Tire Pressure Sensor Fault!

[scotte303]

All, 2023 Sunseeker 3010 classic on E450 chassis.
The right rear tire sensors for outside and inside come on periodically after about an hour of driving. When you stop for a few minutes and turn the rig off the light goes out.
Just trust it knowing if you have an actual issue or not.
Anyone have this happen?
I do have aftermarket sensors from my old rig but I need to get the valve stems upgraded to steel to use them.
Thanks again,
Scott

[BehindBars]

It’s happened to others on the new V8 E-Series chassis and it has been discussed before. I suggest searching for old threads and joining those discussions. Here is an example: https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...lt-241340.html

Maybe this thread can be merged into a previous thread to reduce duplicates.

[laprez]

Originally Posted by scotte303

All, 2023 Sunseeker 3010 classic on E450 chassis.
The right rear tire sensors for outside and inside come on periodically after about an hour of driving. When you stop for a few minutes and turn the rig off the light goes out.
Just trust it knowing if you have an actual issue or not.
Anyone have this happen?
I do have aftermarket sensors from my old rig but I need to get the valve stems upgraded to steel to use them.
Thanks again,
Scott

Just bought a 2860DS 2022 - driving back home (4 hours), this happened to me also. I checked the old threads and no info, just that this appears to be a common issue and Ford blames RF interference. It would be nice if someone had a solution.

[Fire Instructor]

As best I’ve found, Ford blames Forest River for “RF interference” and Forest River blames Ford. My 2022 Leprechauns (on a 2021 Ford E450 chassis) does the same thing, except that it only takes about 20 minutes of driving. My “fix” will be to add a reliable TPMS that will show both pressure and temperature for each tire, once spring comes.

[kenandterry]

Once again, I’m sorry to hear about some “newer” features on motorhomes malfunctioning again. These features, like TPMS, rear cameras, adaptive cruise control, blind lane assist, are not new to the automotive world. Most of these have been around for quite awhile on even some vehicles that are close to “entry level” costing thousands of dollars less, than today’s motorhome units.

Anyway, just another reason that I’m glad to have the 2018 Sunseeker under the 2017 Ford of my motorhome that I equipped with a rear camera system from a company that builds camera systems and only that. I’m don’t have any of the other “features” that newer buyers are continually reporting don’t perform.
Don’t have ‘em, therefore they can’t malfunction.

Sorry. I know this doesn’t help those reporting here, but newer isn’t always better.

[BehindBars]

Since the Ford E-Series (7.3 V8) TPMS problem is apparently widespread on newer Forester and Sunseeker motorhomes, and Forest River is the final assembler of the product, then Forest River should take up this issue. FR needs to work with Ford, one of FR’s component suppliers, to sort out the root cause and come up with a solution. From what we see so far, FR may have little desire or insufficient resources to investigate the TPMS problem. FR’s apparent present practice of sending customers to Ford to deal with this problem is not a solution, and does not promote customer satisfaction.

Meanwhile, it seems prospective new buyers of current Ford E-Series based FR motorhome models should be aware of a strong possibility of having intermittent TPMS faults on the unit with no present solution to the problem.

[5er_tom]

I don’t think it is a big deal. My Jayco experiences this and I just deal with it. It normally occurs after a few hours of driving. I just check tire pressures on the display. If it shows zero psi on one of the right rear tires. I know this is false as the tire cannot go from 80psi to zero in a few seconds. And I am sure I would know if it was caused by a blow out. The alarm will reset itself either by an engine restart or it just goes away after several minutes.

Ford and FR, Jayco, etc. can either work it out or not. I just go with it.

[NoviBill]

In my Buick, I traced back a TPMS problem to an aftermarket Bluetooth transmitter that was also a USB port I was using to charge a phone. When I removed the device the TPMS works correctly with zero issues. When the device is plugged in, I get intermittent failures.

I would look around and turn off every Bluetooth device and see if the issue goes away. RF interference is a dark-art and always causes finger pointing. Cheap Bluetooth devices are notoriously noisy and interfere with lots of lower power devices (like TPMS)

[5er_tom]

Good thought! I use Bluetooth to run XMradio through my dashboard stereo. Next summer I’ll see if that is the issue.

[laprez]

Originally Posted by 5er_tom

I don’t think it is a big deal. My Jayco experiences this and I just deal with it. It normally occurs after a few hours of driving. I just check tire pressures on the display. If it shows zero psi on one of the right rear tires. I know this is false as the tire cannot go from 80psi to zero in a few seconds. And I am sure I would know if it was caused by a blow out. The alarm will reset itself either by an engine restart or it just goes away after several minutes.

Ford and FR, Jayco, etc. can either work it out or not. I just go with it.

Mine don't show zero - it just shows dashes, so you don't know what the pressure is. Not a big deal, but irritating as hell and since it takes around 20 mins to reset, you potentially could drop to critical in that time frame. But as for the BT, I believe the EQ jacks are bluetooth and the panel is right there next to the passenger rear wheels - so, that may be the culprit. Don't know what the fix is...Not sure if the solar charger is BT or not - it would be nice if it was.

[karykatz]

Sorry to hear about the Ford Tire Pressure Monitoring system not working correctly. Have you taken it to the Ford Dealership? We don't make any changes to their system

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by karykatz

Sorry to hear about the Ford Tire Pressure Monitoring system not working correctly. Have you taken it to the Ford Dealership? We don't make any changes to their system

Since Ford is a component supplier for Forest River motorhomes, has Forest River talked to Ford about why Ford’s TPMS is failing in Forest River’s finished product? That might be the place to start, rather than sending the customer out to attemp to solve this problem. Trips made to Ford are already mentioned in other threads.

