A couple of months ago I bought a set of chrome wheels and Goodyear Wrangler tires that came with the seller's 2012 F150 XLT to replace the plain steel wheels and Hankook tires that came on my 2013 F150 XL. He guaranteed me that the TPMS sensors were still in the tires so I took his word for it since there wasn't much else I could do. I haven't been able to get the TPMS idiot light to go out or the warning message so I got one of those TPMS training tools to reset them. The training tool arrived yesterday and it doesn't work so my next question is how can I be sure that the tires have the sensors in them? (The little light goes on when I press the button so I know the battery in the training tool is good.) Can I tell by looking at the valve stem or do I have to take them to a tire shop and have them look inside the tires? I took a photo of the valve stem but it says I may not post attachments so I can't put the photo here. Any suggestions?

 

With ford you can not tell by the valve stem. TPMS is on a band opposite the valve stem. They may have made some changes between 12 and 13 models

 

Since 2010 MY, F-150 TPMS sensors have been on the inner ends of the valve stems. Whoever sold this guy his replacement wheels and tires more than likely swapped out the stock sensors to the new rims. Because the guy you bought them from thinks the stock sensors are still in the tires, he may have been charged for another set that was never installed (or he lied to you). Hopefully, you still have your steel XL wheels. The sensors in them can be swapped right in to handle the problem. I suggest you go to a tire shop with your old rims in the bed. Have them bust down one tire and check the valve for a sensor. If there is no sensor, you can have them swap the ones out of your steel rims and in to the cast aluminum ones. They should not need a tool to set them, just adequate pressure in the tires. Sorry you had to spend money on an un-needed tool.

 

Actually it's been since 2009 that the F-150s went from band to valve-stem type TPMS sensors.

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Goth 150
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Best bet would be to take the vehicle to a FoMoCo dealership service department (or tire facility) so that they can check for the presence-of or state-of the TPMS sensor(s) using ...------------------------------

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I took the truck to a tire shop today and they removed a wheel, looked inside, and there was no sensor. I specifically asked the seller if they were in there and he said yes. I asked him why he didn't put them in his new wheels and he said he bought new ones, so he obviously lied to me. I sold my original wheels and tires a couple of weeks ago with the sensors still in them. The only good news is there's a woman selling sets of four new Ford valve stem type TPMS sensors on Ebay for $47.99 including shipping. She must have a big box full of them because she's already sold several dozen sets and she has a lot more still available. I checked her feedback and she has a lot of positives from people who bought them so I bought a set and they should be here on Thursday or Friday. The tire guy is going to charge me $50 to install them so at least I won't have to look at the idiot light and message anymore. I'm a big believer in karma so the seller may be having some not so positive experiences in the near future. Thanks for the comments....

 

I can sympathize with you. I bought a set of 2011 Lariat/FX4 "take offs" for my 2010 XLT and the guy I bought them from also swore the old sensors were in there, and like you I had no way of checking. A while later, when I had them installed, the TPMS light lit up and ran constantly. Fortunately for me I still had my stock rims and tires and was able to have the sensors swapped over when I had the tires/rims balanced at a local tire dealer. Later on, when I sold my stock rims, I did not lie about sensors being in them. I hate liars.

 

So do I and I'm pretty sure most others do too. These dishonest jerks will get what's coming to them one way or the other through the karma factor I believe. I know most Ford truck guys are honest but I guess there's a joker in every deck....

 

The TPMS sensors arrived yesterday and I had them installed at the tire shop. I tried training them there with the reset tool and it didn't work so I drove home and tried it again with no luck. I waited half an hour and it didn't work then either. I'm correctly following the instructions by turning the flashers on and off 3 times, then the horn honks and it says "train left front tire" and nothing happens when I press the button on the training tool and hold it next to the valve stem. The training tool has a good battery in it so that's not the problem. I also tried the method described in my owner's manual of letting air out of the left front tire until the horn honks but that didn't work either. I've tried it at least a dozen time so far with no success. Any suggestions?

 

If they're *new* (and not previously -used-) you will need to have them activated/initialized. Dealership|tire-shoppe should be able to perform the task.------------------------------

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They're new....

 

My latest idea was that maybe the sensor in the left front tire was defective so I swapped the left front and rear tires. I drove the truck a couple of miles to "wake up" the sensors and tried programming the "new" left front one with no success. Now what?

 

are you sure you got the right type of sensor?

there are two kinds.

one will be specific to each wheel, which it sounds like you need.

the other is specific to the truck only, and can be placed in any position.

it sounds like you may have gotten the latter when you need the former.

 

Can you show me some proof of what you're saying? This is the first time I've heard that claim and I've done a lot of reading recently on Ford TPMS sensors.

Here's a link to where I bought them on eBay. If you look at her feedback you'll see several from F150 owners so why would these sensors work on their trucks and not mine?

Ford TPMS Sensors Set of Four DE8T 1A180 AA Ford Lincoln 09 14 Brand New | eBay

 

Buy 2013 Ford F-150 Parts | FordParts.com

scroll down about 1/2 way and you will see two:
Part Number: 1A189(TPMS-12) 315 MHz:
2013 Ford F-150 Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) Sensor | FordParts.com

Part Number: 1A189(TPMS-23) 433MHz:
2013 Ford F-150 Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) Sensor | FordParts.com

the search page came up when inputting 2013 F150, then searching for TPMS.

a better way would be to put in your VIN, then search for TPMS and see what comes up.

i'm sorry you are having such a time with this, usually it is a pretty simple deal to get them working.