Tire Pressure Monitoring System

[Mostlylost]

45 minutes ago, AndyPanda said:

Nice to know we have so many experts on this exact topic. Truth be known, I'm not going to spend $750US or more to fix any of it if it goes. I got eyeballs.

The vast majority of problems are related to the in tire pressure sensor.  Depending on the brand they cost about $400=$700 MX plus a tire dismount/remount & balance. 

Rarely is it the receiver(s)  that send the information to the car's computer.

The  work for sending the information to the dash lights and or pressure gauge is integrated in your vehicles computer system. 

[FlyFree]

Got my car back from VW. They reset the dashboard. Did not have to replace anything. I want to have my tires checked. I think I may have a slow leak in one of my tires. Any recommendations? Thanks.

[RickS]

Depends on whether you have a tire pressure gauge (15 pesos) or not.... and I guess whether you want to test it or have some else that you might feel is more competent.

If the former, there are two things one can do;  1) take the cap off of the suspected tire pressure 'stem' valve; put enough 'spit' on the stem to have it cover the air entrance hole of the valve; watch and see if a leak in the stem is causing the 'spit to form a bubble and then burst'.  Try that a couple of times making sure the spit does form a liquid cover of the small entry hole. If it doesn't 'burst' within  5-10 seconds then at least the stem is not leaking. If it burst, air is leaking out of the defective valve stem. Take it to a tire shop, tell them that you suspect that your tire stem valve is defective. They will also test it and replace the valve for a small fee.

If the valve stem is not leaking, 2) take a tire pressure reading every morning about the same time before you drive it anywhere. Actually take it twice each morning to make sure your reading was accurate. Make sure the suspect tire is not 'sitting in the sun' as that heat will change tire pressure. Depending on 'how slow' your leak is it might take a while for a noticeable difference to appear... if it has a leak.

If you want a 'more professional' opinion take it to a tire dealer and they will probably do a water/soap test on the entire tire to see/find any leak that may be present. If they find a leak, due to maybe a nail they may be able to just patch the hole.... if it is not in the sidewall.  If you have to buy a new tire, make sure that they can put the same make/model/tread-balance-remaining tire in its place.... having a mismatched tire or one new tire and the rest of the tires older/with much less tread can be problematic.

Good luck.....

[AndyPanda]

I am missing something. You got your TPMS fixed, but now you suspect a leak. And the TPMS isn't showing anything?

[Mostlylost]

The TPMS will only register when the the affected tire falls below a preset pressure or percentage of the recommended pressure. If the affected tire has not reached that number it is not considered dangerous, therefore the TPMS will show ok.

If you have one of the more complex systems that shows the actual pressure of each individual tire in a display that number can be displayed, but there will be no chime or lamp because it is within normal parameters. . 

[AndyPanda]

1 hour ago, Mostlylost said:

The TPMS will only register when the the affected tire falls below a preset pressure or percentage of the recommended pressure. If the affected tire has not reached that number it is not considered dangerous, therefore the TPMS will show ok.

"Many blowouts are caused by a tire with a slow leak that  lowers pressure thus causing the sidewalls to flex too much, heat up, and the fail or blow out.  A TPMS will alert you of the pressure loss before you would get to the blow out stage. I guarantee it will know of the slow leak lowering the pressure in an individual tire before you would at 100kmh. TPMS have been mandated by federal law in new vehicles in the USA since 2008."

"The TPMS was mandated to as a fuel saving measure .  If the tires are at the correct pressure the rolling resistance is less therefore saving fuel."

[FlyFree]

1 hour ago, RickS said:

Depends on whether you have a tire pressure gauge (15 pesos) or not.... and I guess whether you want to test it or have some else that you might feel is more competent.

If the former, there are two things one can do;  1) take the cap off of the suspected tire pressure 'stem' valve; put enough 'spit' on the stem to have it cover the air entrance hole of the valve; watch and see if a leak in the stem is causing the 'spit to form a bubble and then burst'.  Try that a couple of times making sure the spit does form a liquid cover of the small entry hole. If it doesn't 'burst' within  5-10 seconds then at least the stem is not leaking. If it burst, air is leaking out of the defective valve stem. Take it to a tire shop, tell them that you suspect that your tire stem valve is defective. They will also test it and replace the valve for a small fee.

