TPMS as much use as a....

Cuprobbie

Active Member
May 4, 2016
91
26
Hamilton
Chocolate fireguard!

A few months ago I felt my Cupra was handling a bit strangely so when I pulled over I instantly noticed a soft tyre which was confirmed by my pressure gauge. There was a nail in the tyre. The TPMS did not indicate any problem.

A couple of weeks ago I had 2 new tyres fitted and then drove about 10 miles when suddenly the TPMS indicated a problem. Pulled over, checked the pressures. Perfect!

Today I was driving north on the M74 about a mile south of Abington when the TPMS pinged to indicate loss of pressure. Pulled in to the services, checked the pressures. Perfect!

Could the hot weather today have caused the system to malfunction, or is the TPMS just a total waste of time and totally unreliable?
 

Big Col

Active Member
Nov 5, 2013
626
89
North Ayrshire
it's not given me any issues in the Leon - yet - but yeah in the Ibiza it was about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike.

Never flagged a soft or flat tyre, yet was hypersensitive to new tyres. Ironically the one time i had a complete flat - which it never flagged - it went into overdrive when i put the space saver on and then went haywire again with the change from the space saver back to the new tyre.
 

Damo H

Remind me, what's an indicator?
Staff member
Moderator
Oct 3, 2012
4,710
2,804
Car Length In Front
Chocolate fireguard!

A few months ago I felt my Cupra was handling a bit strangely so when I pulled over I instantly noticed a soft tyre which was confirmed by my pressure gauge. There was a nail in the tyre. The TPMS did not indicate any problem.

A couple of weeks ago I had 2 new tyres fitted and then drove about 10 miles when suddenly the TPMS indicated a problem. Pulled over, checked the pressures. Perfect!

Today I was driving north on the M74 about a mile south of Abington when the TPMS pinged to indicate loss of pressure. Pulled in to the services, checked the pressures. Perfect!

Could the hot weather today have caused the system to malfunction, or is the TPMS just a total waste of time and totally unreliable?
Sorry if this is a stupid ‘of course I did, I’m not stupid’ type of question. But...

Did you do a reset of the TPMS after the new tyres where fitted?

For the record, I’ve found the TPMS on both Leon’s I’ve had bob on.
 
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Blowski

Cupra 280 DSG
Mar 23, 2018
420
200
Mine flagged up on the M25 a couple of weeks ago, checked pressures and one was 1psi out. Surely it can’t be that sensitive??

My wife’s car has individual read outs for each tyre, much better system.

So yeah, I don’t think it’s all that good either.
 

Cuprobbie

Active Member
May 4, 2016
91
26
Hamilton
Yes, I should have mentioned that I reset the system after the new tyres.
I have my own tyre inflator, 'Ring' make, which I use at least once a fortnight and reset the system after checking and inflating if necessary.
Just checked tyres earlier this morning and reset system so fingers crossed it was just a wee glitch.
 

ben4012

Active Member
Sep 20, 2016
257
24
Mine has only ever pinged up when there has been an issue, both drops of c10 psi but looked normal. Good system imo.
 

UTCIAD

Dorset
May 6, 2014
75
0
Bournemouth
Chocolate fireguard!

A few months ago I felt my Cupra was handling a bit strangely so when I pulled over I instantly noticed a soft tyre which was confirmed by my pressure gauge. There was a nail in the tyre. The TPMS did not indicate any problem.

A couple of weeks ago I had 2 new tyres fitted and then drove about 10 miles when suddenly the TPMS indicated a problem. Pulled over, checked the pressures. Perfect!

Today I was driving north on the M74 about a mile south of Abington when the TPMS pinged to indicate loss of pressure. Pulled in to the services, checked the pressures. Perfect!

Could the hot weather today have caused the system to malfunction, or is the TPMS just a total waste of time and totally unreliable?

I've had mixed results with TPMS. When my 280 was 3 days old it went off and I thought (hoped) it was just bedding in, unfortunately there was a screw in the edge of the nearside rear tyre, resulting in £160 for a new Bridgestone (which I really didn't like). No further issues after that until returning from holiday in Wales the following year with family on board when it gave a false alarm, pressure was perfect.
When my 290 was 2 weeks old it pinged and sure enough there was a nail in the edge of the nearside rear tyre, so new P Zero this time - which took about 3 days to get hold of so had the joy of the space saver on my shiny new car. Again no further issues until coming back from Easter hols this year when I had a false alarm on the A34 - again a warm day with full car so maybe that it is something to do with it.
New 300 arrives in early July so have already set aside a few quid for a new nearside rear - I have no idea what brand they come with now but really hope they aren't Bridgestones :thumbd:
 

