Ford Transit Mk 6 - Tyre-valve DANGER

[Derek Uzzell]

Regular forum readers will be aware of the ongoing saga on this subject.

 

On 18 July 2006 Brian Kirby inquired about a tyre-valve failure on a friend's Ford Transit-based Auto-Sleepers motorhome. It subsequently became evident that such incidents were well known to the UK tyre-fitting trade and the valves on other motorhomes (including my own Hobby) have failed since Brian's original posting.

 

The failures are confined to the TR-600 pattern high-pressure 'snap-in' valves fitted as original equipment (OE) to many Mk 6 Transits made during the period 2000-2006. (The latest 2006-onwards Transit version is the Mk 7.) The TR-600 HP valve is a standard design produced by many tyre-valve manufacturers and is intended for inflation pressures up to 100psi. Its most common light commercial vehicle application in the UK is on Mk 6 Transits, but some current Renault Masters are also fitted with TR-600 valves as OE.

 

After the TR-600 valves on my own motorhome had been replaced I dissected all 5 valves and compared 'good' with 'bad'. Each valve has an 18mm long section of brass stem penetrating into the rubber base. The 3 valves that had not failed had the full length of this section of stem firmly bonded to the surrounding rubber. However, the 2 failed valves had just a narrow ring of rubber bonded around the stem where it emerges from the top of the base. The lower 17mm or so of stem and the rubber that enclosed it were both totally smooth with absolutely no indication of bonding between stem and base having taken place.

 

If we assume that all the Mk 6 Transit OE valves that have failed were similarly defective internally (and the evidence strongly supports this view) then the only way to guard against such failures is to replace the original valves. Except for 'surgery', there is no way to confirm whether or not a valve carries the defect and thus no chance of assessing its potential for failure. Both of my Hobby's valves rapidly lost about 60% of pressure but remained intact. The tyre-fitters I have spoken to told me I had been fortunate as it was common for the rubber base of the valve to rupture or for the stem to separate completely from the valve's base.

 

It needs to be emphasised that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the design of a TR-600 HP valve. If in fault-free condition it will be perfectly capable of coping with the inflation pressures used on Transits, Masters, etc. and its longevity is not in doubt. However, it is plain that some of the TR-600 valves that have been fitted to Transits are NOT fault-free and the longevity of these valves is anybody's guess.

 

If you know your Mk 6 Transit has these valves, then my advice is to have them all replaced without delay. Doing so will obviously incur a cost, but it will be a lot cheaper than having a valve fail later on. You can choose to ignore this advice of course, but if your tyre valves fail sometime in the future, you are going to feel SUCH a dope!

 

Links to earlier discussions about this are given below and the motorhomefacts link has identification photos of the valves:

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=4583&start=1

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=4963&posts=27

 

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-20551-ford.html+transit

[Derek Uzzell]

Just to say that a pal of mine recently had a tyre-valve suddenly fail on his 4-year old Ford Transit-based Auto-Sleepers motorhome. He sent me a photo and it's plain that the failure followed the common pattern of the rubber body of the valve splitting close to the hole in the wheel-rim.

 

Clearly the problem hasn't magically gone away...

[mco]

Derek. Forgive my ignorance but how would we know if our mk 6 Transit has the TR 600 valves?

 

Where would it tell us?

C.O.

[Derek Uzzell]

mco:

 

I'm afraid you just have to use the Mark One Eyeball.

 

The factory-fitted TR-600 valve for a Mk 6 Transit is identifiable by the upper section of its central brass 'stem' being exposed for about 13mm of its length beneath the bottom edge of the plastic valve-cap.

 

There are photos on the MHF forum link

 

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-20551-ford.html+transit

 

that I gave above that should help.

 

And, if you click on the the link below, you can see an example of a Schrader-manufactured TR-600 valve in the section headed "High Pressure Snap-In-600 Series" towards the base of the webpage. (The Transit valve is not made by Schrader, but, as the TR-600 valve is a standardised design, the Schrader photo will serve for identification purposes.)

