Deflation Warning Every Week or So but no Punctures

[rhorne]

As the title suggests, for some reason my Honda E keeps showing the tyre deflation warning almost weekly.

I keep recalibrating it and topping up the air pressures but it keeps happening again and again. Take this morning for instance, I topped up the tyres and had the warning appear before I even got home again, but the tyres appear fine.

Is this a common fault?

[RAL7004]

I once had that problem too. I can't remember it exactly, but I believe the crucial step was to wait for the calibration in the stationary vehicle and then turn the vehicle off and on again.
Why don't you give that a try?

[iHansz]

As the title suggests, for some reason my Honda E keeps showing the tyre deflation warning almost weekly.

I keep recalibrating it and topping up the air pressures but it keeps happening again and again. Take this morning for instance, I topped up the tyres and had the warning appear before I even got home again, but the tyres appear fine.

Is this a common fault?

Had the same problem and then went to the dealer and they found a very very very small nail in the tyre. After they fixed that, haven't had any more notification.

[rhorne]

I once had that problem too. I can't remember it exactly, but I believe the crucial step was to wait for the calibration in the stationary vehicle and then turn the vehicle off and on again.
Why don't you give that a try?

You can't reset it unless the car is stationary so I've tried that many times. I will have a check for small nails, though they don't visibly appear to have deflated. Phoned Honda and they said it could be a sensor issue and I'm booked in for an inspection. I'll check the tyres again properly in the meantime.

[EEEE]

This is not a common issue - so something is amiss.

There are no pressure sensors in the wheels at all - the system is very basic and works by using the ABS sensors to count the wheel rotations. When a tyre is getting a bit flat, the computer will notice that wheel is turning more than the others (Due to decreased circumference) and flag the issue to you. Conversely, if some tyres are overinflated, it can pick up on the differential also. This can happen in sunny cold weather.

I would:

1) Check that you have the right tyres fitted. We have had at least 3 example of the wrong tyres fitted or wrong tyre on the wrong wheel or fitted in the wrong position. It is not commonly known that the E has stepped wheel sizes, wider wheels and tyres on the rear. If you have had any work done recently or new tyres, go and check they haven't done stupid things. Wider wheels and tyres on the back. Thinner wheels and tyres on the front. Check that the wheel offsets are correct, there is a slight difference in the appearance of the wheel comparing front with rear (this is most obvious on my wheels where the wheel nuts mount). It is not unheard of for the wrong tyre to be mounted on the wrong rim, then once fitted back to the car quite hard to spot.

2) You say you have to keep topping up each week? Sounds like you actually have a slow puncture. Check the valve stems are screwed in (you can pick up a little tool to screw them in) and you have caps fitted, and if you can check for punctures that would help rule it out. Little tricky to do without removing the wheel. You can put some soapy water in a spray bottle and put some around the tyre valve and outer rim, that might highlight something with minimal effort.

3) The fault can be flagged by environmental issues. If the car is parked and in the sun on a cold day, and then you pump up the tyres, the solar effect can increase pressures enough to flag the system. I like to check my pressures early in the morning when there hasn't been any sun on it yet. The wife's civic (Same system for tyre detection) is parked around the corner where it gets the sun, and more than once occasion driving it (on a crisp/sunny autumn/winter morning) it has flagged up tyre deflation. This is normally when driving in a straight line on the motorway, with the sun hitting one side of the car only, the same side that was parked to the sun... The next day the issue is gone and there is no puncture and the pressures are fine.

Not much you can do about point 3 except be aware. If you are not pumping up your tyres at home, most likely the tyres are too warm by the time you reach the tyre pump at the petrol station.

Let us know what you find.

[EEEE]

Also, the manual does state that after running the calibration, the journey has to be of a certain length for the calibration to take, and that the journey ideally should be relatively straight.

I hate the system, i'd rather it was not fitted truth be told.

[advance2020]

Can confirm system doesn’t measure actual tyre pressures, it measures differential wheel rotations over a distance. Only had the warning once, and there was little difference in tyre pressure. Also agree that sunshine warming one side could also trigger warning.

[rhorne]

This is not a common issue - so something is amiss.

There are no pressure sensors in the wheels at all - the system is very basic and works by using the ABS sensors to count the wheel rotations. When a tyre is getting a bit flat, the computer will notice that wheel is turning more than the others (Due to decreased circumference) and flag the issue to you. Conversely, if some tyres are overinflated, it can pick up on the differential also. This can happen in sunny cold weather.