[kenandterry]

Originally Posted by BehindBars

Since Ford is a component supplier for Forest River motorhomes, has Forest River talked to Ford about why Ford’s TPMS is failing in Forest River’s finished product? That might be the place to start, rather than sending the customer out to attemp to solve this problem. Trips made to Ford are already mentioned in the thread.

I agree with BB’s comment above.
However, Forest River send new owners to Dometic or Norcold for their fridge issues. They send new owners to Atwood or Lippert for their components. They send new owners to Toshiba or Sanyo for television issues. On and on and on.

The public buys their new RV from a dealer of Forest River, and even chasing those parts that Forest River does on their own, is not an easy process for resolution.

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by kenandterry

I agree with BB’s comment above.
However, Forest River send new owners to Dometic or Norcold for their fridge issues. They send new owners to Atwood or Lippert for their components. They send new owners to Toshiba or Sanyo for television issues. On and on and on.

The public buys their new RV from a dealer of Forest River, and even chasing those parts that Forest River does on their own, is not an easy process for resolution.

Good points. The way you describe it, Customer Service at Forest River consists of telling the end customers where to go to fix issues on their own, sort of like a referral service.

[kenandterry]

Originally Posted by BehindBars

Good points. The way you describe it, Customer Service at Forest River consists of telling the end customers where to go to fix issues on their own, sort of like a referral service.

You can tell you’re in the Christmas spirit.
I think this may be the first time you and I agree completely……..ALMOST

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by karykatz

Sorry to hear about the Ford Tire Pressure Monitoring system not working correctly. Have you taken it to the Ford Dealership? We don't make any changes to their system.

You don't have to make changes to their system to disrupt it by installing something else in proximity that emits disruptive radio waves. RFI is Radio Frequency Interference.

It doesn't necessarily have to be something that's specced to be at the same frequency as the TPMS. Many electronic devices emit at a number of different frequencies that are used internally, not for communication.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

You don't have to make changes to their system to disrupt it by installing something else in proximity that emits disruptive radio waves. RFI is Radio Frequency Interference.

It doesn't necessarily have to be something that's specced to be at the same frequency as the TPMS. Many electronic devices emit at a number of different frequencies that are used internally, not for communication.

While true, the TPMS in my car has an antenna at each wheel. That proximity to the transmitter greatly reduces the amount of power needed by the TPMS transmitter and allows its batteries to last for several years. It also reduces the chance for interference, unlike add-on TPMS systems. I'd suspect most if not all OEM systems are that way.

If someone knows what frequency a TPMS system runs at it's dirt-simple to see if there is an interference problem using a spectrum analyzer. Those used to be multi-thousand dollar devices but nowadays are a few hundred dollars. I own a couple of them from this company: http://rfexplorer.com/

Ray

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by NXR

If someone knows what frequency a TPMS system runs at it's dirt-simple to see if there is an interference problem using a spectrum analyzer. Those used to be multi-thousand dollar devices but nowadays are a few hundred dollars. I own a couple of them from this company: RF Explorer – Low-Cost, Handheld, RF Spectrum Analyzers

Ray

Since you asked, Ray:

TPMS sensors operate at one of two frequencies, 315MHz, and 433MHz. The frequency of the sensor used is determined by the vehicle manufacturer. The two frequencies are not interchangeable. This information will be printed on the outside of the sensor. Source: https://newparts.com/articles/tpms-sensors/

The data is coded by Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) with a bandwidth of 100 KHz (0.1 MHz). That could mean that 0s are represented by an interval of 314.9 Mhz and 1s by an interval of 315.1 MHz.

GM: 433 MHZ
Ford: 315 or 433 MHz

The 315 MHz unlicensed band is also used for Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) fobs. The 433 MHz unlicensed band is also used for garage door openers, headphones, baby phones and remote controls. (These are generalizations. Exceptions are likely.)

[NXR]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

TPMS sensors operate at one of two frequencies, 315MHz, and 433MHz.

Those are frequency bands, not the actual frequencies. For example, the 433 MHz ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) band is for unlicensed transmitters and is about 4.8 MHz wide. Any specific frequency in the band can be used by anyone. My TST 507 operates on one frequency and my wireless temperature system runs on a different frequency, both in the 433 MHz band.

One of the spectrum analyzers I referenced does cover those bands. When I was trying to decide whether to install the TPMS sensor repeater I used the spectrum analyzer to look at the signal strength from a sensor I installed on each tire, one at a time. Then I powered up the repeater with a battery and decided, yup, it would be a good thing to install the repeater so I did.

I also could see the temperature sensor a few MHz away.

Ray

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by NXR

If someone knows what frequency a TPMS system runs at it's dirt-simple to see if there is an interference problem using a spectrum analyzer. Those used to be multi-thousand dollar devices but nowadays are a few hundred dollars. I own a couple of them from this company: RF Explorer – Low-Cost, Handheld, RF Spectrum Analyzers

Ray

I would have rushed out to buy an RF spectrum analyzer for $200 back in 2000 when ATSC TV (digital HD TV) was introduced here (first in the nation). We are in a real tricky reception location and in swinging my rooftop Yagi antenna, a degree or two meant all the difference. I was borrowing big, clunky analyzers from friends or work and taking them to the roof.

I finally figured out that although all the broadcasts came from the same antenna farm, there was no perfect position; making any one work killed the others.