 

http://www.schrader-bridgeport.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=5203&location_id=11412

 

[JENIAN]

Took my 2001 Duetto into local ford dealer feb 2008. They found recall for metal valve replacement in 2005. Replaced all valves for £35. No problem. Ian

[Derek Uzzell]

JENIAN:

 

I assume your Duetto has alloy wheels, or someone fitted the wrong valves to your motorhome, or the wrong valves were fitted when the vehicle was built?

 

To the best of my knowledge there has been no Ford recall regarding the TR-600 valves. There is an OASIS bulletin instructing Ford dealerships that the 'correct' valves should be used on Mk 6/Mk 7 Transits (essentially, that a high-pressure valve should be installed when a tyres is replaced as tyre-fitters have got into the habit of using standard valves), but that's not a recall. Mk 7 Transits don't use a TR-600 valve as original equipment, instead there's a beefed-up HP valve as shown in a photo on the MHF forum-link I gave earlier.

[mco]

Derek. Thanks for the info. It looks as though the valves on our tyres are affected so will get them changed A.S.A.P.

C.O.

[Derek Uzzell]

After the tyre-valves on my Hobby's rear wheels had failed, I wrote to Ford last January explaining the circumstances, reminding them that I'd drawn the problem to their attention previously, and enclosing one of the failed valves. I won't quote my letter in its entirety, but these are the final three paragraphs:

 

"Examination of my failed tyre-valves indicates to me that they were inherently flawed (minimal bonding of metal stem to rubber base) at the manufacturing stage. If there is a logical alternative explanation that places the responsibility for my motorhome's valve failures on me, then I would be very grateful if you would provide it, please. If responsibility for the failures cannot reasonably be placed on my shoulders, then I maintain that Ford must accept it. Tyre-valves just should not fail in this manner.

 

The final paragraph of your Technical Information Centre's letter assured me that "we take such claims seriously and that the safety of the driver is paramount to us". I recalled this statement (though not joyfully!) when my motorhome was immobilised with two deflated rear tyres on a French car-park for a weekend. I hope you will take this follow-up letter very seriously, as there is evidently something amiss with a number of these particular OE tyre-valves and the safety of drivers of Transits fitted with the suspect valves must surely be considered at risk.

 

I enclose a copy of the invoice relating to my motorhome's valve replacement. The cost equated to £66.71 and, given the circumstances, I feel justified in asking that you please refund this amount to me as partial recompense for the danger and aggravation this problem caused."

 

This was Ford's response (funny grammar, spelling, punctuation and all):

 

"Thank you for your letter recently received at our department concerning the tyre valves in your 2005 Transit based motor home.

 

We are sure you will appreciate the difficulty for us to investigate and report on such matters through the medium of correspondence and as the vehicle is a L/H/D German territory sourced vehicle we hold limited information on it, however as we place our customers safety as paramount, and as the valves are held in place in the wheel/valve location position, may we suggest consideration may need to be made to the valve/wheel to verify its serviceability and to ensure any replacement valves are the correct specifications.

 

We can fully understand the way you feel and believe that the most effective way to assist is by you requesting the direct involvement of your repairing dealer. This will afford the dealer the opportunity to appraise the operation of the vehicle to determine if there is a route cause of your concern. The Ford dealer should have the necessary facilities, equipment and trained staff, which will enable them to investigate and resolve your concern if deemed necessary; they also have direct access to a technical support service, which is dedicated to our dealer network, and in unusual circumstances the dealer may be able to ask for further assistance such as the involvement of a Field Engineer to assist in resolving a concern, however this is always at the discretion of the Dealer Technical Centre and may only be authorised in exceptional circumstances.

 

We hope this will be of use to you, and if you require any other service repair technical information, please do not hesitate to contact us at the Technical Centre."

 

Good stuff, eh!

[mco]

Ay?

Will certainly sleep easier after reading that!!!

[JENIAN]

Hi Derek

No they are not alloy wheels. I have all valves replaced (5) By Evans Earshaw Ford dealer in Gainsborough for £35 due to an notification by Ford in 2005 that the standard valves fail with the psi needed for campervans. No probs now.

