Passat CC TPMS - What type is it?

[Buggermedumplings]

VW dealers, head office, no one seems to know. Does anyone know whether its direct (Using sensors in the wheel) or indirect (Using ABS speed sensors to determine pressure)?

[OilBurna]

believe the cheaper versions i/e tdi and 4 cyl use the ABS sensors whereas the V6 and R36 uses sensors in the wheels i.e you can get a readout of tire pressure rather than a warning. Doesn't the manual go into further detail?

[Rocket36]

This is actually something I was thinking about just a couple of days ago. When I did a drive from Melbourne to Canberra with a FULLY loaded car, I changed the pressures in the R36 to be the higher load pressures and when I unloaded the car in Canberra set them back to the low load.

Now I set the low pressures in the tyres before changing the setting in the TPMS back to monitor the lower pressures. As soon as I turned the car on, I got a warning from the TPMS that the pressures were too low. That to me indicates the TPMS in my car is based on pressure sensors in the valves rather than rolling diametre. As soon as I changed the TPMS to monitor the lower setting, not more warning.

[Buggermedumplings]

I can confirm that the CC uses sensors in the wheels (Pulled the tyre off my spare)...

So much for the 3 Vic VW service departments who said TPMS is run off the ABS speed sensors :confused:

[Keithuk]

Sorry if this is an old thread.

The visual difference is the tyre valves. Volkswagen Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) (http://www.my-gti.com/321/volkswagen-tyre-pressure-monitoring-system-tpms) ;)

[seanmau5]

Going to give this thread one hell of a bump but I'm at odds with my tpms.. I have the V6 CC and the valve stems that suggest my car has a direct system. Should I be able to view pressures on the mfd? The only thing it does is give me a warning to 'check tyre pressures' when I start the car, or if the pressure is really low I get the warning light. The reset button in the glovebox does nothing and I have the partly/fully loaded monitoring button on the centre console. After reading above it seems that VWA might not be able to help me out here. Is anyone aware of a way to check using VCDS?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rjt86]

CC's use individual sensors, I've got a 2009 and this is the case, we also have a 2006 Jetta which uses the abs wheel speed sensors to determine if there is a flat. In this system a slower spinning wheel to the other 3 will throw the flat tyre warning.

The newest tpms system gives you a pressure reading for each tyre, if you don't see the picture of the car with the readings on the mfd then you have the basic system.

From past experience I found the sensor based system to be very accurate, it picked up a slow leak before I noticed it as the tyre looked fine.

With your issue above are you 100% sure you filled he tyres up to the correct KPA rating front and rear for the partially loaded ratings? Maybe you have a faulty sensor if this is the case

[seanmau5]

Ok so no, I don't have the car with the individual pressures so it must be the basic system then, thanks for clearing that up for me. I don't actually have any issues just wasn't sure whether it was functioning correctly. I usually pump up to 38-40 psi depending on what type of driving I'm doing and everything functions as it should (light goes out, no warning on mfd)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Eaglen00b]

My CC uses individual sensors. Had a wheel alignment, rotation and balance done at BJ's the other day, told them to put 38psi Front and 35psi rear. Saw them pump the tires after the rotation, asked the tech if he'd put the pressures I'd requested on front and back and he said yes. The MFD was live, so I asked him to check by selecting two screens to the left of the digital speedo. 40psi all round. His excuse? It's their "standard" inflation pressures. Sheesh.

[Elmura]

My CC uses individual sensors. Had a wheel alignment, rotation and balance done at BJ's the other day, told them to put 38psi Front and 35psi rear. Saw them pump the tires after the rotation, asked the tech if he'd put the pressures I'd requested on front and back and he said yes. The MFD was live, so I asked him to check by selecting two screens to the left of the digital speedo. 40psi all round. His excuse? It's their "standard" inflation pressures. Sheesh.
I run the recommended pressures as per the digital display on the MY12 CC - 290 kpa cold. Get this... 42psi!!
I've never had a car run this pressure before (I'm early 40s) so this surprised me & I had to double check. And this is for the Part Load setting!

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

[Eaglen00b]

I run the recommended pressures as per the digital display on the MY12 CC - 290 kpa cold. Get this... 42psi!!
I've never had a car run this pressure before (I'm early 40s) so this surprised me & I had to double check. And this is for the Part Load setting!

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

Hi Elmura,

Wow, your recommended pressures sound really high, especially for part loading! Are you running 42psi all round?

42psi cold would mean around 45psi once the tyres warm up, which I'd imagine would probably make the ride noticeably harsh, even with suspension set to "Comfort".

