Tyre Pressure indicator. Gimmick?????

[shaneth]

OK i was in Tamworth this weekend. My brother was driving the car buy himself and hit a rock that punctured the inner side wall of the tyre. (ill take a photo tomorrow.) He said the light didnt come on when that he saw. Also when i changed the tyre with a spare which was new and the cars on there were 9000kms old the car still didnt tell me one was different. (the manual says it can tell when one is low buy the rolling diameter of the tyre by the ABS sensor.) Now what has everyone else experinced have you seen it work or is it just a Gimmick?

[Wand Weaver]

Just a question before we get too carried away here (no I haven't seen it work) - does your low tyre pressure light turn on when you start the car?

Just wondering whether it could be an instrument-cluster related problem and not a problem with the system.

[shaneth]

Fair enough question and no i donmt mean to bag the car just wondering what everyone else thinks (i love the car :D).

the answer to your question is yes it comes on when i start the car for a couple of seconds and then goes off. So its working. What i may do is go to a servo and let one down say 15psi and see what happens.

[VWindahouse]

Yes mine has gone off before

[shaneth]

what happened?? audible sound or just the light. do you remember the tyre pressure difference.

[Kai]

I blew my tyre and it never went off. I did forget to reset it once i had the new one on there. And it went off.

[jasn78]

Had a screw through one of mine and it did go off. think it is brilliant:)

[Timbo]

Mine went off after changing wheels and tyres, and me not resetting it :?

[beefa]

Silly question but needs to be asked... had you actually set the tyre pressure indicator to begin with ?

[VWindahouse]

Hold down the button for a couple of seconds just after you get the pressure you want your tyres at, and listen for the ding.

[VWindahouse]

what happened?? audible sound or just the light. do you remember the tyre pressure difference. Same as the low fuel warning. From memory it was about 4-5 psi less than what I set it at.

[Timbo]

Silly question but needs to be asked... had you actually set the tyre pressure indicator to begin with ?

Not sure who this was directed at, but in my case I usually reset the indicator after checking and re-inflating tyres -- just forgot after having new wheels/tyres fitted :rolleyes:

[shaneth]

Silly question but needs to be asked... had you actually set the tyre pressure indicator to begin with ?

How dare you........j: Yeah mate i reset it everytime i change tyre pressures. or even check them.

[Glide_GTI]

to answer a few questions here, I spoke to derek about the sensor, heres how it works.


its actually a part of the ABS system, it detects the 'pressure' by measuring the rotation speed of each tire, so when you get a flat, it will notice a change in the rotation speed compared to the other three, if you get a flat in all 4 at once, it wont be able to detect pressure drops

[FL00DY]

I've had it come on before, checked all pressures and one had gone down so I pumped it up. Few days later it went on again. Same tyre was low on pressure, changed the tyre with the spare. Went to my tyre guy for him to inspect the deflating tyre and he found a screw in it. Removed the screw, repaired the hole and it was fine after that. If I didn't have the pressure light, I would have been driving it till it was flat and been changing the tyre on the side of the road.

The only other time it's come on was after my new wheels got put on and I hadn't reset the indicator.

[beefa]

Based on the way it works, as mentioned above, you would have to assume that the wheel requires a given number of rotations for the sensor to be able to accurately measure the difference in the rolling diametre of the tyre. So a blow out or very rapid deflation may not allow you to drive far enough (hence enough rotations) for the computer to calculate there is a difference.

[pinzvidz]

I blew my tyre and it never went off. I did forget to reset it once i had the new one on there. And it went off.

Hmmm... I suspect the system has a very slow refresh rate, rather like a fuel gauge. Think of it this way - a fuel gauge with a real time connection to the potentiometer in the tank would swing all over the place whilst you're going around corners, braking etc. Usually fuel gauges update every 10 or 15 seconds so you don't see the wild swinging about. The same might apply to the tyre pressure sensors - maybe they only update every so often. So if suddenly you blew a tyre whilst driving, it wouldn't set off the warning. A slow leak, however, would be a different story.

[FL00DY]

Hmmm... I suspect the system has a very slow refresh rate, rather like a fuel gauge. Think of it this way - a fuel gauge with a real time connection to the potentiometer in the tank would swing all over the place whilst you're going around corners, braking etc. Usually fuel gauges update every 10 or 15 seconds so you don't see the wild swinging about. The same might apply to the tyre pressure sensors - maybe they only update every so often. So if suddenly you blew a tyre whilst driving, it wouldn't set off the warning. A slow leak, however, would be a different story.

lol yeh but surely this is more because you don't need a pressure monitor to tell you about a blow out :D You can feel that, a slow leak you can't feel and gives you time, in my story ^^^^^ for instance, to work out what wheel it is and if it's a problem with the tyre itself.

