Hi

Looking for some help. I am not technically savvy with cars.

I have a Ford Focus Titanium model purchased new in 2019 with 10,000 miles on the clock. It went through its first MOT at the end of August this year 2022

I drove around 75 miles away on holiday with friends for a few days this week which meant the car was carrying a much heavier than normal load of 4 people, 4 suitcases and heavy boxes of foodstuffs etc..

When we arrived at our destination the car suddenly started displaying a message/diagram showing that the 4 tyres have "low tyre pressure". The front nearside tyre shows a little orange LED lit up on the diagram and a psi of 1.5 next to it.  The other 3 tyres are all showing a psi of either 1.5 or 1.6 (it varies between both) but none of these three are showing the little orange LED lit up.    The message comes back on and remains on when I start up the car together with an orange warning light.  The display goes out when I press OK but the orange warning indicator on the dashboard remains on constantly.  Seems a bit strange that all 4 have low pressure indicated.

On a visual check none of the tyres looked deflated and all 4 were firm to the touch when pressed in on the tyre wall.  The car drove home as normal.

I learned from checking the panel on the car door that the tyres should be 2.3 psi which is quite a bit different from the 1.5/ 1.6 showing on the message screen and it states they should be inflated to 33.  I don't know what psi 1.5 or 1.6 equates to in relation to 33.

Do I simply need to use an air machine to put air into the tyres to see what they are sitting at and put up to 33 hoping that fixes the problem and the message goes away?

Could the temporary extra weight in the car have affected the sensors?

Could this be a fault in the tyre pressure sensor system or do I need to put the car into the garage where the MOT was done to have it checked out? 

Could something done (or not done) during the MOT have affected the sensor system operation?

I would be very grateful for any advice.

Thanks.

JS2910

 

 

 

 

I think you might be confusing BAR and PSI.  33psi is 2.3 bar.

Yes, in the first instance you need to use a tyre machine to inflate them.  Most machines have both psi & bar readouts.

Get them pumped up. Warning has come up because the pressure has dropped below the set psi. Normally I out around 32 psi in my tyres.

Have you ever checked your tyre pressures with a separate gauge?

2.3 bar is 2.3 x atmospheric pressure, which equates to approximately 33 psi or pounds per square inch.

I would get a pump with its own pressure gauge and check all the tyres.  Once pumped up the tyre pressure monitoring system can be reset using the buttons on the right steering wheel spoke.

flick the centre button up to show the car symbol then press the menu button on the right to show info, then go down to tyre pressures, then press and hold ok until the pressures are reset.

Hope this helps!

14 minutes ago, JS2910 said:

On a visual check none of the tyres looked deflated and all 4 were firm to the touch when pressed in on the tyre wall.

You will never discover an incorrect pressure by looking at a tire (unless it is totally flat), and 'kicking them is also less than useless.

As others have said, get yourself a tire pressure gauge so you can accurately measure it yourself (Less than £10 on Ebay, or you sound like an Amazon person)

18 minutes ago, JS2910 said:

Looking for some help. I am not technically savvy with cars.

 

You don't need to be technically savvy to measure tire pressure, just search for a YouTube video of which there are many. If you really get into cars, you may even invest £25 odd on a tire compressor, where you can pump air in your tires from the comfort of your own home, rather than queue in the rain in a dirty garage to try and use their often vandalised machine! (Cheap investment compared to the cost of putting fuel in your car)