No can do. It's active all the time. You can touch the red triangle in the center display and then select "cancel the warning" but it reappears on restart.

You have to repair the fault to permanently remove the message.

 

Asked service department to switch off TPMS but they say they can't do it. It's not an option on the XF ;(

 

It's a safety item mandated by some governments, such as the US. Therefore, it cannot be circumvented. You might crash and sue somebody. Firestone and Ford probably lobbied for this. I particularly like the improvement in valve stem technology, replacing tried and true safe valve stems costing around $2 with unsafe and unreliable TPMS valve stems which break or leak and cost $90. The warning only illuminates if tire pressure drops by about 6 psi so the tire is already unsafe before the warming illuminates. Stupid idea.

Tragically, the TPMS transmits actual pressure and temperature which could be displayed on the instrument panel in real time, which would be very useful. Porsche displays actual pressure for example. An opportunity missed there by an entire industry. Of course, if pressure is displayed drivers would have to actually understand what the readings meant or people would see their tires as overinflated if they drove at speed, due to heating. Sigh, an imperfect world playing steadily downwards to the ignorant and depriving the knowledgeable.

 

One solution is something that I read about today: take all of the TPMS valve stems and insert them into a sealed conduit (permanently) and pressurise the conduit to the required pressure, then drop the unit under the seat or in the boot. Replace all valve stems with regular cheapie items, and the problem goes away (but not the risk of running with flat or under-inflated tyres).

 

I can imagine this solution actually working until such a time the pressure drops for whatever reason, not an issue simply pressurise again, but I can't envisage the "conduit". What form would it take and how simple would it be to acquire ?

 

A bicycle wheel suitable for tubeless tyres might be suitable, drilled out to take four valves. This would depend on the size of the TPMS units, of course.

 

The simplest solution is to find electrical conduit which is commonplace (in Australia, at least). I imagine that it's not too difficult to drill holes the right dimensions for valves, then to glue end-caps onto the tube, and pressurise the whole unit. Wouldn't have to be big, either.

 

Wouldn't work for the Jaguar system as the position of each of the TPMS on the car is also monitored.

 

Interesting: so it's possible to tell if the wrong wheel is in the wrong corner? Curious to know why location is important...

 

The TPMS system has four sensors located in proximity to the four wheels. That way you just get out and go to the affected tire to observe and restore any lost pressure. It also useful to know while you are driving which tire is low on pressure. Rear tires are much more important than front tires from a safety perspective.

 

So the type pressure monitor at each wheel relays the information to a sensor located near the four driving wheels which then relays the information to the instrument panel? (shame about the spare: MB and Audi do this well) - if so, then four conduits appropriately located would do the same thing, no? Not that I am advocating subversion of the system - just trying to understand the way it works, and sympathising with people who have faulty systems. Here in Australia, it's not compulsory, and on local cars with TPMS, it's often so badly implemented that people just try to turn it all off by pulling a fuse.

 

The TPMS receivers are very close to the wheels. I can't think of a place you could put each sensor except in the wheel and still have he system work, ie no faults. Most faults result from errors in that pick up process. The other faults are caused by defective TPMS senders leaking, breaking or incorrectly transmitting.

Opinions vary about equipping the spare with a sender. It would be useful to know if your spare is low on pressure, often forgotten especially if a space saver. On the other hand, if the TPMS transmitter is absent you will be constantly reminded that you need to fix the flat. This is very useful if using a temporary spare.

The jaguar system is integrated. Pulling a fuse is not possible.

 

Good explanation, thanks. What strikes me is the inflexibility of the required solution based on legislative demands. Knowing that the spare is well inflated is as important as knowing that the running tyres are functioning properly. And if a wheel is at the repairers, then how does a driver overcome the apparent loss of a sensor? All this aside, unless a pump is included in the assembly, then the driver has to potentially put up with the problem for a considerable time - especially given that the vehicle's range can be more than 1200km

 

You grossly overestimate the intelligence of the bureaucrats who implement these requirements. By the time the industry lobbies have finished confusing everything we consumers just end up paying through the nose for "safety" systems that don't work and make even more money for car makers. This safety legislation is often more about liability litigation than anything actually to do with safety.

Pretty much the philosophy is to make cars safer to operate (and crash) by incompetent drivers than make any real effort to improve driver skills or knowledge.

 

Perhaps, then, Jaguar is doing us all a service by making the XF only score a 4/5 for safety here in Australia (and has been widely criticised because of it).

However, I don't share your view that safety legislation is about liability litigation - this only appears to be the case in USA.

Australia, in particular, has enacted a raft of safety requirements for vehicles with the aim of saving lives, not lawyers.

 

I meant in the US where they are litigation mad. Of course there are excellent safety improvements that should be on every road car. TPMS isn't one of them in my opinion although it could be made to be very useful. The Porsche real time actual tire pressure display is great. Actual temperature would also be useful to skilled drivers.

Jaguar has improved the crash test performance of the XF but it remains a problem. Part of the problem is the basic chassis is the Ford engineered S Type and Lincoln LS. Good for their day but now outdated. At least the XF is agile.