Dear Car Talk:
I recently purchased a 2010 Mustang Coupe with 19,000 miles. It was owned by a little old lady who drove it a few times a week and never in the winter.
The car is in showroom condition except for two issues. The tires were original and were showing signs of cracking, and the tire pressure warning lights were on.
I brought it to my trusted mechanic and had four new tires and new, aftermarket Tire Pressure Monitoring Switches (TPMS) installed.
Well, after an hour of trying to sync the TPMS to my Mustang, they were unable to get the Mustang to read the sensors in the tires. Also, the dome light began to flash.
Now my mechanic tells me that it’s a dealer fix only, and I need to take it to them. I think that their aftermarket TPMS sensors are not compatible to my car — that only the original Ford TPMS will work. I asked my mechanic if this was possible and his reply was NO, that the brand they use works with every car.
What do you think? Bring it back to them and demand factory OEM TPMS or take it to the dealer?
— Marty
I’d take it to the dealer, Marty. And let your mechanic know that if it turns out that the problem was his sensors, you’ll bring them back and ask him for a refund.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Ford sensors pair right up with the car’s computer. I don’t think your mechanic is correct when he says his aftermarket sensors work with all cars. We have a dedicated computer that just pairs TPMS sensors. And we’ve had plenty of instances where aftermarket sensors simply will not pair up. Or they’ll pair, and then a week later, they’ll lose the connection, and the customer will come back and, justifiably, complain.
In those cases, we get a set of original equipment manufacturer sensors, and they almost always pair up immediately. In your case, we don’t know when the TPMS last worked correctly. So, there’s at least some chance that something else may be causing this problem.
For instance, the problem could be with your car’s computer. But that’s something the dealer can figure out if the OEM sensors don’t pair.
Assuming the OEM sensors DO pair correctly, bring the aftermarket sensors back to your original mechanic and ask him for your money back on those parts. That seems like a fair way to handle it.
And by the way, on some Fords, the flashing dome light is a signal that your TPMS sensors are not paired. It’s a warning, designed to force you to get it fixed. The warning works because nobody wants to drive around with their dome light flashing. Not even John Travolta.