 

Regards Ian.

[Derek Uzzell]

Ian:

 

On November 7 2007 on the Transit forum, a motorhome owner asked about a recall of Mk 6 Transits relating to ‘dangerous tyre valve failure. It produced a response from "Nighthawk", an extremely knowledgeable Transit specialist who has close contact with Ford (I believe he works for the company, though I've never bothered to ask in what capacity), knows all the recalls and has an enormous knowledge base.

 

Nighthawk stated that (up to 8/11/07) there had been no recall relating to this matter and went on to say:

 

"I've had several conversations with Motor home owners about sudden deflations of tyres.

 

They usually involve a rear wheel and a spell of long distance high speed driving.

 

In most cases, it's been noted that the tyre pressures or axle loading had been exceeded. The mix of high weighting and heat build up in an already highly pressurised tyre will cause the pressure to rise further and the valve seat is the weakest point on the wheel assembly. The coupled with a universal type rubber valve could potentially lead to a leakage around the base of the valve, or even dislodging the valve.

 

" THIS MESSAGE SUPERSEDES ALL PREVIOUS PUBLISHED OASIS MESSAGES FOR TRANSIT V184/185 VALVE. WHENEVER FITTING A NEW TYRE/ AND/ OR TYRE VALVE TO A TRANSIT V184/185 THE REPLACEMENT VALVE MUST BE FINIS: 4688245 (4C11-1711-BA). PLEASE ENSURE A CLEANED UP VALVE HOLE SURFACE AND USE LUBRICANT ON INSTALLATION. AFTER FITTING, CHECK THE CORRECT VALVE SEAT AND FINALLY MOVE VALVE SLIGHTLY BY FINGER IN ALL DIRECTIONS, TO PROVE THE SEALING OF THE VALVE. PLEASE NOTE IT IS MANDATORY AND INDUSTRY PRACTICE ALWAYS TO FIT A REPLACEMENT VALVE WHEN FITTING A NEW TYRE.

EFFECTIVE DATE: 21/12/2004"

 

There was also a minor issue where an incorrect tyre pressure sticker was fitted to a very small number of campers with Continental tyres, the stated pressure was for Michelin tyres in error, these owners had a new sticker sent to them."

 

I can't argue with what Evans Earshaw told you, but the date of the above OASIS bulletin is coincidentally close to 2005. The 'standard' TR-600 valve fitted by Ford to the Transit Mk 6 chassis on which many motorhomes are built is designed for an inflation pressure up to 100psi, well in excess of anything used on a Transit-based motorhome. I might also point out that, if your Duetto still had its original factory-fitted valves and these were the wrong type for the vehicle, or judged inadequate for a motorhome, then surely you shouldn't be expected to pay for Ford's mistake.

 

I'm certainly not suggesting that changing the valves to the heavier-duty design used on the Mk 7 Transit (which is what I assume the Ford dealer did) is 'a bad thing' - quite the opposite in fact. I'm just saying that the reason you've been given for needing to replace them is off-centre.

 

Dealers/technicians aren't always right. Let's not forget the Ford technician who happily told Brian Kirby that current Transits tended to stall due to being fitted with a cut-off device to prevent the motor running backwards uncontrollably and destroying itself!

[handyman]

derek,

 

that oasis report states it is for all mark 6 transits, not just campervans?

 

If so, i was at ford today, and when they change tyres, they always change the hp valve on all mark 6 transits.

 

Problem is they (ford in wilmslow) dont use ford branded valves ! They have used hp valves for years now(on mark 6 and 7), and they look exactly the same as the one that are already on the van.

 

Do the new valves 'look' the same as the old ones?

[handyman]

went and got the valve they fit, says on it

 

'TR600HP' and '177 EHA Germany'

 

 

I just dont get how they can fit these problem valves even now, and why dont they fit the other part number as standard? And whats the difference between the valves? It can go to 100psi, my tyres are at 55psi, so well within limits.

 

 

The main thing is to get the valve replaced when changing tyres? or before a certain time limit?