[PoloGTi]

Mine has worked every time the tyre has droped around 8psi or more i had a slow leek in a front tyre and every time i pumped it up and then when it went down 8psi it went off again. Also worked when i rolled a tyre off a rim and when i put the spear on it went off again after restetting. Why not drop 10psi out of a tyre drive down the street see if it comes on? After all nothing beats a good tyre gauge and then you know its going to be all good.

[Timbo]

I can happily :( report again that mine works. On the drive to work yesterday, it came on. So I stopped and checked the tyres. All 'appeared' OK but when I checked more carefully using a tyre gauge I found the right rear had 10psi. Nail! :mad:

[VEEDUB69]

Mine has come on twice from memory but when I look at the tyres I dont see any obvious issue, but I havent checked pressures yet, will now do so asap. Only had the car 3 weeks so thought it was just set wrong or someything. Nothing to say the dealership inflated all tyres correctly I suppose in pre-del.

[FL00DY]

Mine has come on twice from memory but when I look at the tyres I dont see any obvious issue, but I havent checked pressures yet, will now do so asap. Only had the car 3 weeks so thought it was just set wrong or someything. Nothing to say the dealership inflated all tyres correctly I suppose in pre-del.

Simple to troubleshoot. Pump all tyres to 40, hold down the tyre pressure button to reset it. If it goes off again then check your pressures, if one of them are down swap with the spare and take the spare to get fixed.

Also when I got my new tyres put on, I didn't reset the monitor and it beeped at me later on.

[Flaps]

I think its a gimmick.

I put 17's on with 225/45's and drove 5km to the tyre joint with different pressures - nothing happened.

After replacing the tyres with 205/40's still no alarm or warning after 10-12 days. :?

[FL00DY]

I think its a gimmick.

I put 17's on with 225/45's and drove 5km to the tyre joint with different pressures - nothing happened.

After replacing the tyres with 205/40's still no alarm or warning after 10-12 days. :?

I'm here to tell you it's not a gimmick. When mine was going off and I did the above mentioned steps my tyre guy found a small nail in mine and was able to repair the tyre. Had I not had the pressure monitor I would have been on a Sunday cruise somewhere changing my tyre on the side of the road, least with pressure monitor I was able to do it at home undercover.

[MACCAA]

But did you reset it each time you changed wheels/tyres?It won't work unless it's turned on.
Came on once for me.Sure enough,nail in tyre,slow leak.
Cheers
Len

[FL00DY]

But did you reset it each time you changed wheels/tyres?It won't work unless it's turned on.
Came on once for me.Sure enough,nail in tyre,slow leak.
Cheers
Len

Yeh good point Len. You have to reset the monitor every time you change tyres and change tyre pressures.

[Timbo]

Refer my experience earlier. It works, but you do have to set it

[shaneth]

Correct me if im wrong but from what i read if you set it on one set of tyres and you change wheels and they are different it should come on. It cant tell if tyres have been changed can it?????

[Flaps]

Correct me if im wrong but from what i read if you set it on one set of tyres and you change wheels and they are different it should come on. It cant tell if tyres have been changed can it?????

Exactly my point :?:

[DaveMack]

Correct me if im wrong but from what i read if you set it on one set of tyres and you change wheels and they are different it should come on. It cant tell if tyres have been changed can it?????

I changed a wheel while one of my rims was being repaired. The sensor had been set and when the spare was put on (although it was at the same pressure as the one removed), the sensor went off. So I checked the tyre pressures and reset. Hasn't gone off since.

Not sure why it should go off if the pressures were the same, but here's a thought. When you set the sensor it probably has data about each wheel and a change of wheel may mean that slightly different balancing weights do not match the data it had when set ... so it throws a fault code.

Dave

[FL00DY]

to answer a few questions here, I spoke to derek about the sensor, heres how it works.


its actually a part of the ABS system, it detects the 'pressure' by measuring the rotation speed of each tire, so when you get a flat, it will notice a change in the rotation speed compared to the other three, if you get a flat in all 4 at once, it wont be able to detect pressure drops

This is how it works, should answer some questions.

[shaneth]

So the answer is NO it cant tell if the wheel is changed.

[FL00DY]

So the answer is NO it cant tell if the wheel is changed.

