I have a question that some of you might know the answer to. Anyway, last night as I was leaving from work, I saw that I had a screw in my tire. The tire pressure was fine, both via the TPMS and checking it manually. I let it go for last night. Then today, I drove it fine to work, and started calling around for a place that could patch/plug the tire.

I found a place that said they could do it, so I drove over there, and the took off the wheel (front passenger side). I have goodyear eagle f1 all seasons on the car, stock rims and stock tire size with my new tires. Anyway, the mechanic asked me if they were run-flats, to which I wasn't sure. He tried to take the tire off the wheel (he was going to patch it), but when after trying he said that he couldn't get the wheel off, and asked if I just wanted to plug it instead. I said that would be fine. Well, they put air back into the wheel, then pulled the screw... and found out that the screw did not pierce all the way through the tire (soapy water test). It was a little screw.

Anyway, they put the tire back on, and I drove back to my office. On the way back, I cycled the trip computer to the tpms mode, and the top number for front was 51!! My first thought was they had over filled it (I hadn't been thinking about the tpms at all when I was over there, just worried about the tire itself) but I did notice on the trip back to my office (about 4-5 more minutes) while the other three numbers went up one psi, the 51 stayed at 51.

So my questions are, first, as far as which number is which (the manual didn't seem to help in this), is the top number the passenger side, and the bottom the drivers side? Or vice-versa? I don't have the ability to check the tire pressure manually at work, and I'm a bit worried about driving home on it as that's about a 45 minute trip, highway. Which brings me to my second question.. if the TPMS is now failing because of the shops attempt to take the tire off the wheel, will there be any issues driving on it, if the actual tire pressure is ok?

After getting back to my office, I turned the car off, waited a few minutes, then started it back up. The computer cycled through the different things, including having dashes for all four tires but when I manually then went back to the TPMS screen, the 51 was back. Is this an indication that the tpms is damaged?

 

Top is Driver side, Bottom is Passenger side. 51 psi is probably nearing the max stated pressure of the tire, but its not going to hurt you on a 45 minute trip. They're plenty over engineered to drive on 51psi. Why not run down to the gas station and grab a tire pressure gauge to keep in your car. That way you can verify the pressure, and let a little out of your over inflated tire, and hopefully, be back to normal.

 

Check the tire pressure in the morning when the tire is cold. Post the results.

 

Let some air out.

Simple fix...

 

Wow!! Three replies that fast! Thanks!!

After I posted, I called up the shop and asked him about the tire pressure.. and his response was "oh, yeah, I had to put a lot of pressure in... *mumble mumble*..."

So I went out to the car, released air for about 15 seconds... hopped back in it and drove up the street. It still registered as 51 for the top number for front. I knew that it would eat at me unless I could get a manual check, so I kept driving up to the target that is a few minutes away, ran in and bought a tire pressure gauge.

It showed 58 psi! I let a bunch of air out, till the gauge reported 36 (I was meaning to go for around 38-40, but having to let air out so long I went a bit too far). After that, I drove back, and the TPMS reported the pressure the same as the gauge said. Woot!

Anyway, thanks for the replies, you guys are awesome. Wheelman, apparently the top for my car is passenger side. It's possible my wheels somehow got flipped when I got new tires though! Which now makes me wonder about the rears....

 

Wow, maybe the TPMS sensors only read to a max of 51psi. Mine definately are Top - Driver, but its true yours (or mine) could have been swapped. For the rears, when you're near an air source, let a bunch out of one of them and drive around...see which one goes low and that should tell you if they're the same. Anyhow, glad its back to normal.

 

good thing you found out. you could have pop them

 

Your experience shows how important it is to carry a tire gauge for measuring psi’s.

I have a 2003 Performance model (and thus have TPMS which remains remarkable accurate), but always do regular checks with the tire gauge.

There isn’t a lot of leeway when running low profile tires.

--Spike

 

+1

They are like $2 but are a good piece of mind..