[handyman]

Derek Uzzell - 2008-05-05 7:09 PM

 

" THIS MESSAGE SUPERSEDES ALL PREVIOUS PUBLISHED OASIS MESSAGES FOR TRANSIT V184/185 VALVE.

 

is the v184/185 valve the tr600hp? If so, why dont they quote it?

[Derek Uzzell]

Handyman:

 

Taking your comments in order...

 

The OASIS Bulletin relates to Transit Mk 6 'chassis' fitted with high-pressure snap-in valves - whether the chassis forms the basis for a motorhome, removal van or builder's truck is academic. Essentially, the Bulletin is advising that, when a tyre or tyre-valve is renewed on these chassis, the 'old' tyre-valve should always be replaced by a new valve that is HP-rated.

 

As far as I'm aware, there is no such thing as a "Ford branded valve". Valves may or may not carry an indication of who made them depending on the manufacturer's preference. One thing's certain - Ford doesn't make tyre valves itself.

 

The TR-600 valve is a standardised design, so all TR-600-pattern valves look virtually the same though the manufacturer may be French, German, Indian, Chinese, etc.

 

The high-pressure snap-in tyre-valve factory-fitted to current (Mk 7) Transits differs in appearance from the TR-600 pattern. (This will be apparent if you compare the photos in the thread accessed by the MotorHomeFacts link I provided.) I don't know who manufactures the valve used on Mk 7s, but it looks sturdier than the TR-600 design, with the central metal 'stem' apparently extending right through the rubber base. I've never seen one of these valves 'off vehicle' and the MHF comments suggest that they would need to be ordered by Part Number through a Ford dealership. I'm assuming that this is the type of replacement valve fitted by Evans Earshaw to Ian's Duetto. Ian refers to the replacements as "metal valves", though this description is usually applied specifically to 'all metal' valves that mechanically clamp into the wheel rim as employed traditionally as part of Fiat's "Camping-Car Package" that includes fitment of Michelin XC Camping tyres.

 

As Ian's Duetto is 2001 vintage, it's quite possibly no longer on its original set of tyres. If the original tyres have been renewed, non-HP valves (termed "universal type rubber valve" by Nighthawk) may have been fitted, in which case it would have been correct for Evans Earshaw to replace them with HP valves. Dunno - my crystal-ball's a bit cloudy nowadays.

 

There's absolutely no doubt that some UK tyre fitters have been (and are) replacing Transit TR-600 HP tyre-valves with 'universal' valves and, based on what fitters have told me, this practice isn't just due to laziness or ignorance but because they have become distrustful of the TR-600 valve generally as a result of failures they've encountered on Transits. This is undoubtedly bad practice and it's what will have led to the OASIS Bulletin being issued. (I'm certainly not defending the practice, just highlighting that's what tyre fitters are doing and this if why they say they do it.)

 

The TR-600 valves removed from my motorhome have "TR 600 HP" near the top of the rubber base and "EHA GERMANY" on the underside of the rubber base. There's no "177".

 

OASIS Bulletins are not intended for the Man in the Street, but for Ford dealerships who are familiar with Ford part numbering systems. The valve Part Number in the December 2004 Bulletin seems to be "4688245 (4C11-1711-BA)", but, more than 3 years on, it's most likely been altered by now. Based on the MHF thread, the valve that would now be advised for fitting on Mk 6s would be the type currently used on the Mk 7.

 

Going back to Square One - a small number of Transit Mk-6-based motorhomes have been reported as experiencing tyre-valve failure involving factory-fitted TR-600 valves. Ford seem to think the failure rate isn't statistically significant enough to cause them to react, though the tyre trade seems to believe otherwise. It's impossible to detect in advance whether a valve is a good one or a potential rogue. If you take the view that there are Mk 6 Transits still running around with 'accident waiting to happen' tyre-valves fitted to their wheels and that your motorhome might be one of them, then you must either change the valves as a precautionary measure or gamble that your motorhome won't be affected. It's not a choice that can be made for you.

