AECS Equipment Technical Support recently dealt with a 2017 Ford Ranger which was not displaying any of the tyre pressures. The vehicle had failed a WOF and needed this sorted fast as it was a busy contractors vehicle.
Problem presented to the Technical Support Team
Tyre pressure warning light on. Fault code for tyre pressures implausible. The workshop had recently invested in a new Launch Auscan 4 scan tool with Launch TPMS wand and AECS Equipment Technical support.
The technician was able to clear the fault code, which would then reappear within 2 KM of driving and he was also not able to read any tyre pressures, temperatures or battery levels on vehicle.
Initially he was going to replace all TPMS valves with Launch TPMS valves but could not activate these to install.
He had recently carried out TPMS valve replacement on a Toyota using a Launch TPMS sensor with no issues and was able to copy and paste the original Toyota TPMS valves ID number into the replacement sensor.
First steps
It was worrying that the new Launch TPMS valve would not activate. Did we have a tool or sensor issue? There had been a recent software update for TPMS. It is possible to test Launch sensors vital statistics under the first tab in every menu in Launch TPMS software. The TPMS wand must be turned on and the TPMS sensor placed close to the end of wand. This was carried out and the following results were reported.
Next steps…
Knowing our TPMS sensors, scan tool and TPMS wand were working, it was time to remove a tyre and try coding in a new TPMS sensor as the next logical step. It was quite possible that the vehicles TPMS sensor batteries had failed. On removing the tyre, our technician found the TPMS sensor had physical damage, a possibility when tyres are fitted. The other 3 wheels were removed and the TPMS sensors had all suffered a similar fate.
With Launch it is possible for the tool to generate new tyre pressure sensor ID’s and code them into the vehicle, or also to copy original ID’s . We would need to generate new ID’s in this case as the original sensors were dead.
This is carried out under programming in Fords TPMS software. The auto button at lower screen needs pressing for each sensor to generate an ID. The technician had tried to activate the sensors before programming ID’s into the new sensors but got the sequence wrong. The correct sequence is 3 steps - Programming, Activate, Learning.
All four new ID’s were generated by the Launch scan tool. Then by holding 4 new sensors one at a time, close to the TPMS wand as pictured below, the new ID’s are written into the sensors. You may want to write on each sensor while programming which position they are intended for successful fitment. Sensors can be rewritten, reassigned or ID’s identified with the TPMS wand if needed but its less work to just be old school methodical.
Four new sensors installed to the wheels, tyres remounted on the rims and wheels reinstalled to the vehicle in the correct positions, as per sensor programming. Now its time to activate the 4x new sensors.
Follow the the scan tool directions around the vehicle and press OK on the TPMS wand to activate each wheel's sensor.
The final step is to learn the new sensors into the vehicle. There are instructions in the Launch scan tool on how to carry this out for each vehicle type. This varies widely so definitely have a thorough read of these instructions.
The happy Ranger owner is now legally back at work with a new WOF and our customer is also pleased with the level of support available from our technical support desk. AECS Equipment technical support, available when needed for any equipment or vehicle diagnostic issues.
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