Modern cars/modern wheels..... who would have thunk this?

[Dave7]

My car is a 65 plate Astra.....top spec no less as is befitting
OK...... what I know about mechanics is errh uhmm.....virtually zilch. So this 'fact' maybe known to all you car people.
Yesterday = puncture in BACK tyre (important)
Called mobile repair people out. Excellent service. Arrived within an hour and repaired it.
BUT
I mentioned that the dashboard thingy warned me there was a problem at the FRONT so.......
1) he showed me that each wheel has a sensor adjacent to the tyre valve and.....
2) if eg the wheels have been swapped then the dashboard thingy would tell me the problem is at the FRONT .....because that is where the computer thinks that is where that wheel should be.
I suppose that piece of technology is good for certain things eg traction problems but I think I could live without it.

 

[cosmicbike]

Others use the ABS sensors to detect wheel speed differences which may indicate low pressure, my 2014 Honda used this and needed to be recalibrated after putting air in the tyres.

 

[fossyant]

My son's uses the ABS, seems much less problematic. My brother 'had' a BMW, nothing but issues with his pressure sensors. I just kick my tyres ! (OK squeeze them and check with my track pump).

 

[HMS_Dave]

I think Renault's came out with those tyre pressure sensor things years ago on the Lag'oo'na. I seem to recall they would break the moment you drove off from the forecourt...

Maybe things have improved somewhat these days.

 

[gbb]

Its the TPMS sensors. If you look at the tyre valve it will be aluminium instead of rubber (that brings its own problems but not relevent here)
As said up post, someone (probably at tyre bay) hasnt put the wheels back in the correct place.

You can buy a TPMS programming tool off the internet for less than a tenner and reset them following a strict process (i cant remember it without refering back)
Or you could just put the wheels back...if you know which is which.
Or you could just carry as you were

 

[Drago]

Its now a legal requirement on new cars. Fortunately, most manufacturers have gone to differemtial monitoring systems rather than sensors on the wheels, which were as reliable as a the lifeguards at a Barrymore pool party.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Wifes (2018) C-HR hybrid has low-pressure system
Doesn't tell you which tyre though

Daughters (2014) Vauxhall Adam has a similar system, but, displays all 4 pressures on a schematic

My (2011) Octavia estate relies on common-sense/weekly checks

 

[Pale Rider]

as reliable as a the lifeguards at a Barrymore pool party.

But not as unreliable as the Essex coppers who turned up next morning.