Maybe your tires are a different size to mine? I've got the standard factory "Lakeville" rims with Continental Contisportcontact 5 tires 235/40 R18 95W Extra Load.

The MFD on my CC displays a recommended pressure of 38psi fronts and 35psi rears part loaded. No issues with tire wear, handling or ride quality at these pressures. If anything the ride is a bit quieter over the coarse chip roads we have plenty of here in WA.

The only time I've run higher pressures was when the missus, myself and another couple went on a road trip from Perth to Sydney, Jindabyne via Canberra, The Alpine Way, Thredbo, Melbourne, Mt Gambier via Great Ocean Rd, Adelaide and back to Perth. The CC was fully loaded with four ppl + luggage + munchies + water too.

I ran the fronts at 42psi and rears at 39psi for the duration of the trip and it was perfectly fine. Ride was compliant, tires wore evenly, no issues whatsoever.

On a side note, I was pretty stoked to get at least 1200km out on the open road from a single tank of diesel before the fuel warning light came on, which is fantastic when blitzing the stretch between Norseman WA and Ceduna SA and back across the Nullabor.

[Elmura]

Hi Elmura,

Wow, your recommended pressures sound really high, especially for part loading! Are you running 42psi all round?

42psi cold would mean around 45psi once the tyres warm up, which I'd imagine would probably make the ride noticeably harsh, even with suspension set to "Comfort".

Maybe your tires are a different size to mine? I've got the standard factory "Lakeville" rims with Continental Contisportcontact 5 tires 235/40 R18 95W Extra Load.

The MFD on my CC displays a recommended pressure of 38psi fronts and 35psi rears part loaded. No issues with tire wear, handling or ride quality at these pressures. If anything the ride is a bit quieter over the coarse chip roads we have plenty of here in WA.

The only time I've run higher pressures was when the missus, myself and another couple went on a road trip from Perth to Sydney, Jindabyne via Canberra, The Alpine Way, Thredbo, Melbourne, Mt Gambier via Great Ocean Rd, Adelaide and back to Perth. The CC was fully loaded with four ppl + luggage + munchies + water too.

I ran the fronts at 42psi and rears at 39psi for the duration of the trip and it was perfectly fine. Ride was compliant, tires wore evenly, no issues whatsoever.

On a side note, I was pretty stoked to get at least 1200km out on the open road from a single tank of diesel before the fuel warning light came on, which is fantastic when blitzing the stretch between Norseman WA and Ceduna SA and back across the Nullabor.
Runs 42psi all round. Our car runs the V6 4 MOTION. Probably the reason. Runs same size tyres & wheels (turbine).
No issues with ride comfort even set to Sport and eibach lower springs (set to Sport most of the time except when road surface is poor).
I must see what the recommended pressures are fully loaded...
PS - Great road trip, bet the car needs a respray though

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

[Eaglen00b]

Runs 42psi all round. Our car runs the V6 4 MOTION. Probably the reason. Runs same size tyres & wheels (turbine).
No issues with ride comfort even set to Sport and eibach lower springs (set to Sport most of the time except when road surface is poor).
I must see what the recommended pressures are fully loaded...
PS - Great road trip, bet the car needs a respray though

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

Yeah that makes sense, since yours is 4MOTION. With all four wheels providing drive, even with predominantly front wheel drive bias, it's only logical to have uniform pressures all round.

4MOTION would've been handy on Alpine Way. I wouldn't have had to put on the K-Summits to go past Dead Horse Gap from the Cascades. It just feels plain weird driving with chains on.

Respray? Nope (thankfully) :P. It did need a really thorough clean though! Lots and lots of bug splats and grime but the guy who does my detailing did his magic and brought the car back to pretty much showroom condition.

Strangely enough, the long trip seems to have made the car run even better. The motor feels more "freed".

[seanmau5]

Sounds like an epic road trip! You certainly covered some kilometres that I wouldn't dream of doing in my V6. Although I managed around 7.9L/100 on a trip from Sydney to Albury it still isn't efficient enough for long haul trips particularly when I have to pay around 1.50-1.60 for 98 octane.

Anyway, back on topic. I wonder how hard it would be to retrofit the 433MHz system in place of my more basic 315MHz system. I realise changing the wheel sensors is simple but it's the rest that could be a problem. Anyone done it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rjt86]

I'm actually looking to retrofit this soon in mine, so I can let you know what's involved. I believe it's a tpms module, all 4 premium sensors and I believe there is a antenna for the tpms sensors located around one of the wheel arches. I'll have to see what the wiring is like.

I also heard you need a replacement instrument cluster in order for the individual pressures to be displayed like the 2011+ cc's. I'm waiting for a colour display to come down which will sort that issue