[Brian Kirby]

Derek Uzzell - 2008-05-04 6:49 PM After the tyre-valves on my Hobby's rear wheels had failed, I wrote to Ford last January explaining the circumstances, reminding them that I'd drawn the problem to their attention previously, and enclosing one of the failed valves. I won't quote my letter in its entirety, but these are the final three paragraphs: "Examination of my failed tyre-valves indicates to me that they were inherently flawed (minimal bonding of metal stem to rubber base) at the manufacturing stage. If there is a logical alternative explanation that places the responsibility for my motorhome's valve failures on me, then I would be very grateful if you would provide it, please. If responsibility for the failures cannot reasonably be placed on my shoulders, then I maintain that Ford must accept it. Tyre-valves just should not fail in this manner. The final paragraph of your Technical Information Centre's letter assured me that "we take such claims seriously and that the safety of the driver is paramount to us". I recalled this statement (though not joyfully!) when my motorhome was immobilised with two deflated rear tyres on a French car-park for a weekend. I hope you will take this follow-up letter very seriously, as there is evidently something amiss with a number of these particular OE tyre-valves and the safety of drivers of Transits fitted with the suspect valves must surely be considered at risk. I enclose a copy of the invoice relating to my motorhome's valve replacement. The cost equated to £66.71 and, given the circumstances, I feel justified in asking that you please refund this amount to me as partial recompense for the danger and aggravation this problem caused." This was Ford's response (funny grammar, spelling, punctuation and all): "Thank you for your letter recently received at our department concerning the tyre valves in your 2005 Transit based motor home. We are sure you will appreciate the difficulty for us to investigate and report on such matters through the medium of correspondence and as the vehicle is a L/H/D German territory sourced vehicle we hold limited information on it, however as we place our customers safety as paramount, and as the valves are held in place in the wheel/valve location position, may we suggest consideration may need to be made to the valve/wheel to verify its serviceability and to ensure any replacement valves are the correct specifications. We can fully understand the way you feel and believe that the most effective way to assist is by you requesting the direct involvement of your repairing dealer. This will afford the dealer the opportunity to appraise the operation of the vehicle to determine if there is a route cause of your concern. The Ford dealer should have the necessary facilities, equipment and trained staff, which will enable them to investigate and resolve your concern if deemed necessary; they also have direct access to a technical support service, which is dedicated to our dealer network, and in unusual circumstances the dealer may be able to ask for further assistance such as the involvement of a Field Engineer to assist in resolving a concern, however this is always at the discretion of the Dealer Technical Centre and may only be authorised in exceptional circumstances. We hope this will be of use to you, and if you require any other service repair technical information, please do not hesitate to contact us at the Technical Centre." Good stuff, eh!

Just caught up with this one.  What a lot of rubbish!  Have you considered sending a copy of the letter back to Ford with a request for a translation? 

The badge on the front of ours just says Ford.  Not Ford UK, Ford Germany, or any other Ford.  If they wish to trade as Ford, they should respond as Ford, at least so far as Europe is concerned. 

I had similar "not Ford UK spec, mate" responses to a couple of queries on mine - though they were at least intelligible.  The lady I eventually spoke to said Ford UK cannot clarify the full details of Ford's German spec vehicles, because the detailed database is all in German, which no-one at Ford UK can understand, and the English language database shows only a generalised spec.  This means that whereas it will show the presence of items such as the Flex Packet - which is "tweaked" for the different European markets - its detailed make up is available only in the language of the country for which it is destined. 

Now, that may sound half reasonable, until you consider that our Transit was made in Turkey!  I just hope the Turks have the necessary details, or do they assemble them as mood dictates!  "I feel really fed up today, I think I'll just do a couple of Italian Transits", etc!

Maybe you should copy your observations to Ford in Koln.  I bet they have the odd bod who speaks English and, since they presumably specified them, they may even give you a sensible reply on the valves!

