Tyre pressure warning system - not convinced.

[Twelvebears]

Failed to visually spot a total flat caused by a screw stuck in the front near side tyre and got about 300 meters before the harsh ride gave the warning. Drove slowly home and had Kwik Fit do a mobile replacement the next day.

So when did the warning system go 'bong'? - Once I was out driving on the new tyre, when it and all the others had been inspected and checked for pressures.

Also I've only done around 4k of gentle, 95% motorway miles so doubt I've taken that much depth of tread of yet.

In short, not seeing the TPM system as particularly accurate or helpful.

Perhaps to might have spotted a longer, slower puncture, but the fact that it didn't alert for the total flat while heading away or returning home after spotting it myself seems a bit crap, as I'm sure that if it had been a rear instead, I could have got further without realising.

Anyway, just an observation.

[Gizmo]

How worn was the screw head though?

 

Maybe you picked the screw up not long before you parked up, then the pressure dropped whilst the car was not being driven? 

 

I have had it come on twice (once on the Superb and the other on the Yeti), the tyre was only about 10psi lower than it should have been, and since both tyres were repairable I was happy enough with its performance.

[Kenny R]

2 points, driving off with a totally flat tyre is down to driver error, sorry, and the second I presume you did not reset the TPMS after the new tyre was fitted, hence the warning so driver error again.

[peterposh]

How does this system work?

[Declan O'Shaughnessy]

2 points, driving off with a totally flat tyre is down to driver error, sorry, and the second I presume you did not reset the TPMS after the new tyre was fitted, hence the warning so driver error again.

 

Do people really walk around their car and visually inspect all 4 tyres before every single journey they make? Or am I missing something in the post?

 

If people really do do a visual inspection each and every time, I clearly haven't been living all these years!

[philbes]

Do people really walk around their car and visually inspect all 4 tyres before every single journey they make? Or am I missing something in the post?

 

If people really do do a visual inspection each and every time, I clearly haven't been living all these years!

Yes, I ALWAYS inspect all four tyres when walking towards the car. I try to approach from nearside front, walk to and around the back and hence to the driver's door. I also do this if driving a car other than my own - spotted a partially flat tyre on my wife's car and, a few years ago, one on my father-in-law's car.

When parked in Liverpool I spotted a broken bottle that had been deliberately placed against a rear tyre. The four young lads sat on a nearby wall then ran off.

I had a puncture when I hit a large chunk of stone that had fallen out of a wall. I couldn't safely stop for a couple of hundred yards but the tyre pressure warning system did not go off in that distance. It did so after less than a 1/4 mile on the spare.

[Richf]

I'm not convinced either , my superb system works , my fabia system works , my mums fabia doesn't , even 15psi down won't trigger the light and no faults on vcds etc

We just check the tyres on a regular basis the same as we always have

[StuartTunstall]

Do people really walk around their car and visually inspect all 4 tyres before every single journey they make? Or am I missing something in the post?

 

If people really do do a visual inspection each and every time, I clearly haven't been living all these years!

 

 

Yes, I ALWAYS inspect all four tyres when walking towards the car. I try to approach from nearside front, walk to and around the back and hence to the driver's door. I also do this if driving a car other than my own - spotted a partially flat tyre on my wife's car and, a few years ago, one on my father-in-law's car.

When parked in Liverpool I spotted a broken bottle that had been deliberately placed against a rear tyre. The four young lads sat on a nearby wall then ran off.

I had a puncture when I hit a large chunk of stone that had fallen out of a wall. I couldn't safely stop for a couple of hundred yards but the tyre pressure warning system did not go off in that distance. It did so after less than a 1/4 mile on the spare.

 

 

Err... so do I... Every time I take the car out of the garage I check the passenger side tyres to make sure they are OK, I then check the drivers when I get in.... Always have done a "visual" check.. only takes 2 seconds to see if they "look" OK... 

 

Same as I check my oil every week and top up the washers, just how I have always done things.. 

[Raptor]

Not convinced either, had a blow out last January, car one week old, hit a pot hole, tyre flat within about 100 yards, not a peep from TPM. Handbook States it will not activate with a sudden deflation. Twelvebears, did you get info the habit of resetting the TPM each time you inflate your tyres?