I would:

1) Check that you have the right tyres fitted. We have had at least 3 example of the wrong tyres fitted or wrong tyre on the wrong wheel or fitted in the wrong position. It is not commonly known that the E has stepped wheel sizes, wider wheels and tyres on the rear. If you have had any work done recently or new tyres, go and check they haven't done stupid things. Wider wheels and tyres on the back. Thinner wheels and tyres on the front. Check that the wheel offsets are correct, there is a slight difference in the appearance of the wheel comparing front with rear (this is most obvious on my wheels where the wheel nuts mount). It is not unheard of for the wrong tyre to be mounted on the wrong rim, then once fitted back to the car quite hard to spot.

2) You say you have to keep topping up each week? Sounds like you actually have a slow puncture. Check the valve stems are screwed in (you can pick up a little tool to screw them in) and you have caps fitted, and if you can check for punctures that would help rule it out. Little tricky to do without removing the wheel. You can put some soapy water in a spray bottle and put some around the tyre valve and outer rim, that might highlight something with minimal effort.

3) The fault can be flagged by environmental issues. If the car is parked and in the sun on a cold day, and then you pump up the tyres, the solar effect can increase pressures enough to flag the system. I like to check my pressures early in the morning when there hasn't been any sun on it yet. The wife's civic (Same system for tyre detection) is parked around the corner where it gets the sun, and more than once occasion driving it (on a crisp/sunny autumn/winter morning) it has flagged up tyre deflation. This is normally when driving in a straight line on the motorway, with the sun hitting one side of the car only, the same side that was parked to the sun... The next day the issue is gone and there is no puncture and the pressures are fine.

Not much you can do about point 3 except be aware. If you are not pumping up your tyres at home, most likely the tyres are too warm by the time you reach the tyre pump at the petrol station.

Let us know what you find.

Sorry I meant I'm having to reset the warning at least once a week. I've only reinflated the tyres a handful of times. As for tyres, This is a 23 Honda E Advance with the original tyres and I've only done a couple of thousand miles in it so the tyres are still very new. I will double-check for any signs of a puncture but so far they're appeared fully inflated every time I've checked.

[EEEE]

I would still check the wheels tyres are correct regardless. Unless you built the car yourself, you cannot be sure that no one has since removed the wheels/tyres or refitted them in the incorrect locations. Most honda dealers don't even know you can't lift the windscreen wipers without putting them into a special park mode - as such most have a distinctive paint chip on the bonnet edge where they were lifted incorrectly (Mine does, and the tyre place almost messed up my tyres too).

If you have an advance model, you should have 17inch diameter wheels:
Front tyres 205/45ZR17 , 6.5 inch wide wheel
Rear tyres 225/45ZR17 , 7.5 inch wide wheel

If you have non-advance model or have had retrofitted 16inch wheels (for increased range)
Front tyres 185/60R16 , 6 inch wide wheel
Rear tyres 205/55R16 , 7 inch wide wheel

Notice that the 17s differ in width only (205 and 225), and the 16s differ in both width and sidewall profile (185/60 vs 205/55).

If you are confident that you have the correct wheels/tyres fitted in the correct place, the tyres are the same make/age and the pressures are pumped up correctly devoid of solar heating or driving heating, then you probably have a puncture. I do not like to use the digital tyres gauges and prefer to manually check with a dial gauge.

I use this to ensure the tyre valve core insert hasn't loosened - I have only seen this twice in my many years of motoring but it is a cheap tool. You use the end at the top to screw in the Schrader valve part inside the tyre valve stem, to ensure it is seated properly and not leaking.

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-m ... 67184.html

[EEEE]

Just to further check - when you calibrate the system, you are going for a drive afterwards to actually calibrate the system? The calibrate button is actually a 'start calibrating...' button.

Calibrating it on the drive and then turning the car off and go in for a cup of tea doesn't actually calibrate it. It needs a journey of a few miles and relative straightness so that the system can measure the rotation of all the wheels, to work out an average rolling circumference (which it then uses as a baseline to monitor against so it can warn you when you get a flat).

from the manual:

"The calibration process requires approximately
30 minutes of cumulative driving at speeds between
40-100 km/h (25 - 62 mph).
During this period, if the power system is turned on
and the vehicle is not moved within 45 seconds, you
may notice the low tyre pressure indicator comes on
briefly. This is normal and indicates that the
calibration process is not yet complete"