AIBU to disable a faulty tyre pressure warning to pass the MOT?

[NorwichMom]

I’m aware the latter option probably isn’t legal. Keep in mind the car is old and I will keep it until it dies so won’t be passing this problem onto someone else.

I have a light on the dashboard because the tyre pressure monitoring system valves have failed. I took it to a garage a year ago who said it wouldn’t be a mot failure. That it would be about £500 to fix and they recommended I learnt to live with it.

Fair enough i thought. None of my previous cars have had a tyre pressure monitoring system I can live without it. So bought a pump which plugs into the cigarette lighter thing and I regularly check my tyre pressures and inflate if needed. Old fashioned maybe but safe.

Turns out it is a mot failure after all. The mechanic suggested I find someone who can do something to my car to make my car think it hasn’t got a tyre pressure monitoring system and then the light will go out. Someone has offered to do this (I think for free). Or I pay circa £500 to have it fixed.

What £50?

Don't you get a free retest if you fail?

I've never had a failed MOT, so I'm not sure?

Only at same garage I think

I have this exact issue on my car (fiesta). I am able to turn it off through the vehicle settings. It does come back on after a certain amount of time but it's no big deal.
I'm in NI so different MOT process. My mechanic said that it wouldn't be a fail, but I be sure to turn it off before going to MOT centre.
I was quoted £90 per sensory plus labour.

I had similar with my v old car recently but in my case it was an intermittent fault for another issue and luckily that day the light didn’t come on. I have spent 300 trying to fix it and it can’t be fixed and the car is ok

could you find a garage and ask if they will pass it as it sounds variable? I have never had a car with this level of sophistication - I have to check my tyre pressures manually - and assume that is what you do now anyway!

So you’re going to go to the garage and say “Hi, I’ve got a known permanent fault, are you ok to break the law and pass my car?” As opposed to taking the chance and claiming it’s the first you’ve heard of it and get it put down as a warning.

Also have a Honda that does the same, even the guy in the garage said his constantly comes on! never failed MOT although I can cancel the warning light once I’ve checked the tyre pressure is ok. It’s usually back on within a day or two though!

OP, I’ve got to ask, are your tyres losing pressure every few days - indicating the tpms is working fine ?

we had to change the valve units ( the battery was dying but you can’t only change the battery ) in all 4 wheels on a 2020 Ford Puma over the last 6 months. Our local Ford dealer charged £64 all in per wheel, so £500 seems steep.

No. I’ve rung another garage to ask them if it is a mot fail as the government website seems open to interpretation regarding whether a tpms light is a fail or not.

im pretty sure they’d immediately notice the constant light on the dashboard so I can’t just hope they don’t see it.

and if it’s against the law to pass it why are so many posters on here getting passed with the same fault?

garages don’t put stuff down as an advisory just because you haven’t heard of the fault.

I can’t get the light to switch off even after checking the pressure

No not losing pressure.

My car passed the mot for at least a couple of years with faulty sensor warning, then cost about 100 to replace them all when I finally got around to it.
An engine light is a fail, other warnings not necessarily.

Ok so the other mot tester in the village says if it’s a system fault (which it is) rather than just low pressure it’s 100% a mot fail.

But if the car tyres had low pressure then it could be sensing the low pressure. Instead of it being known to be a system fault.

What sort of car is it? You should be able to cancel
the warning light once you’ve checked the pressure. Mine doesn’t go off automatically you have to go through various screens and options to cancel it.

DD had exactly that problem. 1litre Ford fiesta (dreadful car for random things going wrong).
£120 per tyre to fix a sensor when the tyres were checked regularly and were fine.
What she discovered was she could reset the alert that showed on the dash by using the settings menu and it only came back on once she’d driven about 0.25 miles. Car didn’t get driven for MOT so she reset it when she dropped it off, passed the MOT and it came back on as she drove away!
DH was a bit twitchy until I pointed out we’d both driven cars for 20 years with no tyre pressure sensor - you just have to check you tyres the old fashioned way!

It’s a Vauxhall Astra. I don’t seem to be able to set the light off.

there definitely isn’t actual low pressure. Before this fault if there was low pressure it would tell me which tyre and what the pressure was. It now doesn’t read the pressure for any of the tyres. I’ve checked my tyre pressures and they’re fine

Aren’t you cancelling the light once you check the tyres are okay? You can reset it yourself by confirming the pressures are okay. It might pop on again within a couple of days but it’ll get through the MOT even if it should be a fail if you’ve reset it just beforehand. My Skoda also has an overexcitable sensor on one tyre which causes this intermittently and when we check, the pressure is always fine so we reset it and carry on.

No because when I google all the instructions say put key to position one and press the menu button. I don’t have one. I’ll try again but months ago I spent hours googling trying to do it and can’t. The garage guy also can’t. I’ve watched YouTube videos and their astras are different to my astra

Mine went through with tyre pressure warning. Also a Vauxhall. Menu button is on indicator stalk

I don’t see a menu button Every astra on YouTube videos has them. Mine doesn’t

Strange Is it a new one with a screen instead. What year

No it’s 2016. Literally everything I google says menu button on stalk and I have nothing. So am stuck

Button Locations by Model

• Astra H (2004–2010): Look for the Settings or BC (Board Computer) button on the radio unit, or push the roller wheel/stalk button on the steering column controls. 1, 2]
• Astra J (2009–2015): The Config and Menu buttons are located on the central dash control panel surrounding the infotainment screen or radio keypad.
• Astra K & L (2015–Present): Uses touchscreen display menu icons or a home/menu button on the central console layout panel. 1]

I can fiddle with some buttons on the steering wheel and get to this information screen about my tyre pressures but not reset it

Not wishing to get into any arguments concerning the utility of any warning light, my independent garage supervising brother tells me that the fault with always come up when he plugs it in to the computer. If it’s an MOT fail you won’t ever hide it.