Tyre Pressure warnings....danger of crying wolf too often

[guest5079]

I am 100% in agreeance with Culzean, it does appear that instead of producing a vehicle that does the job it's intended to do it appears adding all these bits and bobs is  just to make it more attractive to the modern lazy person. What is wrong with checking the tyres on a car, after all experience soon shows if a tyre looks in need of some air, checking the tread and general state of the tyre is so so importance but I fear with things like the TPMS people will become so blaze about their tyres  they will never ever check them. My favourite electrician who lives opposite has had a seriously deflated rear tyre on his Transit for days. Surely one would have thought he would notice the rear end being a little lively!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He gets tyre failures and advisories every year ( yes the Gov site on checking MOTs is very enlightening)  and yet he still carries on regardless.

[culzean]

I am 100% in agreeance with Culzean, it does appear that instead of producing a vehicle that does the job it's intended to do it appears adding all these bits and bobs is  just to make it more attractive to the modern lazy person. What is wrong with checking the tyres on a car, after all experience soon shows if a tyre looks in need of some air, checking the tread and general state of the tyre is so so importance but I fear with things like the TPMS people will become so blaze about their tyres  they will never ever check them. My favourite electrician who lives opposite has had a seriously deflated rear tyre on his Transit for days. Surely one would have thought he would notice the rear end being a little lively!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He gets tyre failures and advisories every year ( yes the Gov site on checking MOTs is very enlightening)  and yet he still carries on regardless.

Many drivers still don't realise that an unroadworth tyre is 3 points and £2,500 PER TYRE .

quote ...

According to a new report a worrying gap in British motorists knowledge has emerged, which could land them a huge fine.

More than two-thirds of UK drivers don’t know the legal minimum tyre tread depth, according to new research.

The survey of motorists found that many drivers running the risk of a fine in excess of £2,500 and penalty points for being unaware of the limit.

In the UK the legal tyre depth limit is 1.6mm of tread across the central thee-quarters of the tyre.

[Skyrider]

Reliability promotes neglect, I suppose there is some logic in "If it is as reliable as a toaster, treat it like one". Most of the current driving population have no concept of the bygone days when if you didn't know in detail how a car worked you would not get very far.

[culzean]

Reliability promotes neglect, I suppose there is some logic in "If it is as reliable as a toaster, treat it like one". Most of the current driving population have no concept of the bygone days when if you didn't know in detail how a car worked you would not get very far.

A toaster wont normally kill people if it goes wrong,  it will either not make toast, burn the toast or trip the earth leakage CB.   An average passenger car is between 1 and 3 tonnes of metal traveling at speed in the company of other vehicles and pedestrians.   The lack of knowledge about even the most basic things like brakes and tyres amongst drivers is frightening.

[andruec]

I wonder if the LED/laser reading could also be used to detect pressure changes? It probably isn't beyond the realm of possibilities for a computer to monitor the shape of the tyre and as well as detecting low tread depth, detect shape changes indicating low pressure.

Anywhere around wheel arch area optical sensors are going to be continually bombarded and coated up with dirt and cr4p off the road.   

Cars would be a lot safer if basic maintenance and observation were part of the driving test,( has been since 2017 apparently but don't know how deep it goes)  at least prospective drivers would have some idea about how a potentially lethal piece of equipment like a vehicle works instead of treating it like a toaster or other household appliance.

They'd be even safer if we reduced the human factor. The fact is that humans are failing miserably to look after their tyres. As you say humans have a dangerous tendency to trivialise and ignore dangers. Computers don't and I'm sure sensors could be developed that overcome the issue of mud and water.

[guest5079]

I was( ill health)  retired 26 yrs ago. I do not think the situation has changed. In my time there was no authorised tyre depth gauge and the only way to get a tyre conviction was if there was NO tread over more  than three quarters of the tyre width.  There were many tyres well under the legal limit but could not be prosecuted, which as usual makes a mockery of the law apart from being down right dangerous.
Despite being retired I still look at tyres and I am deeply concerned about the dangerous state of many tyres and a lot of these dangerous tyres are on high end luxury cars capable of very high speed. If they want to kill them selves get on with it but often it is these cars that cross reservations/crash barriers and kill/maim innocent people.
It's too late to impose points and hefty fines after the event.

