Was out on a jog down the M6 yesterday when our pleasant cruise was interrupted by the beep/bong of the warning system and a warning that it had detected a drop in tyre pressure. Flipped on the vehicle status monitor and the tyres were flagged up in orange. Oh dear...

While my other half was having palpitations (she's experienced a proper 70mph blowout before), I was scratching my head wondering what the problem was when there was no change in steering or ride. Still, we were close to a junction so off I went to check it out.

No visible problems on any tyre, hooked up the compressor & all four tyres were down to roughly 28psi (just below 2 bar). Clearly below normal, but there was no sign of a sudden drop. Inflated them back up to recommended and a day later they've kept pressure.

So a bit puzzled as to what happened, though I don't know how these monitors work.

Edited 21 November, 201510 yr by MorrisOx

A possible answer.

 

Tyres naturally loose pressure over time as the oxygen creeps through the rubber, If the tyre pressures were close to the TPMS limits and then the temperare drops, the air in the tyre shriks setting the alarm off.

If all 4 tyres were flagged up the system has thrown a wobbly. Best thing to do is as you have done, inflate to the correct pressures (if necessary) and then store the values again.

 

My first O3 used to do this at least once a week before I got rid of it ............

I found the TPMS fairly sensitive - had this issue when we left the highlands of Scotland in May as a combination of sporty driving (on sweeping roads), dropping altitude and an increase in ambient temperature of around 10 deg set the TPMS off with all 4 tyres pinging up. Had a puncture in the highlands so the pressures were set there.

 

Could be the significant drop in temperatures recently has made a difference?

 

Not had it do it since May - i think i've had one other false notification in the few months prior but the two other times, i had a screw in the tyre - so worked well. When you get a puncture it normally shows which wheel is the issue - on the false alarms it normally says check all 4.

Thanks for those replies guys. Proves the value of this forum. Again.

Edited 22 November, 201510 yr by MorrisOx