Morning all.

 

Half way through a four hour drive yesterday I got a warning from the TPMS that my nearside front tyre had lost pressure. Fortunately I was 1 mile from the next service station so I pulled in to give it a check over.

 

Visually it looked fine but decided to check both this and the offside front using the air machine. Both were still sat bang on at the pressure I had checked them at the day before, which was 32psi.

 

I reset the system and carried on home with no issues.

 

Is there anything I need to worry about or is the TPMS renowned for doing this occasionally?

 

Also, one more question. The car is a MKIII Octavia 1.6TDi, running 18" Turini alloys on 225/40 R18 tyres. Is 32psi about right?

 

Thanks.

 

Had you just driven for a short length of time over cat eyes or on the rumble strip. As doing so may cause it to happen as it work on rotations of the wheel on the abs sensor so jerking it about on the above will make it read out

Mine has done it three times in the year I have owned the car.

Had you just driven for a short length of time over cat eyes or on the rumble strip. As doing so may cause it to happen as it work on rotations of the wheel on the abs sensor so jerking it about on the above will make it read out

 

Mmmm. I seem to recall I was just cruising in the outside lane.

Mine has only done it twice, once after new tyre fitment (expected) and one that was on a 3 hour plus continuous drive on the Motorway. Checked pressures as soon as I was able, all seemed fine.

It happened to me a couple of weeks ago - I put it down to the tyres heating up on the A46 - I still had winter tyres on, about 12 degrees outside, and the car was well loaded.

 

Wasn't going crazy - but all was well after resetting the pressures to the Loaded values.

You say you checked the pressures the day before, did they need any adjustment or did you inadvertantly let any air escape when doing so ?  If so, this has been sensed by the TPMS and its informed you.

 

Personally, I quite like the odd warning thats found to be nothing, its way better than a warning found to be a couple or three hundred quids worth.

You say you checked the pressures the day before, did they need any adjustment or did you inadvertantly let any air escape when doing so ?  If so, this has been sensed by the TPMS and its informed you.

 

Personally, I quite like the odd warning thats found to be nothing, its way better than a warning found to be a couple or three hundred quids worth.

 

I checked the pressure Thursday afternoon as I knew I was driving to South Wales (4 hours) early Friday and making the return Sunday. I used a digital pump at my local Morrisons which is set prior to a the pump on the valve. In this case 32psi.

On initial engagement the pressure displayed on the pump was correct, but I could hear some escape as I made the coneection, then subsequently I could hear air being put back in until it beeped. This was repeated with the other front tyre. So both started and finished with 32psi.

Friday morning I drove towards Wales 3 hrs, had a break, then 1 hour more. Drove around bits of Wales. Two hours in on Sundays return journey warning came on.

 

Same kind of pump at the services and repeated what I had done locally. Reset TPMS. So far so good!

And yes I agree the odd warning is fine, I just wanted to check I hadn't missed anything and also get folks thoughts on me running 32psi.

My 18`s on my vRS have to be 2.4bar pressure so 32psi is a bit low

Less sidewall higher pressure BigLee, I run my tyres Fn high to get less sidewall flex on 17"'s and still get even wear rates due in part to agressive corning when safe to do so obviously.

My 18`s on my vRS have to be 2.4bar pressure so 32psi is a bit low

Less sidewall higher pressure BigLee, I run my tyres Fn high to get less sidewall flex on 17"'s and still get even wear rates due in part to agressive corning when safe to do so obviously.

 

So should I stick another 3psi in them then? (To make 35psi).

I keep checking them as there is a very very slight squidge in them currently and I think they are losing air, which they aren't!

Its a bit of a balancing act really, the firmer the tyres the less sidewall flex/squidge but, it will affect the suppleness of the ride and may throw up some noise you don't want hear especially from an Elegance, take the pressure too high an you'll start wearing the centre of the tyre tread faster also.

 

Kinda depends on your driving and what roads you drive, I drive (a little 11k p.a. but hard) a few A roads and lots of fast B roads early in the morning so handling is a bit more important than comfort, if you're doing more motorways you may want to keep the balance more to the comfort side and less to the handling side.

 

Dunno, play with the pressures and see if you can get to where you're happy visually but, content comfort wise, we are all still learning and whats right for one ain't right for all.

So should I stick another 3psi in them then? (To make 35psi).

I keep checking them as there is a very very slight squidge in them currently and I think they are losing air, which they aren't!

Look on back of fuel filler cap, it has the recommended pressures there to see. I run my R18s at 2.4 or 2.5bar as that is the happy middle ground I found noise vs performance / economy.

As above tho, each to their own, but I would run harder rather than softer as it's generally safer.