[Superb170]

Do people really walk around their car and visually inspect all 4 tyres before every single journey they make? Or am I missing something in the post?

 

If people really do do a visual inspection each and every time, I clearly haven't been living all these years!

You're not alone there.  I know in theory we should but its just not practical.  I do it about once a week or so but rarely on a daily basis - often little or no access to one side of the car, its usually cold, wet and dark when I do most of my journeys etc.  I should really get into the habit a bit more maybe but if you're talking about a flat or nearly flat tyre, then you should notice this quickly once you drive.

 

Back to OP, you will have to reset the TPM button every time you make any adjustment to the tyre pressures (even on one tyre) or if you change a tyre.  If you don't you will get a 'bong' after a few miles, but it will take a few miles for this to happen.

[peterposh]

I don't check generally , you'd have to go round with a torch and then rim tbe car a metre then check again ! The neighbours will talk

[mannyo]

How does this system work?

 

it works by using the ABS sensors and measuring the rotational differences between the wheels whilst driving. As a tyre deflates that wheel will start to rotate faster so the warning is triggered. Known values are stored in the ECU when you press and hold the TPMS button, any deviance from those should trigger the warning.

 

When tyres are replaced the system must be reset, so press and hold the TPMS button until you here a bong. If you do not do this then you may get false alarms or no alarm at all if the tyre goes flat. The system should also be reset if you check your tyre pressures and need to alter them slightly.

[Huskoda]

Do people really walk around their car and visually inspect all 4 tyres before every single journey they make? Or am I missing something in the post?

 

If people really do do a visual inspection each and every time, I clearly haven't been living all these years!

 

Yep, every morning I check both cars and check mine again before I go home.  I also give any car that isn't mine a quick once over too.

[mannyo]

I visually check all four, for a flat tyre twice a day, check the tyre tread weekly and the actual pressures every 2-3 weeks or before a long journey.

Edited 27 January, 2015 by mannyo

[numskull]

Check mine everytime I take ether the MKI or MKII out... which isn't that often but always did a check when I used the MKI daily. Do the same when I drive the Mrs' Focus...

[Bristolf2b]

As stated above, it won't work for sudden deflations-you know you have had one of those as soon as it happens anyway.

The system on my partners Polo has gone off twice, both times it was a screw in the tread that had allowed to pressure to drop about 6-8psi ( from 32) In both cases the tyres were repairable as the sidewalls hadn't been damaged.

I have had the system go off in my Superb twice as well, but both times were operator error- The first time I had adjusted the pressures as I had a heavy load and forgotten to reset, the second when I had swapped to winters on 16" wheels and forgot to reset. In both instances I had driven approx 2 miles after the change.

Edit: I check the tyre pressures every three weeks or so, and always reset the system even if there has been no change- I was advised to do this by the dealer.

Edited 27 January, 2015 by Bristolf2b

[psycholist]

The TPMS detected a screw in the tyre on my car a few months back. The pressure hadn't gone down enough to let the tyre look flat (<10 PSI). I pumped it up the bit it had lost, drove directly to my local tyre repair guy and got it sorted. The spare tyre remains unused.

[peterposh]

TPWS is like a sat nav , an aid not a replacement for the driver

[Martin.S]

TPWS is like a sat nav , an aid not a replacement for the driver

Is that why if I stick on the Sat Nav and sit in the back the car refuses to leave the driveway

[JakeBlade]

There was that guy in the US that stuck his motor home on cruise control, then climbed in the back to make a cup of tea.

[trundlenut]

There was that guy in the US that stuck his motor home on cruise control, then climbed in the back to make a cup of tea.

Urban myth.

http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/cruise.asp

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[JakeBlade]

Urban myth.

http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/cruise.asp

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Spoilsport.

[Watsona6]

Worked flawlessly for me so far. Light came on today. Rear passenger side tyre dropped by 10psi. Other tyres by 2psi. Has alerted me a few times now. Can't complain.

[Danny 57]

Went to Wakefield on Thursday and the "bong" alerted me, found the rear left tyre had dropped by 4 psi. Pumped it up at the motorway services and all is fine.

[jst_at_home]

Happened to me in Belgium three weeks ago. Felt a vibration through the car which I thought was road surface but decided to check and stop. As I put the handbrake on, the warning started!