How can you tell which wheel goes on which corner?

[MartinSEsr]

Oh, read what I said. I want to know what to tell the garage so they can find out which wheel is which once they're off.

This is not my problem to fix. It's down to the garage to rectify their mistake. And I do not believe for one moment that MG has not provided the wheels with some indication of which one goes on which corner. Even if the garage is entirely aware that they need to go back on the axles they came off, anyone can lose track of which is which while they're in the middle of the job.

Dammit, I could tell them which was which when I took the car in, and they could still get them mixed up by accident. There has to be a way to tell.

I simply want to be able to spoon-feed the garage with the information if necessary.

There is no way. The sensors in each wheel emit a digital code, recognised by the car computer from when originally programmed as being eg the LH front wheel sensor. When replacing the TPMS valves, they hold the new valve close to the old valve with a programmer unit, to copy the code. The code can be read, but is about 10 digits and meaningless as you can't determine which code is for which corner.

Unfortunately with people as thick as at that garage, you'll have to do it. As someone said, add 5 psi to one and drop 5psi in another. Look on the driver display to see which corner has gone high and which low and put "NSF" or OSR whatever into the brake dust on the wheel to indicate where it should go. Correct the pressures then do the other two.

A total pain for you. But the garage staff clearly can barely walk and talk at the same time.

What will be worse is if you have bought all-season tyres and they need to swap L for R and so need to take the tyre off to get it running in the right direction.

I would be asking for a partial refund due to the totall hassle you've got.

 

[siteguru]

I've actually just purchased the RingIt set that I'd linked in a previous post. Should arrive tomorrow.

Edit: in response to @Rolfe looking out her Dad's old gauge.

 

[Rolfe]

There is no way. The sensors in each wheel emit a digital code, recognised by the car computer from when originally programmed as being eg the LH front wheel sensor. When replacing the TPMS valves, they hold the new valve close to the old valve with a programmer unit, to copy the code. The code can be read, but is about 10 digits and meaningless as you can't determine which code is for which corner.

Unfortunately with people as thick as at that garage, you'll have to do it. As someone said, add 5 psi to one and drop 5psi in another. Look on the driver display to see which corner has gone high and which low and put "NSF" or OSR whatever into the brake dust on the wheel to indicate where it should go. Correct the pressures then do the other two.

A total pain for you. But the garage staff clearly can barely walk and talk at the same time.

What will be worse is if you have bought all-season tyres and they need to swap L for R and so need to take the tyre off to get it running in the right direction.

I would be asking for a partial refund due to the totall hassle you've got.

If you read through the thread you'll find that all that has been done and it's sorted. There was no swapping of left and right, it was front and back on the right that had been swapped. It wasn't much of a hassle, only dropping the car in for another visit to have it fixed. This is my local garage, half a mile away. They've been looking after my cars for 16 years and I've always found them to be reliable and to do a good job. Even Homer nods, and I certainly don't want to have a serious falling-out with them.

 

[MartinSEsr]

If you read through the thread you'll find that all that has been done and it's sorted. There was no swapping of left and right, it was front and back on the right that had been swapped. It wasn't much of a hassle, only dropping the car in for another visit to have it fixed. This is my local garage, half a mile away. They've been looking after my cars for 16 years and I've always found them to be reliable and to do a good job. Even Homer nods, and I certainly don't want to have a serious falling-out with them.

Great and thanks. I'm pleased it's sorted. However I'm worried now... My local garage did a 'swap 4 tyres for 4 all-season tyres' job a few weeks ago, I left the car with them for a few hours. They all keep their pressure, 2.6 bar, none lose any and I blew them up with a digita gauge / inflator so they are spot on. However did they do it right?? I won't know unless I test it by going up / down a pair at a time. And I won't bother. In the scheme of things it's a miniscule worry but one I hadn't thought of before!

 

[PaulD]

Great and thanks. I'm pleased it's sorted. However I'm worried now... My local garage did a 'swap 4 tyres for 4 all-season tyres' job a few weeks ago, I left the car with them for a few hours. They all keep their pressure, 2.6 bar, none lose any and I blew them up with a digita gauge / inflator so they are spot on. However did they do it right?? I won't know unless I test it by going up / down a pair at a time. And I won't bother. In the scheme of things it's a miniscule worry but one I hadn't thought of before!

Exactly. It’s literally not an issue at all. There are only two realistic scenarios:

1) You get a warning that a tyre has a significant loss of pressure so bad you need to stop. As soon as you get out and look around the car it will be obvious which one it is.

2) You have a minor loss of pressure identified which means a tyre needs to be topped up and checked for nails etc. To do this you’ll need to get out a gauge / pump. Once you’ve got this equipment out, checking all four tyres and identifying which tyre has lost pressure will literally take about 1-2 minutes longer than being able to go straight to the correct tyre.

In either case, the fact you know a tyre has lost pressure is basically as good as knowing EXACTLY which tyre has lost pressure.

 

[Rolfe]

I wouldn't have known if they hadn't given me the car back with uneven pressures, and then one of them triggered a warning.

I guess so long as you know there's a possibility they've been switched, you can take that into account if you get a warning, and check all of them to see which one it actually is.

 

[Corindikev]

The climate where I live does not alter enough to warrant Winter tyres so I will rotate the tyres every 15,000km as I have always done. I always do this myself as it allows me to inspect the brakes & pads & check the suspension at the same time. It is a simple process and gives me peace of mind as in the past I have had some poor maintenance experiences.

Tyre shops inevitably tighten the wheel nuts with a rattle gun way beyond recommended torques, making it virtually impossible to remove with a standard wheel brace.

This is my first car without a spare tyre & no wheel brace but I do have good quality tools to perform this. I am going to ask the MG dealer about the recoding process to make sure they have the software & then see what they charge. The car has a 7 year unlimited km warranty so I'll argue that should be covered.

My assumption is that they will plug in the analyser & each tyres code will have a location which can be edited. I'll just tell them the original and new location for each tyre. Rotation will be as per the book. If they are smart they will have a tyre rotation program that does this automatically.

When it comes to new tyres I'll mark each one with its location & tell the shop to put them back where they came from. I'll check before payment & if they haven't done as requested they won't get paid till they fix it.

The car has only done 3,500km so far so it will be a while before the first rotation.