If the valve stem is not leaking, 2) take a tire pressure reading every morning about the same time before you drive it anywhere. Actually take it twice each morning to make sure your reading was accurate. Make sure the suspect tire is not 'sitting in the sun' as that heat will change tire pressure. Depending on 'how slow' your leak is it might take a while for a noticeable difference to appear... if it has a leak.

If you want a 'more professional' opinion take it to a tire dealer and they will probably do a water/soap test on the entire tire to see/find any leak that may be present. If they find a leak, due to maybe a nail they may be able to just patch the hole.... if it is not in the sidewall.  If you have to buy a new tire, make sure that they can put the same make/model/tread-balance-remaining tire in its place.... having a mismatched tire or one new tire and the rest of the tires older/with much less tread can be problematic.

Good luck.....

Thank you. I'll get a tire pressure gauge. The rest of the stuff is beyond my pay grade. I need a recommendation of where to have my tire checked for leakage. 

[Mostlylost]

30 minutes ago, AndyPanda said:

"Many blowouts are caused by a tire with a slow leak that  lowers pressure thus causing the sidewalls to flex too much, heat up, and the fail or blow out.  A TPMS will alert you of the pressure loss before you would get to the blow out stage. I guarantee it will know of the slow leak lowering the pressure in an individual tire before you would at 100kmh. TPMS have been mandated by federal law in new vehicles in the USA since 2008."

"The TPMS was mandated to as a fuel saving measure .  If the tires are at the correct pressure the rolling resistance is less therefore saving fuel."

The first is absolutely true. When the TPMS sees one or more tires having a pressure lower that the preset parameters it will advise the driver with light and sound as required by law. That is because a tire with too low a pressure causes the sidewall to flex more than it's design limits and possibly overheat to the point of catastrophic failure. 

The second is false. While property inflated tires will help with fuel mileage,  the TREAD act passed by the US congress has no mention whatsoever of gas mileage.

The Firestone recall in the late 1990s (which was linked to more than 100 deaths from rollovers following tire tread-separation), pushed the United States Congress to legislate the TREAD Act. The Act mandated the use of a suitable TPMS technology in all light motor vehicles (under 10,000 pounds), to help alert drivers of under-inflation events.

[Mostlylost]

2 minutes ago, FlyFree said:

Thank you. I'll get a tire pressure gauge. The rest of the stuff is beyond my pay grade. I need a recommendation of where to have my tire checked for leakage. 

Stop at any tire seller or any llantera on the street, They can check your tire pressure and check each tire for a leak.  Basically to check for the leak they will place the tire & wheel in a water tank. 

[RickS]

Specifically you might use 1) the "Michelin" tire shop on the Libramiento between Walmart and Chapala.  OR  2) the "Goodyear" tire shop just as one starts to pull into Sorianas in Chapala. 

IF there is a problem and you have to buy a new tire, please re-read my thoughts on that above....

[AndyPanda]

1 hour ago, Mostlylost said:

The first is absolutely true. When the TPMS sees one or more tires having a pressure lower that the preset parameters it will advise the driver with light and sound as required by law. That is because a tire with too low a pressure causes the sidewall to flex more than it's design limits and possibly overheat to the point of catastrophic failure. 

The second is false. While property inflated tires will help with fuel mileage,  the TREAD act passed by the US congress has no mention whatsoever of gas mileage.

The Firestone recall in the late 1990s (which was linked to more than 100 deaths from rollovers following tire tread-separation), pushed the United States Congress to legislate the TREAD Act. The Act mandated the use of a suitable TPMS technology in all light motor vehicles (under 10,000 pounds), to help alert drivers of under-inflation events.

Yeah, I looked all that up too on Google. And know this: every tire has a slow leak. Every tire.

[RickS]

There is a difference between the 'natural' leaking of air over time by rubber tires on vehicles and what is being discussed here.... a slow leak in one tire that is going to cause problems sooner or later... and probably sooner.

[happyjillin]

3 hours ago, AndyPanda said:

Yeah, I looked all that up too on Google. And know this: every tire has a slow leak. Every tire.

Yup.

[gringohombre]

So 20 pesos for a tire check and window wash at each petrol fill up??? What a deal!!

END OF THE STORY

[Mostlylost]

11 hours ago, gringohombre said:

So 20 pesos for a tire check and window wash at each petrol fill up??? What a deal!!

