TPMS or not?

[cnsheets]

Ok, I thought this had an obvious answer, but I am a bit confused. My understanding is that the US department of transportation and NHTSA required all vehicles under a specific weight to have a tire pressure monitoring system. Especially SUV's such as the 2011 Explorer. Link to the NHTSA final rule on the matter: http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/rulings/tpmsfinalrule.6/tpmsfinalrule.6.html

However, and this is what confuses me. When I look at other explorer's window stickers, they state the fact that it has TPMS right on the window sticker. My window sticker for my 2011 makes no mention of TPMS.

Secondly....when I go into the MFT diagnostic screen for my explorer, listed under TPMS is says "disabled"


I had a 2011 rental explorer while mine was being worked on and out of curiosity I looked under the MFT diagnotic screen it listed TPMS as enabled.


So, do I have TPMS or not?

How do I definitively find out without yanking a tire off or purposely letting the air out of it to see if I get a warning?

 

[182RG]

According to the 2011 brochure, TPMS is standard on all models of the Explorer.

Are you in the US or Canada?

 

[peterk9]

Ok, I thought this had an obvious answer, but I am a bit confused. My understanding is that the US department of transportation and NHTSA required all vehicles under a specific weight to have a tire pressure monitoring system. Especially SUV's such as the 2011 Explorer. Link to the NHTSA final rule on the matter: http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/rulings/tpmsfinalrule.6/tpmsfinalrule.6.html

However, and this is what confuses me. When I look at other explorer's window stickers, they state the fact that it has TPMS right on the window sticker. My window sticker for my 2011 makes no mention of TPMS.

Secondly....when I go into the MFT diagnostic screen for my explorer, listed under TPMS is says "disabled"


I had a 2011 rental explorer while mine was being worked on and out of curiosity I looked under the MFT diagnotic screen it listed TPMS as enabled.


So, do I have TPMS or not?

How do I definitively find out without yanking a tire off or purposely letting the air out of it to see if I get a warning?

Whether you have it I can't say. Whether you should have I say YES. It is required by law on the OEM wheel. If you change wheels, etc., then it is up to you to decide if you wish to have it.
The Owner's Guide states that the vehicle IS equipped with TPMS.
The TPMS indicator that lights up is just to the bottom left of the speedometer and lights up briefly when I press the ignition button (Limited model) a second time. It should also light up briefly when you start the vehicle.
If you don't have the TPMS indication come on, I'd take it to your dealer and see if they can get a reading from the TPMS unit in the wheel. There are tools that can read the TPMS signal.

 

[JustB_Rad]

So you can turn TPMS off? Gosh, wish I would've known that 2 weeks ago before I dropped $200 on sensors for my winter setup because I didn't wanna deal with low tire pressure warnings all winter!

 

[peterk9]

So you can turn TPMS off? Gosh, wish I would've known that 2 weeks ago before I dropped $200 on sensors for my winter setup because I didn't wanna deal with low tire pressure warnings all winter!

I don't think that is what he said. My interpretation is that the diagnostics showed it as 'disabled' which could mean there are no TPMS sensors or perhaps they were not programmed into the vehicle's computer. I don't see anything in the manual that says you can turn the TPMS ON or OFF.
You could have just put a small piece of black tape over the warning light.
I just had the base model 17" steel wheels and Winter tires + TPMS installed on my Limited today.

 

[JustB_Rad]

I don't think that is what he said. My interpretation is that the diagnostics showed it as 'disabled' which could mean there are no TPMS sensors or perhaps they were not programmed into the vehicle's computer. I don't see anything in the manual that says you can turn the TPMS ON or OFF.
You could have just put a small piece of black tape over the warning light.
I just had the base model 17" steel wheels and Winter tires + TPMS installed on my Limited today.

I guess I interpretted "Disable" as off. I was going to try that, but I didn't want to have a box pop up in the display EVERY time I turned on the car, so I just bit the bullet on TPMS from Tirerack.

 

[cnsheets]

the wheels are the factory ford 20" pollished upgrade wheels ordered on the vehicle when the dealer ordered it from the factory.

 

[peterk9]

the wheels are the factory ford 20" pollished upgrade wheels ordered on the vehicle when the dealer ordered it from the factory.

You never replied whether your TPMS indicator lights up on start up. In any case, I would contact your dealer. You should have TPMS in all 4 wheels.

 

[cnsheets]

I need to check the TPMS indicator light when I get the vehicle back from the shop. I was rear-ended. Should be in a couple days. It's already been a month