However, if the light doesn’t turn off after the tires are warmed up, you should grab your tire pressure gauge to measure the exact pressure of your tires and inflate them to the correct optimum pressure level. So you see the low tire pressure light but tires are fine. The air inside the tire will expand, thus increasing the air pressure and the light will shut off. This is why it’s pretty normal if on a cold winter morning, you find the low-pressure indicator light on your dashboard illuminating, but once you start driving, the tires will warm up. On days with substantial fluctuation in temperature, say around 40 to 50 degrees F between day and night, your tire pressure might vary by about 3 PSI to 5 PSI. In contrast, cold air becomes more dense and takes up less space, so inside a tire, this condensation means decreasing air pressure.Ī car tire may measure at 30 PSI at 80-degree temperatures during the day, but early morning the next day, when the temperature drops to 30 degrees as it’s often coldest overnight, it might return a reading of only 25 PSI. Hot air expands, takes up more space and is less dense, but inside the confined space of a tire, this expansion means increased air pressure. It is pretty common for the low tire pressure light but tires are fine issue to occur on very cold winter mornings. There are many perfect reasons for why this might happen: Extreme Cold Weather Many times when the tires aren’t flat or under-inflated, the low-pressure light on the dashboard turns on. Source: CarGurus Reasons Behind Low Tire Pressure Light but Tires are Fine So what makes the TPMS light on but tires are fine ? Your TPMS light can illuminate while your tires are all properly inflated. If a tire has low pressure, the dashboard TPMS light will illuminate.
This indicator often looks like a tire viewed from the front with an exclamation point inside it. When the car starts, the TPMS light will normally illuminate for a second or two. Also, note that if your car is an older model year, it might not come installed with a tire pressure monitoring system like more recent models.Īvailable in two different technology forms, the TPMS either can determine the pressure directly or can calculate it indirectly by using the information of tire rotations. So just because the warning light isn’t illuminated doesn’t mean that your tire pressure has been set correctly. Its main function is to generate the tire pressure information for the car’s computer system.ĭo note that such a system illuminates a light on your dashboard to warn if a tire’s pressure is significantly lower than the recommended pressure specified by your vehicle manufacturer and does not allow you to check the accurate pressure. You might have known that most new vehicles come with a TPMS, which stands for Tire Pressure Monitoring System, which is an electronic box fitted on the rim of the tire. Under-inflation means more contact with the road surface, which leads to rapid heat buildup, which can in the worst case can make the tread separate from the wheel entirely and render the vehicle out of control. Under-inflated tires more more problematic, accounting for the majority of tire-related accidents. Both under-inflated tires and over-inflated tires can adversely affect handling and braking, make your tires worn out faster and unevenly, and thus can compromise your safety on the roads. Tire Pressure Monitoring System: What Does It Do?Ĭar tires must be correctly inflated to the optimum air pressure specified by your vehicle manufacturer. However, before delving into its reasons for the problem of tire pressure light keeps coming on and its solutions, you must first understand the basics of the technology measuring the tires pressure inside the car.
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So what is the reason for this problem and how to fix it? Read on to find out. However, there’s a common problem of seeing low tire pressure light but tires are fine. To ensure this, most newer vehicles today come with a Tire Pressure Monitoring System that shows a warning light on your dashboard when a tire is significantly low on air. To ensure optimum stability, control, handling and braking performance, your tires must be consistently inflated to the optimum air pressure specified by your vehicle manufacturer. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, there are about 11,000 accidents and 200 deaths each year that can be attributed to tire failure, of which the majority of cases is caused by under-inflated tires.