[Derek Uzzell]

Brian:

 

In fact I've some sympathy with Ford's response from a tactical viewpoint as it lobs the ball firmly back into my corner. If I can't be bothered to visit a Ford dealer about this (which I can't!), then that clearly must demonstrate lack of interest on my part and, if I'm not that interested, then why should Ford be? Anyway - let's be honest - I never expected to get any refund from Ford when I wrote to them, just wondered what Ford's reaction would be.

 

I'm still trying to progress the valve-failure thing generally, not with any hope of resolving it, but to try to establish the 'ground rules' (if there are any).

 

It now transpires that the tyre-valve that failed on my friend's 2004 Transit-based Auto-Sleepers motorhome was NOT the high-pressure TR-600 type, but an 'ordinary' TR-414 valve designed for pressures up to 65psi. My understanding is that some MK 6 Transits had these valves as factory-fitted original equipment while others had HP valves.

 

I know that he had the other 4 valves replaced as a precautionary measure, but I've yet to find out what was fitted. On inspection the 4 'un-failed' valves apparently showed no signs of damage or deterioration, so this may just be a case of bad luck - tyre-valves are not indestructible nor immortal, even though we might wish they were.

[Brian Kirby]

Well, indeed; and I had my tongue more than a little into my cheek in my post!

Still, Ford's response, while it is to an extent understandable, is rather a straight bat, and seems to ignore the potential safety aspect of these valves failing.  From what you have found out so far, we have tyre fitters apparently ignoring Fords recommendation for valve fitting (and, I suspect, their own trade organisation's recommendations as well) by fitting standard valves where the HP type should be used.

It seems to me that the problem is one of quality control at at least one of the valve manufacturers.  I suspect Ford claims ISO 9001 Quality Control procedures somewhere, which should mean they have a procedure for testing or verifying the quality of bought in components.  If components, such as tyre valves, which have a significant safety implications, fail, and those failings have not been picked up by their QA procedure, then they should be interested from that standpoint alone.  I know all the cynics will bang on about QA etc, but it for exactly this kind of eventuality that it exists.

Ford might have been wiser to say "thank you very much for drawing this to our attention, we will investigate forthwith to determine where the problem lies".  Even better would have been "we became aware of a small number of failures of these valves in 2007, and have since taken steps to ensure the problem does not reoccur.  Please accept our apologies for the obvious inconvenience you suffered".

You'd never have know what, if anything, they had actually known or done, but you'd probably have felt better.  The best you can say about their letter is that they are worse liars than me, and less cynical to boot!

In the meantime, Ford have been informed of the problem so one just has to hope that no one comes seriously to grief as a consequence of one of their duff valves.  However, should they do so, and survive to tell the tale, and assuming they pick up on your researches (but what chance of that, I wonder?), I guess they may have grounds for suing Ford for negligence - always assuming they have very deep pockets full of lots of cash!  Still, you never know.  :-)

[libby]

Having worked within Ford's at Halewood and Enfield, plus other major car manufacturers I see the problem of finding individual errors in small components as nigh impossible. Items such as these come off automated machines like shelling peas. Agreed there are inspection capabilities but these are often random samples on small items.

 

Regarding a personal reply, most large companies are not geared to respond to individuals. Any such correspondence becomes a paper chase round the staff with no one person capable of making a decision.

 

I know to my cost that unless one has a personal contact or your comment may cost them money you'll be very fortunate to receive any response at all.

 

I will always complain 'right to the top' explaining very clearly how I view their business. It does help if one can use business headed paper and explain the problem in sincere understandable terms.

 

Regardless of who you actually are, sign yourself as the MD, it does work but you have to be prepared for a return telephone reply from the office of whom you aimed the letter to do be prepared to back up your complaint politely

 

Its worked for me (on occasions) but there are many a secretary who's aim is to protect her boss and will bin it very quickly.

 

These people at the top are only the same as you or me so one has to find a way round the situation. Above all be short and polite.

 

(Why am I writing this, its past my bedtime? Cos I've seen the inside of multi million pound company's I suppose)

 

LB

[Derek Uzzell]

I've sought further advice on this and the position as I now understand it is as stated below. (Note that I'm not claiming 100% accuracy, it's just my best effort!)

