Discount Tire tech claims I had no TPMS Sensor inside stock Ford wheels

[Renntech]

I just got a new set of wheels & tires installed on my 2024 Mustang GT. The plan was to re-use all four original TPMS sensors from my 20" Ford wheels.
One of the techs pulled me aside and claimed that when he unseated the tire, inside was merely a valve stem and no sensor at all.

I explained this must have been some sort of human error, as my car only has 1,800 miles on it and the stock wheels/tires had never been 'messed with' or taken apart. I HAVE had readouts for all four tire pressures since I took delivery of the car.

Now of course, I've got no sensor in my front left and my car is constantly giving me errors and warnings every 5-10mi of driving.
It appears Discount is going to honor what I believe is their mistake, and will be ordering and installing a new TPMS sensor for me when they can. My question is, is it possible my car actually came with no sensor from the factory? If so, how would I have had readouts since purchase?

Thanks.

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[roket]

there is absolutely no way your vehicle came without a TPMS sensor. the guy probably broke it, those things are rather fragile. if you were missing a TPMS sensor, you would've known the second you took delivery. in my over a year of checking in new vehicles (probably totaling close to the 3000-4000 vehicle range), i have not once seen one come in without a TPMS sensor

 

[Renntech]

there is absolutely no way your vehicle came without a TPMS sensor. the guy probably broke it, those things are rather fragile. if you were missing a TPMS sensor, you would've known the second you took delivery. in my over a year of checking in new vehicles (probably totaling close to the 3000-4000 vehicle range), i have not once seen one come in without a TPMS sensor

Thanks very much for the insight, this was certainly my first thought! To DT's credit, the manager working the floor this afternoon took down my car's VIN and said they'd call me this upcoming week to schedule an appointment to install a new one. He didn't make any supporting claims that my car came with 3 of 4 - that was only the story the tech initially told me. I'm thinking it must be human error, maybe it broke and went flying out of the wheel without him noticing.

 

[Mustang1987]

They definitely screwed it up. Chain tire companies are the worst and don't handle anything with care.

 

[Zig]

Thanks very much for the insight, this was certainly my first thought! To DT's credit, the manager working the floor this afternoon took down my car's VIN and said they'd call me this upcoming week to schedule an appointment to install a new one. He didn't make any supporting claims that my car came with 3 of 4 - that was only the story the tech initially told me. I'm thinking it must be human error, maybe it broke and went flying out of the wheel without him noticing.

Make sure they get the correct one

https://www.mustang7g.com/forums/threads/ford-performance-tpms-kit.158444/post-3288322

 

[BrianJ77]

Discount Tire lost my business years ago. First, they never could balance the tire they put on my truck. Dealer finally fixed that one after 3 different Discount Tire locations. Then they managed to break off a portion of the chrome cover on my F-150 on another trip. Had to argue with them to make it right. After that, never again. They damn sure wouldn't touch my GT!

I do not think your car was missing a sensor. They broke it and didn't want to fix it. Very shady practice. I'm glad you're getting another one, but I wouldn't let them install it.

 

[roadpilot]

Tire tech broke it.

 

[Neggytive]

When you work on Fords, you have to know the year when doing tire work

Pre 2008, they used a band clamp and a sensor 180 degrees away from the stem

2008 on they are on the stem

Not every car uses a sensor, some use the ABS tone ring, speed and steering angle sensors to monitor the tire rpm's, and when it sees an increase in RPM's in one wheel because it is deflating (low pressure, less circumference, increased wheel speed) tripping the warning light

IIRC newer fords are using a different sensor, not the 315Mhz sensors they have used for years.

Make sure they are using a Motorcraft sensor, although I use a lot of programmable sensors in my friends older cars ($35 my cost vs $$$), sometimes they don't play nice when doing tire rotations and using the Ford procedure and Motorcraft activation tool.

 

[smurfslayer]

Tire techs are like diapers. Often full if shít

Years ago, not at D/T, I’d gotten wheels & tires recently on my Mustang GT. I needed to get some kind of work done and told the shop: NO impact wrenches! I didn’t want the lugs stripped. Minutes later when they pull the car in I catch them with an impact wrench. Sure enough, scuffed the rim for the lug nut on the wheel. That wasn’t enough for them. when they were done, they got 2 lugs impacted on before I stopped them again. They were torqued on really good, over 150# where the torque wrench maxed out.

A couple years back, a guy on Ford Raptor Forum had lugs stripped on all 4 wheels, along with rotor hat damage. It was a days long saga to just get the wheels off.

I know they say they use torque sticks now but if the lug nut recess is tight, don’t let them cram a socket in there and impact it or you’ll be sporting scars on the wheels.

The local Discount Tire has been good for me. I had 6x new BFG KO2’s mounted on my Raptor wheels, and the dealer only got close. D/T can road force balance and got them to about 95% of factory smooth.

Good info in here about the correct TPMS.
Good luck!

 

[Wiley Marmot]

I bought my Voxx Modena wheels through DT online and had them shipped to the DT in Mount Pleasant , MI for installation on my GT. When consulting with the MP store; I was told I didn’t need to order TPMS for the Voxx wheels, as they had them in stock.

They didn’t. Had to cannibalize the OEM TPMSs off the GT wheels. Oh well…………………

They did a nice job (well balanced and no scratches/gouges/mars) of swapping my OEM Goodyear all seasons onto the Voxx wheels; spinning the nuts on by hand, and hand torquing to spec with a digital TQ wrench.

No service/product shop is any better than the personnel who work there.

 

[mikengail]

My local DT that I used to use installed new TPMS sensors in my new wheels on my 2024. I sold the original wheels/tires that came new with the car and, of course, the included TPMS factory sensors. I don't know what brand DT installed in my new wheels, but they were overpriced and didn't work. I bought the correct Ford TPMS sensors specifically for the 2024 model year Mustang, and DT still couldn't get them to work. I finally ended up taking it to Ford, and they got them trained without any problems. The Ford Tech said that DT doesn't seem to be able to train the 2024 TPMS for the new Mustangs. He said he gets DT TMPS training problems for the 2024's frequently. I'm done with Discount Tire service...

 

[erocker]

Tech broke the sensor and is trying to cover his ass.

 

[REV745DH24]

Tire tech broke it.

Definitely!!!

 

[onaccountof]

"Discount Tire tech"
says it all.....

 

[krisk]

Not every car uses a sensor, some use the ABS tone ring, speed and steering angle sensors to monitor the tire rpm's, and when it sees an increase in RPM's in one wheel because it is deflating (low pressure, less circumference, increased wheel speed) tripping the warning light.

I don’t see how low pressure could decrease circumference thereby increasing wheel speed. The radius decreases, but it is not a circle and the circumference is simply stretched out further on the road and is exactly the same as when fully inflated. It seems to me unless the tire is slipping on the rim the wheel must turn at exactly the same speed regardless of tire pressure.

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