When Your Tires Say

LittleTexas :
Honestly I have not gotten in my car yet. The cooler weather is a relief though. I was really needing a break from the heat. September was rather hot this year.

Tires don't like the change in season and start throwing this code when there's a drastic drop in temp. When I've seen it previously, I always get it checked but almost always, it's false. Now, part of the dash monitoring shows tire pressure for all 4 tires, so no reason to physically check it.

Ours came on this morning too. But not until we were driving back home from mass. The tire monitoring system showed that back tires were lower than the front. So the timing was a good reminder since we'll have a long road trip to Florida this week.

It barely takes dipping to the 50's to get mine to do it! 3 of 4 tires were on this morning, lol
It clears off if you drive like 5 miles down a freeway, but I barely leave Kingwood anymore, so they can stay stuck in warning state for a while...

LittleTexas : Mine did it last week. I took it to get aired up and the tech said the light will go off after you drive for awhile. Hmm.....it is still on. Going back tomorrow.

Donnawisdom : But I thought you didn't like it below 70?

MrsC67 : What part of Florida are you heading to?

Cbear :
The part that just got hit by a hurricane. Miramar Beach. We had a long weekend planned with some friends and it still looks good to go.

MrsC67 : Oh I love the Destin area. . . so pretty. Safe travels and if you think about it take some pics and post here. I doubt that I will get back that way ever again. Enjoy!

The cooler temps cause the light because you actually lose air. For every 10degree ambient temp change you lose 1-2psi. And as you drive and tires get hot(even within a mile) the psi increases. Use the Manufacturer psi on your vehicle's driver door pillar for proper air psi. Best to check before driving, but off you drive to a shop tell them to set it 4psi higher than the sticker to account for them cooling down when you park.

Cbear: in certain cars your spare can also trigger this warning so make sure they check that one too.

I went out yesterday morning about 10:45 to take my wife and oldest girls shopping and as soon as I rounded the corner onto Trailwood Village Dr. the dashboard lit up that 3 of my tires were low. The only reason it wasn't 4 is because 1 has a really slow leak and I overfilled it a bit the other day.Turned around and pulled back into my driveway and opened the garage and got the pancake compressor and filled them all up and we were off once again. The problem this time of year is they can be low in the morning but high in the late afternoon if the temps get up there, which they can, so don't overfill them too much.Forty years ago we had a running joke with all the gullible people. We would ask them if they had changed the air in their car tires. They always asked what we meant so we told them you have to let all the summer air out and put the winter air in to keep the tires safe. Some people actually bought it, so yes, common sense was already dying in the eighties.

Ronstang :
Tire pressure doesn't increase when ambient temperature does. It only increases as the tire heats up from driving on it and that is usually about 3 psi

Cbear LittleTexas :
I went to discount tire and had all 4 on friends ram truck topped off. Borrowed truck as my suv was acting up.

ExTxOfficer :
Wrong. If the ambient temp increases so will the tire pressure in a tire just sitting. If it didn't then it wouldn't decrease just sitting because it gets cold. Gas expands and contracts based on tmeperature, period.Ever notice your plastic gas cans bulging when it's 100 outside yet in the winter the can will suck into itself because of the change in partial pressure. No different than air in a tire. Simple science.Yes, the tire pressure increases when you drive due to the frictional heat transfer from the tire running on the road into the air in the tire, but once again because of the same principle the pressure will increase just sitting on the driveway if you fill it to 32 psi when it's 60 out and it goes up to 100 the next day.