[peteo48]

Good points auntyneddy. I think we mentioned this on another thread but I am an inveterate inspector of other peoples tyres and you see some shockers.

[Jocko]

What amazes me is how many vehicles with bad tyres park with the wheels turned out. As if they are trying to show them off. If my tyres were dodgy the last thing I would do is make them obvious to anyone passing.

[culzean]

Good points auntyneddy. I think we mentioned this on another thread but I am an inveterate inspector of other peoples tyres and you see some shockers.

I wonder if some peoples tyres get prematurely bald because they abuse them during parking - the number of people (mainly seems to be women) i see when parking or getting into / out of confined spaces that turn the wheels from lock to lock while stationary,  never even attempting to get the wheels rolling before moving them.  It is pretty hard on the steering mechanism as well.

[VicW]

Have a look at the DVLA website pages that give a cars MoT history. A lot of the failures and advisories are for tyre faults. If the previous owner didn't look after the tyres what is the rest of the car like?

Vic.

[peteo48]

Latest update.

Another false alarm after a period of 70 mph on the motorway today. About 180 miles since last recalibration. Tyre pressures all slightly raised because of the heat but all even.

Since the last recalibration I have spoken to my pal whose Fiesta does this all the time. On another online forum - nothing to do with cars - a conversation about over-reliance on computers generally brought up a case of a Skoda Yeti which does this repeatedly. In the case of the Skoda, the dealer can't sort it and the owner has given up. He just recalibrates every time it does it.

Now I know people will say they've had no trouble with theirs but the false alarm thing is rife. You only need to look on the internet.

If only I could disable the damn thing! I'll be booking it in after the holiday but you just know they won't or can't sort it.

PS

Just another bit of googling. The light coming on after motorway driving is a very common theme in relation to the Honda system. There is something about high speed motorway driving that triggers the fault. Not found anybody who has had the problem cured - ie a specific fix.

[Skyrider]

Don't fall into the "Its all over the internet" trap. There were 255,600 odd fiestas sold last year, and that was only Europe, what proportion have this problem?

[ColinB]

< sticks head above parapet again >
This has been posted before but maybe it got lost in the debate about accuracy of pressure gauges (which I have no desire to reopen, let’s just agree to disagree).

Not found anybody who has had the problem cured - ie a specific fix.

There are people claiming a cure. In these two Honest John posts the writer claims to have personally had the problem and to have fixed it by adjusting tyre pressures:
https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/answer/69714/honda-jazz-tyre-deflation-system---is-there-a-problem-
https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/answer/59369/tyre-deflation-warning-system-malfunction
I have no axe to grind re HJ or whether he/they might be considered a reliable source of advice.

[peteo48]

Don't fall into the "Its all over the internet" trap. There were 255,600 odd fiestas sold last year, and that was only Europe, what proportion have this problem?

Fair point and, normally, I'd agree with you but the evidence is not just the internet. I'm getting this problem anecdotally from a number of people. My sampling method would not qualify as particularly robust but I think the tyre monitoring system is a real problem across a range of manufacturers.

Indeed, you can now buy devices to "cheat" the system - in short to disable it. The free market has sensed an opportunity and moved right on in.

If these systems were robust, no such market would exist.

They are not fit for purpose.

[Pine]

Don't fall into the "Its all over the internet" trap. There were 255,600 odd fiestas sold last year, and that was only Europe, what proportion have this problem?

I have had a Fiesta Ecoboost from new, it's just over 3 years old now.  The only time it has been it has been back to the garage is for its annual services.  I think it's a great little car and I have never had a false alarm from the TPS. It has been the number one best seller in the UK for the past couple of years and there are many good reasons for this.  My annual average MPG for this car is virtually the same as my previous Mk 2 Jazz CVT.