Running on empty

I have just completed a 3,000-mile trip around Europe, and travelling quite fast on the autobahn the TPMS warned of a puncture. It was Saturday afternoon and no garages open, so I took it easy for the Sunday and Monday until I came to a BMW garage in Gottingen, A very helpful service manager checked everything out and explained that whenever you inflate the tyres you should reset the tyre pressure sensor on the computer, or you get the puncture warning.

Asked on 14 August 2010 by JH, Minehead

Answered by Honest John

That's a useful reminder. But the TPMS valves are also causing problems because of mixed metal corrosion between them and the alloy wheel rims. Normally, valves are brass, which prevents this. But TPMS valves have steel parts. A wheel imbalance can also affect the operation of the system.

Tags: wheels and tyres technical issues owning tyres

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