 

At the end of 2004 Ford issued an OASIS message relating to Transit tyre-valve replacement. (The text of this message was shown in my posting above dated 5 May.) Ford subsequently published Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 79/2005 that repeats the content of the OASIS message.

 

As far as can be established Ford has NOT issued ANY recall notice regarding defective Transit tyre-valves. The only Transit tyre-valve-related instructions have been the OASIS message and TSB 79/2005 and both of these merely define the appropriate valve to be used when a new valve (or new tyre) is to be fitted to "TRANSIT V184/185".

 

I'm advised that the term "TRANSIT V184/185" translates to "all Mk 6 Transits". ("V184" = a Mk 6 RWD Transit and "V185" = a Mk 6 FWD Transit.) So, in late-2004/early-2005, Ford were instructing that, when a new tyre (or a new tyre-valve) was to be fitted to any Mk 6 Transit, then the appropriate valve to be used was Ford Part Number 4688245 (4C11-1711-BA).

 

Mk 6 Transits were built from 2000 to 2006 and (as I said earlier) some had 'ordinary', up-to-65psi, TR-414-type tyre-valves, while others had 'high pressure', up-to-100psi, TR-600-type valves. My friend's 2004 motorhome had TR-414 valves, whereas exactly the same Auto-Sleepers model as his (but with an early-2005 registration number) that I happened to see recently had TR-600 valves (as had my own 2005 Transit-based Hobby). It's possible, therefore, that, towards the end of 2004, Ford standardised on high-pressure TR-600 valves for all Mk 6 Transits emerging from the Ford factory. This is just an educated guess, however, but it does tie in with my casual observations of Transit vehicles and with the OASIS message and TSB 79/2005.

 

Here's where things become more complex, so you'll need to pay attention...

 

The following link will take you to a MotorHomeFacts (MHF) forum thread in which you'll find a posting from "gaspode" dated 22 November 2006.

 

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-20551-ford.html+transit

 

This posting includes two photos and the first (headed "Original Valve") shows the valve-type that has been criticised for failing on Transits. The photo is of a TR-600-pattern valve as factory-fitted by Ford to Mk 6 Transits when the above-mentioned OASIS message and Technical Service Bulletin were issued in 2004/2005.

 

The second photo (headed "New Valve") is of the valve-type factory-fitted to 2006-onwards Mk 7 Transits. This valve MAY also have been fitted to late-model Mk 6 Transits (though I'm doubtful this was the case), but it certainly wasn't being fitted in 2004/2005.

 

Now, the MHF thread gives the impression that the TR-600-pattern valve is 'wrong' for Mk 6 Transit usage and that the 'correct' valve is the one shown in the New Valve photo. In his earlier (November 13) posting gaspode says "The Ford part number for the correct valve is: 4688245" and he evidently received 'New Valves' when his Ford dealer ordered replacement valves for him using that Part Number.

 

However, eagle-eyed readers will have spotted that 4688245 is the same Part Number as provided in the 21/12/2004 OASIS message when Ford was definitely not using 'New Valves' on Transits. It may reasonably be assumed from this that Ford later altered the Transit tyre-valve specification from TR-600-type to 'New Valve'-type but left the Part Number unchanged. If you had ordered a Part Number 4688245 valve in 2004/2005, you would have got a TR-600 valve: order a Transit valve today (or at the time of the MHF thread in November 2006) using the 4688245 Ford Part Number and you'll get a 'New Valve'. Although confusing at first sight, in this case it makes sense to retain the original Part Number even though the part itself has been upgraded. As TR-414, TR-600 and 'New Valve' will all happily fit in a Transit steel wheel, leaving the tyre-valve's Part Number unchanged ensures that any Ford agent ordering a valve will always get the most up-to-date type.

 

Where does all this leave an owner of a motorhome based on a Mk 6 Transit?

