Yesterday I jumped in my car, turned the key and headed out to do an interview for a story I am writing for the December issue of FE. A half a block down the road I noticed the small tire icon on my dashboard was glowing yellow – the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) was giving me a warning. My first thought was that since the ambient temperature was below 40 degrees F the light was just an indication of a colder start than usual. But then I remembered that I have owned the car since February (and I live in Minnesota), so the tires have seen much colder temperatures than today. So I concluded that one or more of my tires probably really did need air.
Even though I knew what I should to do, I hesitated. I was right on time for my meeting; a stop to check my tires might make me late. I weighed the situation, which included needing to drive on freeways to get to my destination –– and I certainly didn’t want to have tire problems on the road. So, I headed for the nearest gas station that luckily was only a few blocks away, which meant my tires would still be “cold” for testing, a fact necessary for getting a proper PSI reading.
I parked near the air hose island, grabbed my tire gauge and hopped out of the car. Rather than testing every tire, I decided to “eyeball” each and picked out the tire I thought looked like it had less air in it than the others. Sure enough, when I inserted the tire pressure gauge it read 22 PSI (cold inflation pressure listed for the tires is 32 PSI). I filled it, jumped back in the car, turned the key in the ignition and the TPMS icon was still lit.
Rather than waste any more time with visual tire reconnaissance, which obliviously had been a stupid approach. I tested the other three and found them to be 8 to 10 lbs. below the correct PSI as well. I filled them, the warning light went out and was on my way.
Because my car is new, this was the first time I had experienced the TPMS warning light. I have to admit that when it came on I was annoyed –– I was in a hurry and the last thing I wanted to do was crawl around my car checking tires. After I filled the tires, and was driving to my appointment, I reflected on my experience. First, once alerted to a tire problem, I had tried to ignore it. Second, I initially tried to identify a low tire without a tire gauge. Third, I had forgotten that seasonal temperature changes require tire air pressure checks and adjustments, which if I had done I probably could have avoided the “warning light” interruption to my day.
Fleet drivers and technicians are probably even more reluctant than I was to take the time needed from their busy routines to check tire air pressures. Luckily, there are some excellent TPMS solutions for trucks and trailers these days that can help fleets better maintain tires. But, whether or not you invest in TPMS, it is crucial to encourage regular tire air pressure checks. Give drivers and technicians high-quality air pressure gauges and insist on frequent checks of all tires.
Forget the eyeball tests; I can verify that they just don’t work.
