TPMS Fault

The straps on the original OEM sensors occasionally break as well. Thought I had a wheel bearing going out on one of mine until I pulled the wheel off and heard the clanking/rattling noise as I wheeled it out of the way. Go with the newer style valve stem sensors. And in my experience, TPMS sensor batteries only last about 7-10 years.

I am in the process also of looking at tires. I have a 2014 Limited. What type of sensors does this have? I wasn't planning to go to the FORD dealer for tires so can any tire place or my normal garage install them and program them?

tvlunn said:

Just a quick question for you folks since you are talking about the TPMS sensors for the Expedition.

I have a 2008 Expedition that was purchased new and I have never had an issue with any of my sensors as of YET. The sensors are attached to a strap that goes around the inside of the rim. I'm about to put new tires on the truck. I haven't yet looked, but are OEM Motorcraft sensors still available for the 2008 model? If so, does anyone know the correct Motorcraft part number?

Thanks!

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You can still get the sensors from Ford and some areas and also Tampa there's a wheel place down there OEM wheels they have the original Ford

I'm assuming you actually want the sensors to work since you went to the expense of buying a tool to program them. However, if you don't care about the TPMS working, you can turn that off with Forscan so the message and light don't show up in your dash. I broke one of mine off when changing my tires and didn't feel like spending the money for a new one, so I just turned that feature off with forscan. Mine doesn't show the pressure in the dash (2013 King Ranch). Just comes on if it's low or not communicating. However, I can check my air occasionally to make sure I'm good. My 07 Lincoln MKZ has not had sensors since before I purchased it in 2017 (aftermarket wheels). I don't miss it, and it's one less message/light in my dash.

Modelcarguy said:

I’d suggest that instead of the band type sensor, you upgrade the modules to the valve stem type.

I found the band type to be very picky about the set up, low battery warning and the wheel sensor’s ability to read them at all times. And that excludes the fact that it can also be very tricky balancing the wheels properly. (You’d think that wouldn’t matter, but far easier to balance them with valve stem sensors I’ve found)

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Can you explain a bit more about low battery warning? I have never seen a low battery warning, the car just reported a TPMS system fault when the batteries got low, is there some way to check if the batteries are low on the band mounted units? Once I know which units are bad I will look into replacing them with valve ,punting units and get the wheels rebalanced, but really interested to know how to check the battery levels of each of the 4 transmitters inside the wheels.

Gary do you have a laptop and ForScan installled ? You can look in the body control module and pull up the fault events on the individual tire sensors and see which one (or more...) sensors is giving you the faults. Also those really cheap cell phone chargers that you plug into a cigarette lighter outlet can cause interference with the TPMS signal. So if you have one of those plugged in, try unplugging it for a day and see how it goes.


Using ForScan to Troubleshoot Ford TPMS System






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Hamfisted said:

Gary do you have a laptop and ForScan installled ? You can look in the body control module and pull up the fault events on the individual tire sensors and see which one (or more...) sensors is giving you the faults. Also those really cheap cell phone chargers that you plug into a cigarette lighter outlet can cause interference with the TPMS signal. So if you have one of those plugged in, try unplugging it for a day and see how it goes.


Using ForScan to Troubleshoot Ford TPMS System






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Thanks for the suggestion, I do have an OBC reader, but it does not show any faults and the error message disapears every time I turn off the ignition. I found a local garage that has a tool to interrogate each wheel transmitter, apparently each sensor has a battery level around 80% so it's not the sensors they are all working correctly according to their RF scanner. Looks like it might be the central receiver, I have an 08 model expedition, I believe earlier models had a receiver for each wheel, but in 08 Ford used a central receiver that listens to all 4 wheels, so I need to find where that module is located and see if I can see any obvious issues (water damage, wiring damage, etc). Given the age and value of the car, I will probably just live with the issue as it wont be worth repairing..

Again, lose the band type sensors. Fit valve stem sensors instead. The bands are a pain in the rear end. Problem solved.

As a side note, I purchased an Autel TPMS programmer several years ago which allows me to program and clone any existing sensors using their universal MX-sensors. It makes replacing sensors and adding new wheels very easy, for example. It's paid for itself several times over now.

princered72 said:

I am in the process also of looking at tires. I have a 2014 Limited. What type of sensors does this have? I wasn't planning to go to the FORD dealer for tires so can any tire place or my normal garage install them and program them?

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Yes, Discount tire installed my TPMS sensors that I purchased on Amazon (for my 2010 Ford Fusion car - batteries had died) and used their tool to mate them to the vehicle.