If you have different size wheels put on then yes it go off. Interesting note about when I had my new tyres put on. I had them put on on a Wednesday, drove to Canberra via the coast on a Friday, on the way to Thredbo on the Saturday the monitor went off. At the next servo I pulled over, check tyre pressures, they were all fine. Made some adjustments and then reset the monitor, haven't had it go off since.

[gtigrl]

Mine has gone off 3 times when pressures have changed in a rear but not when I blew a tyre..?? go figure...

[mitch_gti]

I was out in the middle of the sticks last night,


On a highway through the bush, NO street lights, super narrow one lane street.

I freaked out when the tyre pressure sensor came on. But got out and everything looked okay. so i kept a close eye on the tyres (stopped every 5 mins) then finally found a service station and filled the tyres up a bit more.

Thing is that none of the tyres were really low, but i took the opportunity to lift pressures up a bit :) then reset the sensor

[shaneth]

OK so its not a gimmick, ive had it go off twice in the last week :o

1st time was when i thought it was flat but it wasnt and i found an egg in the side wall. :?

2nd was last night when i had a nail in my tyre. :mad:

[FL00DY]

OK so its not a gimmick, ive had it go off twice in the last week :o

1st time was when i thought it was flat but it wasnt and i found an egg in the side wall. :?

2nd was last night when i had a nail in my tyre. :mad:That sucks dude, but at least it can probably be repaired. You are now a believer.

[Ben_GTI]

If you hit a puddle or still water at high speed it goes off. So aquaplaning sets it off.

[mitch_gti]

If you hit a puddle or still water at high speed it goes off. So aquaplaning sets it off.



Really?????? thats new :) hehe had no idea !


P.S how unbelievably well does the GTI handle in the wet. Soo much grip!!

:cool:

[RUS7Y]

Sorry to dig up and old Post.

I have just taken all my rims off on the weekend to sand and spray. My friend stupidly sprayed over the back of the Tyre which we marked the location of the Tyre on the car. lol idiot haha

Anyway i had noticed driving into work today that the car swayed a little which is to be expected and the steering wheel had a little and only a little shutter at 100k.

The Tyre Monitor display came on at about 105 on the freeway. I pulled over checked the tyres. All have perfect pressure and were not going flat. Only thing I can think off is that the wheels are out of balance which i knew would happen and this has set off the light.
It does turn on when I stop and start the car imediately now. I have not used the VAG on it yet as the laptop died.

Any thoughts?

[Hillbilly]

Mine has gone off 3 times when pressures have changed in a rear but not when I blew a tyre..?? go figure...

Read earlier posts regarding this. It doesnt refresh fast enough to go off if a tyre blows.

Surely you dont need a sensor to tell you have blown a tyre.

[Hillbilly]

Sorry to dig up and old Post.

I have just taken all my rims off on the weekend to sand and spray. My friend stupidly sprayed over the back of the Tyre which we marked the location of the Tyre on the car. lol idiot haha

Anyway i had noticed driving into work today that the car swayed a little which is to be expected and the steering wheel had a little and only a little shutter at 100k.

The Tyre Monitor display came on at about 105 on the freeway. I pulled over checked the tyres. All have perfect pressure and were not going flat. Only thing I can think off is that the wheels are out of balance which i knew would happen and this has set off the light.
It does turn on when I stop and start the car imediately now. I have not used the VAG on it yet as the laptop died.

Any thoughts?
Is a wheel loose Had my wheels rotated once and car felt funny afterward. Turned out the **** that did them put one on crooked and it had come loose. Bl++dy Holdens with tight centres.

[RUS7Y]

Is a wheel loose

Its a possibility,
I thought we we dropped it the back left looked a little crooked but after staring at the back of the car and comparing it looked ok. Ill have to check the nuts when I get home as I don't have the tools with me. Still scattered all over my garage

[Hillbilly]

Its a possibility,
I thought we we dropped it the back left looked a little crooked but after staring at the back of the car and comparing it looked ok. Ill have to check the nuts when I get home as I don't have the tools with me. Still scattered all over my garage

I would grab it and shake it before I went home or you may not get there

[brad]

Its a possibility,
I thought we we dropped it the back left looked a little crooked but after staring at the back of the car and comparing it looked ok. Ill have to check the nuts when I get home as I don't have the tools with me. Still scattered all over my garage

No wheel brace in the boot?

[RUS7Y]

No wheel brace in the boot?
Yeah all on the floor in my garage i know. Stupid but at 1am I was pretty tired

[brad]

ooops!