How accurate is TPMS compared to gauges?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jan 7, 2011
Messages
918
Location
Florida, USA
Is TPMS very accurate? How does it compare to those analog/digital tire pressure gauges? I have a cheapo Slime gauge which reads ~35 PSI, but TPMS says 41ish. Which one do I trust?
 
Originally Posted By: Towncivilian
Is TPMS very accurate? How does it compare to those analog/digital tire pressure gauges? I have a cheapo Slime gauge which reads ~35 PSI, but TPMS says 41ish. Which one do I trust?


I've got the Slime digital as well. In my mom's Sebring the Slime will read 33 and the TPMS typically is 3 or 4 psi higher.
 
Nice that yours actually gives a reading. If you set all four accurately on your slime gauge, does the TPMS give a consistent result too, on four tires?

For those of us with TMPS that dont tell the values, the more important metric to me is how much delta from the setpoint the TPMS allows before it sets the light... Sometimes, even on low profile tires, it can allow the pressure to go pretty low...
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Nice that yours actually gives a reading. If you set all four accurately on your slime gauge, does the TPMS give a consistent result too, on four tires?

Yes, all four tires are 41 - 43 PSI according to TPMS. All tires were approximately 33 - 34 PSI according to the Slime analog gauge when I filled them up earlier today.

The door jamb says 33 PSI for all tires, should I release some air until they're all approximately 33 according to the TPMS?
 
Originally Posted By: RamFan
Originally Posted By: Towncivilian
Is TPMS very accurate? How does it compare to those analog/digital tire pressure gauges? I have a cheapo Slime gauge which reads ~35 PSI, but TPMS says 41ish. Which one do I trust?


I've got the Slime digital as well. In my mom's Sebring the Slime will read 33 and the TPMS typically is 3 or 4 psi higher.

I too have a Slime (it's in the TSX...I recently picked up a Craftsman for the MDX), but mine works opposite of yours - my TPMS reads a few psi lower.
 
Try a number of hand held gauges.
Then see what the TPMS says.
Consistency is what we want.And I'd check the system every 6 months.
 
Originally Posted By: WishIhadatruck
I agree with mechtech2, you'll need to check a few other gauges and see which ones agree.
This. If the cheapo slime gauge is a dial type, I've yet to see one of those that agrees with my other gauges (2 bike pumps and an OLD stick gauge, which all agree within 1 psi).
 
The TPMS on the Cruze is within 2 PSI of the variety of stick and digital gauges I have. It's nice to see the readouts on the dash and know they're fairly accurate.
 
The hard part is finding an accurate gauge. My cars TPMS readouts are deadly accurate, with individual readouts of each tire you can see how your driving affects the tires.
 
Dial or even digital tire pressure gauges are NOT inherently more accurate.
They are just easier to read - really.

I have all sorts. My go to is the cheapo pencil gauges. [but I know where they read]
 
I have a tpms on the right rear tire saying I have 22 psi. it doesn't look flat. my dial guage and manual stick gauge says 35 psi.
 
The TPMS in question is on my girlfriend's 2009 Pontiac G5.

We took a ~100 mile highway trip (one way) and both times, a TPMS sensor lost communication and of course the TPMS warning light flashed. The info displayed "--" for the PSI reading. First the passenger rear sensor malfunctioned, then on the trip back the driver rear sensor malfunctioned. Both times the tire was fine and was around 33 PSI according to my analog Slime gauge.

This never occurs during city driving, only highway driving and my girlfriend says this has never happened before. Why are these sensors malfunctioning all of a sudden? The vehicle has about 32.5k miles on it currently.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top