Help! OEM TPMS WITH ACTIVATION TOOL KIT not working

[faris]

Hey friends,


We bought the TPMS Kit from Ford and tried to activate/program it on my friend's Bronco with aftermarket wheels,

• we've managed to put it in learning mode
• the remote is lighting up, but the car is not honking or recognizing the sensor.

Any ideas about what might be the issue here?

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[Ducati1098]

If the remote isn’t lighting up, it’s not working. Did you check the batteries in it? Every time you touch the button the red light should come on.

 

[faris]

yeah sorry the remote does light up, I edited the thread <3

 

[kodiakisland]

If they are OEM, is that even necessary to program them? I thought the Bronco would automatically pick them up in a couple of miles.

 

[joss]

Have you tried turning it on, in park, and pressing the hazard light button 7 times to initiate tpms learning mode on the bronco? Thats what we do here in service.

 

[faris]

If they are OEM, is that even necessary to program them? I thought the Bronco would automatically pick them up in a couple of miles.

So we did drive on them for a day, and we get no measurements, just dashes

 

[indio22]

If they are OEM, is that even necessary to program them? I thought the Bronco would automatically pick them up in a couple of miles.

I bought some cheap aftermarket TPMS sensors recommended in a thread here, and they automatically got recognized. Figured actual Ford modules would do same.

 

[Bronc6g22]

Hopefully you can get your's working! I'm not convinced all "OEM" TPMS are of equivalent quality. The stock ones on my Badlands worked great. I could even use for airing down/up when in a rush (updated every few seconds and was accurate within 1-2 psi). I purchased the Everglades wheels kit and the TPMS that came with those suck (regularly off by 3-5psi and very delayed updates).

Edit: This assumes Discount Tire actually installed the TPMS that came with the kit.

 

[faris]

Have you tried turning it on, in park, and pressing the hazard light button 7 times to initiate tpms learning mode on the bronco? Thats what we do here in service.

Yeah we did that, but going to the tire and hitting the remote button next to the sensor does nothing
it's pretty strange

 

[SuperFord]

I know that this sounds nonsensical, but sometimes you have to open all 4 doors to train TPMS. This is a real thing.

I had a Bronco Raptor the other day with aftermarket bead lock wheels and tires that would not train despite repeated attempts with the little grey tool with the single green button and had to try a bunch of things to get it to work. Ended up having to use a different more advanced Ford training tool to communicate.

I’ll try to add some more info in a bit.

 

[BigFootie]

I think the folks above gave you all the real help. Here’s my maybe not so helpful answer.

Is the butt crack light lit? If not, I wouldn’t worry about it. Get a pencil gauge and throw it in the glove box. Was done that way for years

 

[vrtical]

I bought the same TPMS ones and getting all the stuff done today so we will see how it goes when I go to mount them later today. I will try to see if they auto recognize using the provided tool, if that doesn't work, I will put the Bronco into learn mode then see what happens. If that all fails, I have the actual TPMS tool to program the darn things, but I am going to try all the other stuff first. TPMS sensors are motion sensitive, hence why the Ford ones would be already programed and just need to be turned "on" with the tool.

 

[faris]

I bought the same TPMS ones and getting all the stuff done today so we will see how it goes when I go to mount them later today. I will try to see if they auto recognize using the provided tool, if that doesn't work, I will put the Bronco into learn mode then see what happens. If that all fails, I have the actual TPMS tool to program the darn things, but I am going to try all the other stuff first. TPMS sensors are motion sensitive, hence why the Ford ones would be already programed and just need to be turned "on" with the tool.

very excited to know how it turns out.
Thanks!

 

[JL8jeff]

Are you holding the button with the tool next to the tpms sensor/valve for a good 20-30 seconds or more? It worked fine on my oem Schrader tpms sensors. Are you starting with the driver's front sensor?

 

[Owl]

How do you know the TPMS sensors put in are OEM? Do you have the boxes for those sensors? Is that what the dealer said? Does the box have a Ford PN?

Schrader sensors are supposed to be (allegedly) OEM variety, but there are two varieties: 1) Need to be programmed because they are variable frequency. 2) Only set to 315 MHz, and don't need to be programmed.

And... just as an aside (only for Schrader)... they talk about programming them before you install them. Not sure why.

I have the Scrader that had to be programmed though, they were programmed 1st, and now work perfectly.

Notes:
1) FYI -- Just going down the Scrader rat-hole because those are the ones I had installed on my new wheels/tires.
2) When I didn't have any TPMS installed it took about 20 miles for my Bronco to give me a warning of defective TPMS... so make sure you're driving at least 10-20 miles.

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