Car instrumentation questions

amstel2

Hello

I have just changed my car & gone from a 1994 model to a 2007 one so a big jump in the gizmos/tech on-board.

The instruments on the dash are electronic & would like some advice on a couple of things (I know these may be daft questions).

The instruments warn if the tyre pressures are too low & gives a reading if the oil pressure/level is ok or not.

Does this mean it is no longer necessary to manually check the tyre pressures or oil level unless a warning message is given by the instruments. When I had my old car I did these checks weekly.

Thanks

wgl2014

No need to check weekly but I would still do a manual check maybe once a month.

Electronic sensors are great until they go wrong!

TadleyBaggie

Tyres should be checked regardless, damage to one could cause a sudden failure that the sensors could not have picked up.

n217970

The correct answer would be to not rely on the sensors on a 10 year old car.

Personally though it would depend on the brand of car. For example I would not rely on an oil sensor on a 1 week old Peugeot, but may be inclined to on a 10 year old Mercedes especially if I had owned it for a while without issue.

Edit: Before anyone gets upset and jumps to Peugeots defence I would like to add that I have owned them in the past and have experience of the dashboard indicating random incorrect reports of no oil in the engine.

tho_2

What if you've owned the Peugeot for a while without issue...?
(that's a joke by the way)

You should still do your regular checks on oil, tyres regardless of how new (or brand) the car is. Sensors can fail on any car. Better to be safe than have a tyre blow out on the motorway

EssexExile

The usual reason these sensors bring up an alarm is that the sensor is faulty.

Aylesbury_Duck

If you have a routine to check things weekly, that's a great habit and you should continue. Don't rely on the sensors because they won't detect a range of things your eyes can see. Have a browse on here and you won't find it hard to find someone whose car has gone pop because they "drove it to the garage when the oil light came on" and then can't understand why their engine is trashed.

daveyjp

I’ve driven off with a flat tyre and had no low pressure warning from the ‘clever’ sensor.

Some also only work where there is a drop in just one tyre on an axle.

If both lose pressure over time you would never know without a physical check.

Robisere

If you have tyres changed at some tyre fitters, they do not check and reset the sensors: at least that has been my experience at Kwikfit, several times. I hasten to add that Grimsby Kwikfit have always been good to me over the 17 years I have been using them. However, when I began driving cars with tyre pressure sensors, I had a warning message on the dash after new tyres at Kwikfit, that TP's were incorrect. I went to the Motability dealer to check this. (I cannot get down to check myself - I'd need a block and tackle to get up again!)

The mechanic told me about TPS and said that they would reset them after a service. I phoned Kwikfit and they now reset TPS's.

It is a really embarassing pita for an ex-workshop foreman who cannot check his own tyre pressures!

Iceweasel

Every time you check and adjust the tyre pressures it's important to reset the TPMS system.

Older systems which work off the ABS rings only detect that there has been a change in tyre pressure since the last reset - it does not tell you which wheel or even which axle.

Newer systems have a sensor in the valves and give a reading for each individual wheel.

As for the electronic oil-level sensor, they are not very exact and need the level to be at or very near the minimum level before they indicate that topping up is necessary.

Many cars still have a dip-stick as well as the level sensor - but they may not mention it in the manual.

What make and model of car are we talking about?

n217970

tho wrote: »

What if you've owned the Peugeot for a while without issue...?
(that's a joke by the way)

It would make me very suspicious