Tire pressure monitor - interesting story

[Renthorin]

So the dreaded tire pressure idiot light came on yesterday morning on when I started my car to go to work. Wasn't on the night before when I parked it.Assumed it was because of the drop in temps. Got to work...checked all tires: 40, 40, 40, 32. Ok, low tire so good for the light.Filled it up on the way home and tried to reset the idiot light but...like an idiot..I did it while driving and the manual says "don't do that."Got up this morning and it was still on. About 3 miles from home I gave in and stopped in the middle of the road (gravel road in the middle of nowhere at 5am). Pulled out the manual and read the procedure for resetting and followed it to the letter.Light didn't go out. Nutty! I got out and that same tire was flat flat flat.... So I guess that explains why it didn't go out :-)Took the tire off and took to dealership. They found a hole but nothing in it so it was plugged and away I go.I have never had a tire pressure monitor system and I have to say it is pretty cool.So here is a question. The 4 little sensor thingies inside the tires on the ends of the valve stems.....how long do the batteries inside them last?Will

[vintagegz]

supposed to last 10 years according to the manual

[Renthorin]

DOH! I rarely read my manual When I took the tire off the indicator light was on.Put the tire back on and the light is off. I love technology.

[Renthorin]

we had an inch or so of snow on the road so normal driving "road feelings" were not present.The road is also very center crowned so the car leans to the right all the time.How often do the sensors fail?

[prathman]

Quote, originally posted by 13Vibe03 »I deliver mail as a USPS letter carrier and you'd be surprised how many notes I've left for people that have dangerously low tire pressures and/or missing lug nuts.Thank you. I was once hit by a loose car wheel while on a bicycle ride so I appreciate your efforts to make incidents like that less likely.Our Vibe has the older ABS-based TPMS and it did its job in alerting us to a slow leak in one of the tires. It wasn't obvious by visually inspecting the tires and I initially reset the system before getting out a tire gauge. But the gauge showed one tire to be low by about 6 psi and I then found the screwhead in the tread. A trip to Discount Tire got me a free repair (despite this being an OEM tire and not theirs) and was much more convenient than having to change a flat by the side of the road.

[vibolista]

Hey 13, welcome to America. Most people drive and generally pay no attention to their cars until a light comes on or the poor thing fails to start. Great of you to point out safety concerns to those who would never even notice. Keep it up! Drivers Ed is a joke in this country, and driving dynamics don't even make the class list, never mind taking a moment to look over your car's condition once in a while before you strap in to go somewhere. My kids had to take Drivers Ed. in school and it just turned out to be an expensive waste of time. Yeah, the kids get a little extra supervised time behind the wheel, and they get insurance discounts for taking the course, but the actual learning was restricted to parking, signaling and normal traffic rules. Everyone should get a chance to learn something about handling a car in emergency low friction situations, whether it be a wet or frozen road or tire malfunction. Zero that experience... I had to teach that to them on my own. That's why all the car makers are putting a thousand pounds of electronic gear that we end up having to lug around in our cars and repair (expensive!) when it craps out. It's meant to 'help' the average driver out, so they don't do more damage to others and themselves when things go wrong. Around here where I live, you see the same thing, every year. 4 wheel drive, all wheel drive and two wheel drive vehicles off in the trees, ditches or tangled up with other vehicles in winter, because the drivers didn't know, or understand the limits of their rides, or tires, or road conditions. To top it all off... they probably have never given a moments thought to the laws and physics of motion. The evidence is scattered all over the place after each snow storm. Snow tires? What are those? I have all-seasons on, so I don't need no stinkin' snow tires! Yup. A large parking lot, some orange cones, some snow or water and a little instruction would go a long way to show any driver what can happen and how to correct it to avoid serious tragedy. I was extremely fortunate to learn to drive on a frozen lake. It made for a steep learning curve, but those lessons have kept me out of trouble for 4 decades now, especially when conditions become dicey or icy! Damn, what a rant. If you see something that needs attention on a car, do your best to inform that driver. Kudos for 13Vibe03! Hang in there. I'm all vented now for at least a month.