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TPMS false alarm?

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KC, MO, USA
#1
I have a 2019 ST. 12000 miles. I recently did an oil change and tire rotation 2 weeks ago. 2 weeks later which is the other day, the TPMS light came on. Keep in mind I've driven the car about 300 or so miles after rotating the tires and the light coming on. I checked my tire pressures and they were 43/39, as per the door sticker. No holes nor leaks on any tire and they hold air like champions. I've added a bit more air the tires in to see if it'll turn the light off. But it has been about 2 days and the light is still on. Now, it has been incredibly cold recently. But that's nothing new. I've been driving my ST in below freezing weather for months now because winter. One day, the TPMS light just decided to come on.

I can think of a few things:

1) I have a faulty sensor, whether it be a dead battery or a sensor gone bad.
2) TPMS somehow lost the link to the ECU or what-have-you.
3) Perhaps I need to re-link or re-learn the TPMS sensors after tire rotations?

Has anyone come across any TPMS issues like this before on Ford specific vehicles? I had a Focus ST in the past and I've never had TPMS issues unless I was actually low on air. I ended up buying the TPMS tool from Amazon to see if that will fix it. I have a longer drive of about 100 miles tomorrow so I'm hoping that the ST 'relearns' or 're-links' the sensors. Kind of annoying on a fairly new vehicle. But I hope the fix for this isn't too inconvenient.
 


D1JL

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#2
Your tire pressure seems a little high.
Maybe it is a difference because of the years.
Mine is a '14 and pressures are listed at 39F/36R.
 


OP
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Thread Starter #3
Your tire pressure seems a little high.
Maybe it is a difference because of the years.
Mine is a '14 and pressures are listed at 39F/36R.
I checked a warm tire by the way.

I’ve had them as high as the dealer set them when I bought the car and the alarm didn’t go off. I’ve also had the tires as low as 31-32 when summer instantly became winter and the alarm didn’t illuminate.
 


Capri to ST

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#4
Sometimes after a tire rotation you have to retrain the TPMS sensors so they will work properly in their new locations. The Ford Performance TPMS installation manual says-
NOTE: For vehicles with different front and rear tire pressures the tire pressure sensors must be trained following a tire
rotation. Failure to train the sensors will cause the TPMS indicator to illuminate. For vehicles with the same tire pressure
for front and rear tires, tire rotation will not affect the system.


Here's a general thread on the procedure-
https://www.fiestastforum.com/threads/ford-fiesta-st-tpms-sensor-training-motorcraft-tpms19.2293/
 


Last edited:
OP
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Thread Starter #5
Sometimes after a tire rotation you have to retrain the TPMS sensors so they will work properly in their new locations. Here's a general thread on the procedure-
https://www.fiestastforum.com/threads/ford-fiesta-st-tpms-sensor-training-motorcraft-tpms19.2293/
That’s a bit odd considering that the dash or infotainment system doesn’t show the pressure of each individual tire. I didn’t realize the ST was advanced enough to have the need to know which wheel is where. Is this one of those things that happen sometimes for some cars with no apparent reason?

Good thing I bought the TPMS tool.
 


Capri to ST

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#6
I found the language from Ford and edited my post above to add it. I'm not sure why this happens, I just know that it does sometimes. I had to go through this after having my old TPMS sensors transferred to my new aftermarket wheels.
 


D1JL

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#8
I rotate my tires every 5k miles.
At each rotation I adjust the tire pressure to the correct amounts.
I have never had to reset my TPMS or had any issues.

The only time I have ever had a TPMS light, I did have a leak.
 


Capri to ST

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#9
I rotate my tires every 5k miles.
At each rotation I adjust the tire pressure to the correct amounts.
I have never had to reset my TPMS or had any issues.

The only time I have ever had a TPMS light, I did have a leak.
That's good to know. I get my tires rotated during my yearly service, which is at about 4,000 miles. I haven't had to reset my TPMS light after those, but the mechanic told me he had some kind of workaround. Otherwise, I was assuming that I would have to reset them, so I bought the reset tool just so I would have it.
The only time I ever had a TPMS light, I also had a leak, and it was helpful because it may have saved me from driving on a low tire and ruining it.
 


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RubenZZZ

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#10
My light went off like a week ago. I pulled over and checked the pressures to figure out which one was low. They were all fine. I have reset tool somewhere, hopefully it’s not a faulty sensor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


M-Sport fan

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#11
I currently do not have sensors in my (winter/rally working) setup on the car.

Usually for these (and my pure summer setup also without any sensors), the dash/screen light/warning and chime come on as soon as the car starts, and the cluster light flashes and then stays lit all the time.

Earlier this week, there was NO light/warning or chime AT ALL, and I did NOT park anywhere near my factory setup, which does have the sensors, to 'turn off' the warnings (it would not matter/would not have turned it off anyway, since the one OEM tire is blown out from a crater impact, so no air pressure).

My question is are Ford sensors specific to not only each different vehicle they make, but even different between two of their same exact models??
I ask because I DID park next to an older Edge at my complex overnight, and was wondering IF it's sensors could have turned off my warnings/lights temporarily. [???:)][???:)]
 


OP
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Thread Starter #12
The Ford TPMS tool works like a charm! BUT I apparently do have a slow leak from a screw that is causing the TPMS to trip just after driving for less than a minute. This cold to warm to below freezing weather isn’t helping any. It’s odd that the other day, the tire pressures read within spec. Maybe I screwed up trying to get a proper reading on the offending tire. In any case, I’ll just get it professionally plugged.
 


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