My tire pressure warning light came on recently. What does that mean?

It means that one or more of your tires has low air pressure. The dashboard warning light, which looks like a cross-section of a tire with some lines in it, comes on when the tire pressure is 20% below what the auto manufacturer recommends. So if your recommendation is for 35 psi (pounds per square inch), the light will come on when your pressure falls to 28 psi.

It’s essential to note that 20% below recommended pressure is significantly under-inflated. This means that you will be experiencing degraded handling and that your tire will be running hotter than it should. This can not only be a safety hazard, but your tires will wear prematurely and could even suffer a heat related failure.

Drivers should not use their Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) warning light as their trigger for checking their tire pressure. They should still check their tire pressure at least once a month.

Some car owners mistake the tire pressure printed on the side of the tire as the recommended pressure for the vehicle. This is not the case. The information on the tire is the range the tire can handle. The correct pressure for your vehicle is on a plate or sticker on the driver’s side door or door jamb. This is the pressure your tires should have to match the engineered handling capacity of your vehicle. Please note that the pressure may be different for your front and rear tires.

Your TPMS does not have a regularly scheduled maintenance interval. However, be aware that the batteries in the sensors mounted in each wheel will eventually die, illuminating the warning light and necessitating replacing the sensor. Sensors can also be damaged by road salt and other contaminants.

Some TPMS systems indicate tire pressures for individual wheels which will tell car owners which tire is low – as long as the system has been reset after rotating the tires. Other systems will simply give a warning and it is up to you to check all your tires (including the spare). For more information, communicate with us at Douglas Automotive Repair, Inc.

The government mandated TPMS systems to reduce tire-related accidents, property damage, injuries and deaths. The automotive professionals at Douglas Automotive Repair, Inc. in Plainfield recommend that you have your tire pressure checked at least once a month to maintain your safety and increase tire life.

Give us a call today!

This entry was posted in Safety, Tires, Vehicle Maintenance and tagged Low TIre Pressure, Tire Pressure, TPMS, Vehicle Maintenance on September 25, 2014.