No fault with tyre pressure sensor

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Mon 2 Jul 2007 22:04
No fault with tyre pressure sensor - machika
I had the C5 serviced last week and I found the answer to the 'fault' with the tyre sensor that was telling me I had a deflated/punctured tyre. Some time ago, I put the spare wheel on the rear offside of the car and the original went into the boot as the spare. Little did I know that the sensor is read by the ECU whether the wheel is fitted to the car, or left in the boot. There is no sensor in the original spare, so the car's ECU was taking the read out from the new spare, which had become low on pressure (down to 24 psi).
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Mon 2 Jul 2007 22:39
No fault with tyre pressure sensor - cheddar
Dodgy, you could have three well inflated tyres and one well inflated spare and be in a false sense of security while your fourth tyre dangerously deflates

Rather like the brake light bulb failure system on some Vauxhalls where if the brake light switch fails, as opposed to the bulbs, the lights do not work though the warning system does not know because it operates on the basis of the switch being activated, i.e. if the switch fails the system "thinks" that the brakes have not been used so also giving the driver a false sense of security.

The systems shoud be fail safe!
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Tue 3 Jul 2007 10:42
No fault with tyre pressure sensor - Bill Payer
As yiu say, dodgy. However the scenario of the full sized spare being used is increasingly unlikely these days as most cars have space-savers.
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Tue 3 Jul 2007 10:49
No fault with tyre pressure sensor - machika
I have driven for almost 37 years with no tyre pressure sensors, so I don't see why I should be concerned about having no sensor on one wheel. I check the tyre pressures regularly and the only danger I face is from a rapid puncture, when the sensors would not be much use really.
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Tue 3 Jul 2007 10:52
No fault with tyre pressure sensor - Bill Payer
>>the only danger I face is from a rapid puncture

That's not true - the main danger is from a slow puncture that causes the tyre to overheat and blow-out at speed on a motorway.
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Wed 4 Jul 2007 08:32
No fault with tyre pressure sensor - machika
That's not true - the main danger is from a slow puncture that causes the
tyre to overheat and blow-out at speed on a motorway.


I should be concerned about driving a car not fitted with tyre pressure sensors?
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Tue 3 Jul 2007 10:55
No fault with tyre pressure sensor - cheddar
I so I don't see why I should be concerned about having no sensor on one wheel. >>


Agreed IF you check the tyre pressures regularly otherwise a false sense of security is an issue. Others in the same situation might not be so diligent.
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Tue 3 Jul 2007 13:45
No fault with tyre pressure sensor - Chas{P}
It would have said in your owners manual to have the sensor swapped over on to a road wheel.
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Wed 4 Jul 2007 08:31
No fault with tyre pressure sensor - machika
It would have said in your owners manual to have the sensor swapped over on
to a road wheel.


I have just checked the manual and it says I should get a message warning me if one of the wheels has no sensor. The car has never displayed this message.

The manual also goes on to say that any change of tyre on a wheel fitted with a sensor should be carried out by a Citroen dealer. A bit impractical I would say.
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