New tyres - pressure sensors playing up?

[kt53]

I've just had new front tyres after 12800 miles, so not happy. Guy at the tyre place said they would normally expect a set of those Continentals to be good for 20k. I don't drive the car hard.

I checked the pressures after about 10 miles and they were showing 37 and 39, this is front tyres, then a while later something like 40 and 36. I've driving a total of about 30 miles on the new tyres, should the sensors have settled down by now?

[nottmsteve]

Well I'm not sure but I do know that the temperature of the tyres can effect a reading by a couple of psi

[kt53]

Thanks Steve. I am aware of the effect of temperature but it's not that in this instance. The pressures being shown are all over the place. If both were going up or down at the same time I'd assume they had been over inflated but one will go up and drop and then the other does the same. Pressure hasn't shown as less than 36 psi on either tyre. My hand pressure gauge has died so I'll have to get a battery for it tomorrow to check.

[Swe]

Hi Try do perform a recalibration. Find it in service menu, left buttons on steering wheel. When you change tyres a change of battery in pressure sensor is recommended.

[Deleted User 667]

Conti's ware FAST. I got 15000 out of them on the Qashqai, but I only got 8000 on the Pulsar!

Mine are showing a little high actualy after I got mine seapped (37 fronts) and have been meaning to check it. However they do increase at a normal rate (38-39) rather than going bonkers. Even after an hours drive this afternoon 'giving it some beans' didnt result in erratic behaviour.

[Swe]

To get rid of the temp influence, fill the tyres with nitrogen instead of air. Nitrogen is also less agressive to rubber than air and it is more temp stable. Nitrogen is often used i high demand places, like sportscars, aircrafts.

[kt53]

Thanks for the suggestions. Once I've got my pressure guage sorted I'll be in a better position to determine whether the readings are way out or if the tyre place grossly over inflated the tyres as they are supposed to be 33 psi.

[kt53]

Sensors did take a little while to settle but were then giving consistent readings of 38 (l) and 36 (r) cold. I've just used a digital pressure guage after a short run and pressures were 40.5 and 38.5 so it would seem that not only had the tyres been grossly over inflated but they also differed from each other. Not a great recommendation for the place where I got them fitted. I've obviously no idea if they've done that in the past as this is the first time I've had a car with pressure sensors. I'll drop the pressures tomorrow when I know the tyres are fully cooled down.

[kt53]

I dropped the pressure in both tyres this morning to 33 using the digital guage and then checked the TPMS when I started driving. That showed the same pressures so I'm happy that everything is as it should be now. Checked again after about 20 miles and pressure in all 4 tyres had increased by 2psi so that's also consistent.

[kt53]

I had a call from the tyre place following my comments on their customer survey. They had been contacted by a number of people who had similar experiences to me, and discovered it thanks to the TPMS. They eventually traced the problem down to a fault with the airline. I wonder if they've contacted all the customers they've changed tyres for?