How do I get the right pressure on my car tyres? - please help me!

[Ellaroo]

Didn't know whether to put this under 'further education' or 'good housekeeping', but either way I am utterly ashamed [blush ]to say that I have no idea how to check the pressure of my car's tyres and then take the relevant action. I have looked in my manual and found out the right bar/psi when cold, but don't know where to take the car to do something about it or how to do it once I get there (do I go to a service station or a tyre place?). I really need idiot's instructions if this is something I'm going to have to myself. TIA and sorry for being so embarrassingly impractical on this matter!

Ellaroo you just need to go to a filling station, pref one where they have free air (our local Sainsbos and Esso ones do) and then there should be a digital air pressure machine.

Key in the figure in your handbook (ours is 31 IIRC, just to give you a guide) and then remove the cap from the valve on your tyre, apply air nozzle and wait until it beeps at you which means it?s reached the right pressure. Repeat three times and then every month or so. HTH

I'm afraid I went to the lovely garage where I bought the car and acted the ditsy female, whereupon one of the mechanics came out and showed me, very slowly and in words of one syllable, how to do it.

I'm still not v. confident though my big fear is that I'm going to accidentally deflate the tyre completely and look a complete numpty. Actually I put off doing it for months at a time. I like the idea of the digital air pressure machine, though might have to look out for one.

Thank you Clary . A couple more questions though - does it give you space to type in the front and rear wheel pressures (as these are apparently different) and is IIRC the same measurement as the PSI...and then finally does anyone know what on earth I do if I get there and it's not a digital one? thank you!

There should be a sticker somewhere on the car telling you what the pressure needs to be (and it will differ for laden or unladen, and is indeed different for the front and the back). Our sticker is on the driver's door near the lock mechanism (so you can only see it if the door is open, IYSWIM). Otherwise it should be in the handbook somewhere.

For a non-digital one you put the pump over the valve, having removed the little plastic cap. Then look at the dial, which will tell you what the current pressure is. Then pump until the dial shows the right pressure. If you overdo it, holding the handle down continuously lets air out again.

But really, best thing is to go to a proper garage (little backstreet one with proper mechanics) and ask them very nicely to show you. Put plenty of lipstick on first, and they should be fighting to help you.

Or buy a foot pump and use it in the priavacy of your own home

ones at the filling station are often inaccurate or broken due to vandalism IME

from the AA: here

Type and accuracy of gauges Just over half the gauges tested were accurate to within 5 per cent for a typical road wheel tyre pressure of around 30psi. About one in seven was more than 10 per cent adrift. In every case of inaccurate reading the gauge showed a higher pressure than was correct. The concern here is that the pressures quoted in owners? handbooks, and those shown on pumpside charts where available, are for cold tyres. Once the car is driven, especially along a motorway, the pressure increases by up to 3 psi. In the worst case, a tyre inflated to 34 psi according to the gauge was in fact inflated to just 29 psi and this would have fallen to around 26 psi when the tyre cooled ? almost 24 per cent underinflated.

ours is 32psi for all teh wheels.

we take ours to tesco garage with air pump and there are instructions ion tehre. Basically, you attach the pump thing to your tyre valve and it will show u the current psi of the tyre. You can set the max psi on the machine and then just hold the handle down until the machine bleeps, pop the cap back on the valve and do all the rest of the wheels!

Thank you so much for all your help. Mumsnet is yet again fanatastic for those times when you don't know something - there is always someone here who can help! Thank you!

After reading the AA report I think I might go into town (on foot - am now feeling that our car may be a danger on the road - we bought it new about 2 years ago and I just assumed they did that kind of thing for you at services...so yes, that's 2 years without checking the tyre pressure - am very ashamed as I pride myself on car safety in every other way!) and buy one of the ones that you can use at home that are more likely to be accurate.

Thanks for all your help!

Ellaroo sorry, haven?t answered your query. If your tyres have different pressures (ours are all the same) you just type in the new number for each tyre.

at data about inaccurate machines. Am I being silly in thinking that the Sainsbury?s one which is all nice and new (digital is recent innovation in thsi area) is accurate then?

BTW in the clary household this is a Mummy job. DH has never done it to my knowledge!