Seastormer

Cupra Leon VZ2 300/CBF1000
Apr 25, 2014
5,007
692
68
Edinburgh (Scotland)
Had two rear tyre warnings a month apart, left the first time and right the second, and at first the tyres looked ok. Putting on the pressure gauge showed a few psi down and both had nail/screw in, both were repaired and the system reset both times and no false warnings. Without this system I would not have been looking for a nail and only when I checked tyre pressure would I have noticed, so a couple of weeks could have passed before I spotted the problem, great system as far as I'm concerned.
 

TheCraftyBugger

Active Member
May 4, 2018
33
6
Chesterfield, Derbyshire
Had the warning ping up on the drive home today after just getting on the motorway, couldn't feel a vibration on the steering wheel or anything odd so drove with more caution and got home fine. Checked the pressure on the tyre that askedal and found it to be about 4.5psi down.

Used the compressor in my puncture kit to get it back to the correct pressure and reset the warning. I'll see how it goes, hopefully it's not a slow puncture.
 

Lmbarrett83

Active Member
Sep 8, 2017
1,538
619
Sheffield
I've lost 3 tyres to pot holes and one wheel.
The TPMS alerted me each time.

It's gone off after the replacement tyres were fitted too.

Essentially everytime its gone off its been with genuine reason, to the point where I no longer check the tyres unless it goes off.

I'll check the pressures today to see if my confidence in the TPMS has been misplaced or not.


Update..
It's working fine for me :)
 
Last edited:

Blowski

Cupra 280 DSG
Mar 23, 2018
420
200
Mine flagged up on the M25 a couple of weeks ago, checked pressures and one was 1psi out. Surely it can’t be that sensitive??

My wife’s car has individual read outs for each tyre, much better system.

So yeah, I don’t think it’s all that good either.
I retract this statement, it went off again a week ago on the M20 on the way to Stansted, one tyre was on 27psi (from 35). Didn’t think that was too bad but warranted an alert. Pumped it up then the car sat still for a week, it was on 11psi when I got back from hols today, decided that ok, it works and I need to get it looked at. Pumped it up and drove home, dropped the suitcase off and went to my local tyre place... not one, but two nails in the tyre! My faith is restored in the tpms!
 
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Blowski

Cupra 280 DSG
Mar 23, 2018
420
200
I’ll also add that I looked for screws/ nails but couldn’t see anything thinking it was just glue/ valve failure or something. If I had seen the nails then I’d have got it looked at locally before driving 80 miles home.

I generally try not to be that flippant with the safety of myself and Mrs Blowski
 
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silles

Active Member
May 4, 2017
517
88
TPMS came on for a second when I hit a pothole the other day. Pulled over but luckily it was wrong ...
 

TheVoice

Active Member
Jun 11, 2016
175
11
Scotland
Never works on my FR with 18" alloys I've had flat tyres twice (one was flat when I set off, the other a result of hitting a crater in the road at 60MPH) and it didn't trigger either time despite being calibrated.

It did however trigger when I put the spacesaver spare on both times, by which point I was already fairly aware of the pressure loss situation...
 

Deleted member 103408

Guest
Its a cheap system, what I would say is that it spotted a slow puncture in the past n my car.

It does work but within limited confines so on my old Renault Laguna that suffered badly when it was cold / hot, this system has worked fine and warned me when there was a real problem. On the sudden bumps and blows that is how the system works, it checks the diameter (cant recall how) and therefore tells you that its changed.

From my perspective I would prefer them to spend the cash on the engine gearbox rather than a more expensive TPMS system, it works and like all these systems its not perfect, but I can say the same about all the sensors and we can talk about the light sensors which adjust according to the weight in the car, Seat only have one the rest of the group have two.

But it works.

And we should (and I don't very often) check oil, tires (tread and pressure) Oil etc.....
 

martin j.

Active Member
Feb 11, 2007
1,996
889
Fife
I work ina Kia dealers and Kia use individual and expensive(£50 each) monitoring valves in each, we change a lot of failed valves and supply many for damaged valves knackered by careless tyre fitters, the Seat system may not not be perfect but it is better, I believe Kia are changing over to a similar set up.
 

mykro

Active Member
Apr 12, 2022
73
7
does anybody make more sensitive-reliable indirect tpms (based on abs sensor) ? some coding, adaptation..?
 
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