ok after more testing I have some results to discuss.
I left the car sitting since yesterday at 530pm. No updates showing for the left rear (new) tpms sensor.
When I got home today (car still untouched since yesterday) I went to the left rear tire and let 10 psi out of it.
While I was almost to the -10psi amount, I heard the car make some clicks and electric cycling noises, the ford pass automatically updated and showed 19psi in orange.
I guess that's good enough for me. As long as it knows/alerts when a tire is low, im happy.
I can continue on replacing the other tpms sensors now with new ones.
Also, I set the tires at 29.4psi cold. The new sensor reads 30psi and the old ones read 31psi. So the new one is more accurate at least.

 

[jheissjr]

Was the key inside or in range when you let the air out? What is the reason for replacing all the sensors when the new one works? Installing them will be a wheel dismount, tire dismount, tire mount, tire balance and wheel mount fee for each wheel. Test the new TPMS before installing them to make sure they work.

 

[G.T.]

Was the key inside or in range when you let the air out? What is the reason for replacing all the sensors when the new one works? Installing them will be a wheel dismount, tire dismount, tire mount, tire balance and wheel mount fee for each wheel. Test the new TPMS before installing them to make sure they work.

A good tire shop can break the bead by the valve stem and hold the tire clear, r&r the valve stem/sensor assembly. No need to dismount the tires.

Good idea to test the TPMS before install, not sure how to do that though

 

[Turbo Cow]

Was the key inside or in range when you let the air out? What is the reason for replacing all the sensors when the new one works? Installing them will be a wheel dismount, tire dismount, tire mount, tire balance and wheel mount fee for each wheel. Test the new TPMS before installing them to make sure they work.

No the key wasn't near the car when this happened.
I want to replace the rest just for the symmetry.
I bought a tire machine and balancer so I don't have to wait on tire shops anymore.
Testing the new ones before putting in the wheel is a great idea. I do it by using the ford TPMS relearn tool. Don't even have to take the tpms sensor out of the bag. Just keep them 10 ft apart from one-another when training them.

 

[Turbo Cow]

A good tire shop can break the bead by the valve stem and hold the tire clear, r&r the valve stem/sensor assembly. No need to dismount the tires.

Good idea to test the TPMS before install, not sure how to do that though

Yep! I'm able to pop the outside bead only, put it up on the tire machine and using one of it's pneumatic arms, push/hold down the tire enough to get in there with a T10 torx, undo the tpms and either replace just the sensor or pull the valve stem out and replace the whole thing.

I can only test the new ones by training them up to the car and see if they report back on the dash and app. I can't test for pressure sensing or accuracy. Gotta trust that the new sensors are good, I guess. I 'could' build a pressure tube to drop new tpms sensors in for testing, but that seems overkill right now.

 

[G.T.]

^ Exactly, thats how mine was done!

I was wondering if I should test it and how but I got it from the dealer and said F it, should work lol.

As long as its an OE sensor from a dealer or similar and not from Ebay/Amazon, I wouldnt mind chancing it I think.

 

[Turbo Cow]

Well, I couldn't accept the issues with the aftermarket TPMS sensors not updating tire psi in the Ford app. I've tried the aftermarket ones on amazon, I bought counterfit Ford ones on ebay that come in the ford packaging, etc. None of them would update with the correct tire psi when I refresh the app. They would only update once driven; sometimes up to 2 miles before they even update on the car's dashboard display! My local dealerships want $100.00 a PIECE for them!!! That makes me so angry that they do that to customers.

I finally found the correct ones that work properly!!!
The kit was bought directly from ford.com. The part number is M-1180-B and goes for about 140 bucks for 4 sensors and a pair/learn tool. The new sensors have the -180- part number on them just like the originals that came out of my tires and say SCHRADER ELECTRONICS on them.
The sensors work perfectly. The app shows them change from 30psi to 29psi to 28psi over-night when the winter temps drop the tire psi. The psi is correct on the dash/display as soon as I start my car.
I almost sent them back because I couldn't get them to pair with my car while holding them in my hand and using the tool. I had to put them in and air up the tire before they turned on. They wouldn't pair without having psi first. Guess its a way for the sensor to save battery when in storage.
Oh, and another thing! There are 2 different methods to putting my car in TPMS train mode. The first method worked on most of the aftermarket TPMS sensors but would NOT work with these Ford sensors. (turn ignition on, cycle hazard lights 3 times, horn honks once and says train left front tire, etc).
The 2nd method is press the brake, turn the ignition on, off, on, off, on....press the brake....off, on, off, on, off, on...horn honks, train left front tire, etc. This method worked for the new ford sensors.

Now I have properly working TPMS sensors again!
Hope this helps someone going through the same BS.

Side note:
You can also train your TPMS sensors without the train tool by letting air out of the tire when in train mode. Fill the tires up to 32psi, put the car in train mode using the above methods, go to left front tire, let air out until horn honks, repeat with other tires, fill tires back up to proper psi when done.

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