 

With no tyre-valve-related recall having been issued by Ford, you are on your own when it comes to deciding whether or not you should have your existing valves changed. It all depends really on whether or not you believe there's a potential problem with the valves factory-fitted by Ford and, if you do believe this, whether or not you are optimistic or pessimistic by nature. (In my own case I believed there was a potential problem, but felt lucky and subsequently discovered I wasn't!) It also depends, to a degree, on what tyre-valves your motorhome currently has fitted.

 

I think it likely that most Transit Mk 6-based motorhome owners source their vehicle's replacement tyres through a specialist tyre-supplier (eg. ATS), rather than via a Ford dealership. In such cases the possibility of that supplier knowing about Ford's OASIS message or TSB is small and, based on the limited research I did, there's a good chance that the supplier will choose to fit 'ordinary' TR-414-type valves rather than high-pressure ones, even if the vehicle has HP valves to begin with (and I wouldn't be surprised if they did this on Mk 7 Transits too!)

 

I've no idea what Ford dealerships will do, but my contact thought that Evans Earshaw at Gainsborough was probably reacting to TSB 79/2005 when deciding to replace the valves on Ian's 2001 Duetto. However, the recall/camper-van explanation for this pro-active decision seems to have no factual foundation. Whether the replacement was justified depends, to some extent, on the valves that were replaced. If (as seems likely given the Duetto's age) new tyres had been fitted post-2004 and 'ordinary' valves had been installed at that time, then changing them now to HP-type would comply with Ford's 2005 instructions. If TR-600-type valves had been installed at tyre-replacement time, then there should have been no pressing need to 'upgrade' those valves.

 

'Handyman' seems to be saying that Ford in Wilmslow fit "TR600HP" tyre-valves to Mk 6 and Mk 7 Transits, which is a bit odd given that Mk 7s come with a higher specification valve as standard. Not sure what's happening there...

 

It would be helpful if Ian (JENIAN) and Handyman could take a look at the valve photos on the MHF forum and try to identify which one applies to their postings.

 

I would anticipate Ian's Duetto to have been fitted with the 'New Valve' type (which is the more 'metallic' of the two examples) and the "TR600HP/177 EHA Germany" valve referred to by Handyman to resemble the MHF photo described as "Original Valve". (If that assumption can be confirmed then at least we are all singing from the same song sheet.) Even though the two valve types look superficially similar when fitted to a Transit wheel it's actually quite simple to tell them apart by feel. The top of a TR-600 valve can be moved easily from side to side, whereas 'New Valve' - with its central metal stem passing completely through the valve's rubber base - is far more rigid and will firmly resist any attempt to 'wiggle' it.

[Brian Kirby]

Excellent, Derek, well done!

However, what you have unearthed is, in truth, very unsatisfactory from an owner's point of view.  Clearly, Ford supplied some vehicles with duff valves.  It seems that when they became aware of this they did half the job and changed the design/supplier to remedy the problem of factory fit valves, but did nothing to alert existing owners to the potential risks, and also failed to alert the trade generally to the problem.  This leaves tyre fitters in supreme ignorance of what they should fit (which does not excuse their fitting standard valves which are then operating outside their designated range).  I know from my own experience when getting a spare wheel shod with a tyre for my Mk 7, that the tyre fitters needed some persuasion to fit the correct valve.

As I now understand the present position, the owner of any Mk 6 Transit based motorhome needs to check that their wheels have the later type valves fitted.  You have explained the test for this, which seems quite straightforward.  If the earlier - suspect - type valves are fitted, they would be wise to visit their Ford commercial dealer and get 5 of the correct valves, ensuring these are new stock and not old ones from the bin, and then take them to a tyre fitter to get them installed.  If buying new tyres for a Mk 6 Transit based motorhome, first get the valves, as above, from the Ford dealer, and then go to the tyre specialist and get the Ford supplied valves fitted with the new tyres.

Those in the know can doubtless make this work, but for those not in the know the possible combinations of tyre and valve supplied by a high-street tyre fitter may well present unsuspected safety risks. 

This really is not satisfactiry, and is not how it is meant to be, however cynical and worldly wise we may profess to be in respect of dealing with large multi-nationals.  The confusion you have exposed is inexcusable.