END OF THE STORY

Works great for me as well. When I am driving on the autopista I stop at every gas station and give them money to check my tires.  Makes for a very long but safe trip.

[happyjillin]

Jeez! All ya gotta do is look at your tires yerself. So many of you are helpless for simple things?????

[Mostlylost]

25 minutes ago, happyjillin said:

Jeez! All ya gotta do is look at your tires yerself. So many of you are helpless for simple things?????

GREAT SUGGESTION. Much better than stopping at every gas station    I am going to buy 4 cameras and mount them by the tires so I can look at them while I am driving at 100kmph on the autopista. 

Or possibly I could just see the actual pressure that shows on the TPMS that my vehicle has?? 

Let's see mmmmm  watcha think would more logical??   I'm going with the TPMS   Maybe you would buy the cameras??

[happyjillin]

8 minutes ago, Mostlylost said:

GREAT SUGGESTION. Much better than stopping at every gas station    I am going to buy 4 cameras and mount them by the tires so I can look at them while I am driving at 100kmph on the autopista. 

Or possibly I could just see the actual pressure that shows on the TPMS that my vehicle has?? 

Let's see mmmmm  watcha think would more logical??   I'm going with the TPMS   Maybe you would buy the cameras??

So you're saying that you don't do a few simple things re:your vehicle in prep for a trip? At 100mph already on the autopista and something suddenly happens to your tyre[s] then it's too late for anything like yer vaunted TPMS. Hope you took a course on what to do if you have a blowout at high speed. I did and it works to save my life and others around me.

[Mostlylost]

10 minutes ago, happyjillin said:

So you're saying that you don't do a few simple things re:your vehicle in prep for a trip? At 100mph already on the autopista and something suddenly happens to your tyre[s] then it's too late for anything like yer vaunted TPMS. Hope you took a course on what to do if you have a blowout at high speed. I did and it works to save my life and others around me.

YOU ARE A GENIOUS    Great Now I can cover the pressure display and disconnect the chime because my tires were perfect when I left the house.  

Because they were perfect it will be impossible for me to run over say a screw or nail that would cause a slow leak that might go undetected  and cause a catastrophic failure (blow out) because of sidewall flex from underinflation. Because you have assured me that you can only get an instant blow out at 100KMPH never just a small puncture. One second the tire is at 100% with zero problems and one second later it blows out. No such thing as a slow leak at highway speeds.

WOW it seems so silly that the USA, Canada,  Japan,  the European Union all require  a TPMS system in light vehicles. What a waste. All you need to do is look at your tires before you leave the house they will be fine when you return. 

So glad you are an expert driver. If I take a driving course maybe I can disconnect my anti-rollover braking and antilock braking systems as well. Surely I will be able to react much faster than the computer with the type of training you had. Why would I want those anymore?

Sorry Pedro but as Mr. Spock would say " your statements are completely illogical"

 

 

[happyjillin]

My computer[brain] which is full of logic has yet to crash and is a vast storehouse of knowledge including simple things like tire pressure which I can rely on based on the information my eyes pass to my brain.-SNORK!

[AndyPanda]

I'm with happy. Basic vehicle preventive maintenance. Basic since the first auto.

BTW, no one here ever said TPMS was a bad thing. But pushing it as the only solution, and everyone else is stupid or something, versus common sense? Yeah, that is a bad thing.

[RickS]

I"m sure the OP is benefiting greatly from this discussion.....

 

 

[happyjillin]

1 hour ago, AndyPanda said:

I'm with happy. Basic vehicle preventive maintenance. Basic since the first auto.

BTW, no one here ever said TPMS was a bad thing. But pushing it as the only solution, and everyone else is stupid or something, versus common sense? Yeah, that is a bad thing.

Yup!

[FlyFree]

I went to AutoZone and bought a digital tire pressure gauge. I thought I was using it incorrectly but the gauge was faulty. I returned it to AutoZone. They checked it. Indeed it was faulty. I will not be dealing with any more devices.

[AndyPanda]

Perhaps a little late for you, but getting the most expensive NON-DIGITAL gauge is a better bet. Then you go to the gas station, check your inflation with their gauge, and check it with your gauge to see how well it's calibrated. 1 or 2 psi off base won't make any difference as long as you know it whenever you check your pressure. I use the same method for checking thermometers at the store, sort of. Grab a handful and see which ones all read the same.