Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for a slow leak detection system that may be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.
The patent was filed on August 23rd, 2023, published on February 27th, 2025, and assigned serial number 0065677.
The Ford Authority Take
Ford has filed quite a few patents aimed at making vehicles a bit smarter in the future, presenting us with ideas for things like a vehicular anomaly detection system, a vehicle defect detection system, a part failure detection system, a coolant leak detection system, and a tire monitoring system. Now, this newly published patent keeps that trend rolling with a new and rather interesting idea, this time, for a slow leak detection system that may be used in future Ford vehicles, too.
As Ford points out in this patent filing, modern vehicles utilize tire pressure monitoring systems that keep us informed in the event that tire pressure levels dip below a certain set point, which means that it’s time to fill them up again, or perhaps, fix a leak. However, these systems aren’t that great at determining when a slow leak might be occurring, and that’s where this system would come in.
In addition to sensors, this proposed system would be able to detect the sound of air escaping a tire at a slower rate, and then inform the user that a slow leak is occurring. This could certainly be useful, especially since slow leaks can suddenly turn into blowouts in some cases – which can be not only inconvenient, but also, potentially dangerous.
“Submitting patent applications is a normal part of any strong business as the process protects new ideas and helps us build a robust portfolio of intellectual property,” Ford said in a statement. “The ideas described within a patent application should not be viewed as an indication of our business or product plans. No matter what the patent application outlines, we will always put the customer first in the decision-making behind the development and marketing of new products and services.”
Comment
Sorry but the more complex things become the less reliable they typically are. The TPMS system on my ’23 F-150 with just over 13k miles hiccupped and had to be completely “retrained”.