Hi, I installed a new/used PCM in my 2007 Escape Hybrid. Almost immediately, I started getting TPMS error codes. I've taken it to the Tire shop repeatedly and they've checked and reprogrammed and they say all the TPMS are good to go. The only error code they received was B1342 which suggest that the PCM is bad again. (this has all happened over the course of a year) I've driven the car because the Tire shop said it was ok to drive. But now the car is starting to behave like it did when the first PCM went bad. I sent the PCM unit back under warranty, but they say it's not their unit and no codes are stored.

So can anyone tell me where the TPMS codes ARE stored? And also, do you have any other suggestions as to what it might be?

 

Check modules with forcan. It could be in APIM or another module like that. I turned off TPMS because I have a bad sensor.

 

Your PCM may be fine, but the Smart Junction Box may be bad. In my workshop manual for a 2011 (I imagine a 2007 is similar, the cars were largely the same), B1342 says:

If that is the ONLY code being retrieved, my manual indicates replacement of the Smart Junction Box, which is located in the right side of the center console near the front, it's a big module with a lot of connections. It requires the Ford communication module and Ford IDS "or equivalent scan tool." I do not know if FORScan will do it. It controls the TPMS and is also involved with the Remote Keyless Entry system, and I guess other "as-built" data so it has to be done correctly.

Here's a picture:


Smart Junction Box 2011 Ford Escape Hybrid

 

By the way from the location of the Smart Junction Box up front near the floor, and its connection to the TPMS, the Keyless Entry and the PASS Key system as well as the interior lights and God knows what-all with its seven connectors, you can see why you don't really want to get a lot of WATER or anything else spilled into the front end of the center console, lest it seep down in there and help kill the SJB, necessitating an expensive trip to the dealer for a new one. I mention the water because I know that a couple of months ago, the remnants of Hurricane Ida flooded large portions of the Northeastern United States including big parts of NY, NJ, CT, and MA and a lot of cars were under water as a result.

Where I live, I've seen a few disreputable car dealers attempting to take those cars, bring them to Rhode Island, auction them off, get new titles to mask the salvage titles, rip out the carpets, try to wipe out the mud and grime, blow them dry and re-sell them to unsuspecting customers. "Drives Like New! $6000" for a car that would normally bring at least $10-12 thousand dollars. Caveat emptor!

It could be that you can just disable the TPMS through FORScan like ShadyEcape and live with the car like that, but I am not experienced enough to know.

 

Finally, of course it is possible that your SJB simply has one or more of its connections loose or going bad. I do not know if unplugging/cleaning/replugging them will necessitate a reprogramming procedure. It would make sense that once it is programmed, the information is stored in a nonvolatile way because sometimes the 12V battery and HV battery get disconnected, but I am not 100% sure of that. I think it's worth a try. If the SJB nonvolatile storage isn't working, you have to replace it anyway.

 

Update: Apparently there is a BATTERY inside the Smart Junction Box that is responsible for maintaining its nonvolatile configuration storage in the event the 12V system of the car is depowered. I have never disassembled one, but I'll bet it's a round lithium battery similar to a CR2032.


If that battery dies, the unit will gradually lose its ability to store all the configuration data it contains, perhaps the TPMS system goes first as it is "integral to the SJB".

Note that this also underscores the importance of keeping a good 12V battery in the car at all times, particularly if you "store" it (which for a lot of people now means: "it sat outside for six years".) Because if the batteries in the modules die, they lose their configuration data and no matter what you do, you have to reprogram them!