Stupid Ford Trick (low tire pressure alarm)

[deserteagle71]

Interesting concept. Maybe some vehicles do/did use that method, but it would be pointless if all tires lost pressure equally.

True TPMS actually does that - monitors the pressure in each tire. The sensor transmits the pressure wirelessly to a receiver that is tied into the vehicle information system. While some systems merely display a "PROBLEM" icon, on my Ram I get a display on my dash of the actual pressure in each tire. When I hop in at the end of a sunny day, I can see the tires that had the sun shining on them have a higher pressure than the others, before I even take it out of Park. No wheel speed sensors in there.

My 2016 F150 works exactly the same way.

 

[RandyT]

I might try to set the TPMS off just for that!

MDS is the single most annoying thing on my Ram. Thankfully I have a tuner and have shut it off in programming.

If you have the in dash display the thing will ding at your and show in the display about every 5 minutes. Annoying as heck.

 

[dnw64]

If you have the in dash display the thing will ding at your and show in the display about every 5 minutes. Annoying as heck.

Oh, never mind then...

BTW, you can also go into manual (shift) mode and MDS turns off as well. Even if you put it in 8th and it otherwise works exactly as if it were in D.

Speaking of dinging every 5 minutes, I turned off my seatbelt chime. While I always wear my seatbelt on the road, I have a long driveway and it's a real pain to put the seatbelt on just to drive from one end to the other. The dash display still shows you're unbuckled but at least the chime is silenced. You can do that yourself with a certain routine I don't remember (something about turning the ignition on and off, and buckling/unbuckling the seatbelt a certain number of times).

 

[RandyT]

Oh, never mind then...

BTW, you can also go into manual (shift) mode and MDS turns off as well. Even if you put it in 8th and it otherwise works exactly as if it were in D.

Speaking of dinging every 5 minutes, I turned off my seatbelt chime. While I always wear my seatbelt on the road, I have a long driveway and it's a real pain to put the seatbelt on just to drive from one end to the other. The dash display still shows you're unbuckled but at least the chime is silenced. You can do that yourself with a certain routine I don't remember (something about turning the ignition on and off, and buckling/unbuckling the seatbelt a certain number of times).

Tow/Haul mode will also shut off MDS

 

[dnw64]

Tow/Haul mode will also shut off MDS

That's what I had heard, but not on my 2015 Sport...

I've also heard you can put in different weight oil which, while it will not deactivate the trigger, but it will prevent the lifters from obeying it. I'm not going there!!

I have a DiabloSport tuner with a Hemifever tune for performance and have MDS shut off there. Well, I did, until there was a recall and they reflashed the ECU. I've tried re-applying my tune and am having trouble with calibration, so I am back on factory tune until it can be figured out...

 

[jwstewar]

I was under the impression that the basic method of detecting low pressure on a lot of vehicles is done by the speed censers. If a tyre goes low, that wheel has a smaller circumference, there fore it would go round faster than the wheel on the opposite side, and this would show as a low pressure. Likewise if a vehicle is parked in the sun, sometimes the sunny side tyres would heat up and would be at a higher pressure than the shaded side and may show as a low pressure. After a short ride up the road, all the tyres would heat up, and be the same. To reset a lot of systems, simply, stop, switch the ignition off, and most will reset. Like wise, if a low pressure keeps showing and the pressure shows OK, then check both tyres have the same amount of wear, and as daft as it might sound, they are both the same size.

This is the "Cheaper" version of TPMS. It usually doesn't tell you which tire is low, just that one is low. My Hyundai Elantra commuter mobile is like this. So is my daughter's Honda Civic. Our Suburban and my Duramax have the true TPMS that tells you the pressure of each tire. My son's Sonata seems to be a mixture of the two systems. It doesn't tell you the pressure of each tire, but it can tell you much quicker that a tire is low or is right. We recently had an issue with a bent wheel and had to replace it. So I got to play some games with it to see how it did or didn't turn off.

 

[RandyT]

That's what I had heard, but not on my 2015 Sport...

I've also heard you can put in different weight oil which, while it will not deactivate the trigger, but it will prevent the lifters from obeying it. I'm not going there!!

I have a DiabloSport tuner with a Hemifever tune for performance and have MDS shut off there. Well, I did, until there was a recall and they reflashed the ECU. I've tried re-applying my tune and am having trouble with calibration, so I am back on factory tune until it can be figured out...

I have heard that there was a few cases where the incorrect weight of oil was added, and prevented the engine from coming out of MDS. Would run on 4 cylinders all the time.

 

[Soundguy]

Why would you not want to run at "maximum" (not really sure what you mean by that)?

Recommended pressure is most comfortable, safest and near best fuel mileage (1-2 PSI over will give you a bit more MPG at a very slight decrease in comfort and increased tire wear). Running under the recommended pressure (which is my interpretation of your statement) is one of the most dangerous things you can do.

Agreed, seen an under inflated trailer tire heat up and delaminate at speed, under load.. Didn't look fun..