So why can't it be "buyer's choice" whether or not to have this, at least for vehicles not at significant risk of rollover? Or better yet, to have a semi-permanent "off" procedure just like there is for the exterior lights when you unlock the car or (closer to the point) the seat belt warning? Make it a no-cost option with the default setting from the factory = "on". It would probably involve only a few lines of code in the SJB, so you'd install all the hardware on every car and it would be available should the car be sold or it become desired to turn the system back on.

I don't like the idea that my pocket can be picked for $110 or whatever, simply because I might wish to run a separate set of wheels/tires - and this with gov't approval, no less.


Norm

 

I agree with you, I would love to be able to turn it off but that adds incremental costs on top of the actual system as is... so you'd just wind up paying more that the $110 (or whatever it is) to add in that functionality.

In reality, its a very non-intrusive system for most of us... in 22 months of ownership I've never had it come on. The only time I can see it being a pain is if you have aftermarket wheels and skimped and didn't get the TMPS kit.

 

$110 was a previous poster's cost to add TPMS to an extra set of wheels, not some estimate of Ford's cost. Hmmmm, sounds like four tires for the price of four-and-a-half or maybe five.

A few lines of code and developing some other off-the-wall method of making it switch the system either on or off can't involve that much $. Actually, there probably is a scantool method already - this is a SJB function, and IIRC there is some learning procedure should the SJB require replacement.

As you say, it would be a PITA if you don't add it to every new wheel that you install on the car. For some, that's only a winter wheel/tire swap. For others it might be at every autocross or track day - ten, twenty or more separate times a year - and quite possibly on tires for which the TPMS set pressure is not appropriate.

My '08's TPMS has thrown one false warning from exactly one occurrence of driving through a puddle that just barely covered the barrels of the wheels (VERY slowly, I might add - idle rpm or slightly less in 1st gear). 20 miles of highway driving did not put the warning lamp out, although it did not return after letting the car sit overnight. Now I don't go looking for deep puddles to drive through (things like clutches and brakes don't particularly like standing water either), but sometimes you find one that can't be avoided. What the TPMS may do as a result is a needless added irritation.


Norm

 

Keep betting
Its govt mandated and untouchable by anyone cept the conceivers.