Has anyone else had a problem with the tires losing enought air to have the TPS light come on? This has happened 4 times. I bought my car at the end of March. It has 13k miles, and I have had the wheels and tires looked at twice. The dealer did not find a problem, and my local tire shop has not found a leak either. It is never a lot of air that need to go back in to shut the light off, but it is getting bothersome. Sounds stupid to complain about, I know. But 4 times in 6 months, and 13k miles seems like a bit much.

 

I've also had this problem. The right front more than the rest but they all seem to lose pressure.

 

Check the pressure weekly. Or put nitrogen in them. They will still lose pressure, but much more slowly.

 

I finally had to put air in my BASE model tires (15") for the first time since I bought the car in November. Found 32 pounds did the trick. No light since.

 

Twice with a little over 5k miles is abnormal.

 

All the tires? What are you inflating them too? 35 is recommended.

 

I was wondering if maybe he was inflating them to 28 or 29...

Actually, 33 is factory recommendation for the Sport, not sure on the Base.

As for member recommendations... that would depend on what you want out of it. Comfortable ride? stick to factory. Higher mpg/performance... go up a little. I ran 38 psi and noticed slight center wear on my previous set of Conti DWS. Now, I'm going to try 36psi for a while.

 

My light went on yesterday... 50 degrees out when I dropped my son off at school. Hit the "lip" between where the parking lot entrance was paved and the road was not and the light came on. Left front was mid-high 20's so I pumped them all back up to about 35psi.

This time of year, the light will come on more often if you just put the minimum tire pressure in. I go just a few lbs above the stock pressure.

~SB

 

Yes depending where you live a drop of 5 degrees Celsius in outside temp(9 deg F) will give you one less PSI of air.

33 on a sport is what Honda recommends but I run mine at 36 in the fall months.

 

I ran 33 PSI on my Dunlops until winter, when I'd bump them up to 35 PSI once the sun came out and then take a PSI gauge to them once a week.

 

Mine came on yesterday. Fired up my compressor this morning and pumped them all up to 34-35. The lowest one was reading about 27-28, so I guess that's about the threshold.

 

OP, sure looks like the TPMS is doing exactly what it's supposed to do - remind those who don't check their tire pressure regularly. As already mentioned, tire pressure can change quite a bit specially with temperature changes.

 

In general alloy wheels tend to loose air more quickly than steel. I think its due to the smooth painted rim sealing more perfectly against the tire bead. There is also the issue of casting porosity.

The original reason for the TPMS systems is because people are too lazy to regularly check air pressure, which traditionally has been a monthly. Its similar to folks who freak out if any oil has to be added to the engine between changes. Every gas fillup was the norm. What is the dipstick for? Mercedes replaced it with a level sensor and light.

 

There'sd 2 possibilities.
First, the air gauges aren't perfect and if you pressure your tires to at least 32 psi you can get enough leakage to det the TPMS off
Then you can also have enough leakage to set off the TPMS especially if one TPMS sensor is regularly the fault. That could be the sensor indication too lows or tire leaking thru the sidewall, which it will do. Tires are not leakproof, even the best tires weep air thru the walls.
And when the ambient temp changes you can expect one degree per 5 degrees F.

 

Having a bad case of thumbs mahout? Sorry, couldn't resist...

 

hahahaha, i thought he was drunk.. was the same way yesterday on his other post.

 

Should be happy hour somewhere...

 

I fill them to 35psi. it varies on what tire. it is all over the place.

 

I agree that it is doing its job. I was just wondering if it was normal for it to come on so often. My other car has the TPS sensor in too. Only it does one better by reading the pressure in the tires. The only time that one came on was when i picked up a nail after my new roof was put on. I have checked for any thing in the tires, but they are all fine. I'll just accept it as normal and keep the tire gauge in the car at all time.

 

Good idea. Just make sure you use the same tire gauge so you have the same reference... Keep an eye out when fall and winter comes around in your area...

The TPMS functions might be the same for all cars but could also be sensitivity calibrated differently by each manufacturer.