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- Symptoms Without Summary
- Car Leaking Coolant
- AC Isn't Cooling
- AC Blowing Hot Air
- Shaking While Driving
- Overheating AC
- AC Smells Like Vinegar
- Heater Not Working
- Windshield Wipers Don't Work
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- Shaking While Idle
- Shaking At High Speeds
- Evap System Leak
- Shaking While Braking At High Speeds
- Shaking When Stopped
- Shaking When Accelerating
- Radiator Leaking
- Pink Fluid Leaking
- Car Leaking Oil
- AC Not Working.
- Car Leaking Gas
- Power Steering Fluid Leak
- Bad Brake Caliper
Hey, Why Is My Car's Tire Pressure Light On?
If you are short on time and want to fast-track the process to professional help, click Yes
Is Your Car's Tire Pressure Light On?
The tire pressure light warns about a tire-kinda-empty(at least 25% below proper air), a flat tire, or broken sensors. If it’s the sensors, the tires should look normal. Alternatively, the tires might have overheated and want to cool off.
Stay alert if your car's dashboard begins to pop the "tire pressure" warning light. You might be driving under flat tires, causing progressive damage and requiring hefty repairs in the future; it'll also feature considerable safety risks. Alternatively, it can be electrical issues with the car's computer.
Either way, driving with a low tire pressure light on is pretty risky. So, measure tire pressure every once in a week to ensure you're up to safety standards. Extra tip: bad tire inflation can lightly cause poor fuel efficiency.
Are you having trouble with a tire pressure warning light on your car's dashboard? This warning light indicates issues like faulty wheel speed sensors, broken instrument clusters, temperature changes, old tire pressure sensors, etc. Typically, the symptoms are flat tire, handling difficulties, intermittent dashboard warnings, and much more. In extreme cases, not fixing this can result in a blown-up tire mid-traffic.
Let's Get To The Bottom Of It!
- If the notification is exclusively flashing or randomly disappearing, there might be an issue wit...read more
If the notification is exclusively flashing or randomly disappearing, there might be an issue with the car's tire pressure monitoring system. So, you may or may not see low tire pressure, and there might be no other noticeable symptoms.
- This warning notifies the driver when a tire's pressure is possibly under or above the recommende...read more
This warning notifies the driver when a tire's pressure is possibly under or above the recommended specifications. You can quickly confirm this by visually checking the state of each tire. Additionally, you can also use an air gauge to check how much pressure a specific tire has.
- Maybe you're noticing a tire pressure warning light on the dash concerning a specific wheel. But,...read more
Maybe you're noticing a tire pressure warning light on the dash concerning a specific wheel. But, when you check it, everything seems fair. This commonly happens after rotating the vehicle's tires at an auto shop.
- Most modern vehicles don't feature sensors inside the tires. Instead, they use wheel speed sensor...read more
Most modern vehicles don't feature sensors inside the tires. Instead, they use wheel speed sensors to calculate tire rotation. Unfortunately, if these sensors fail, they'll send wrong calculations to the anti-lock brake control module(ABS). So, even though the tire has low pressure, the sensors don't compute it. In many cases, the ABS or traction control light may be on too.
- When the vehicle moves, its tire pressure changes, warming up and cooling down throughout the day...read more
When the vehicle moves, its tire pressure changes, warming up and cooling down throughout the day. You might notice one of the wheels is warmer than the others; in this case, investigate the reasons since this is an issue symptom. Take the car to an auto shop and tell them about a temperature discrepancy between the tires.
- If your car's dashboard flashes the tire pressure warning periodically and without context, it ne...read more
If your car's dashboard flashes the tire pressure warning periodically and without context, it needs additional testing. Sometimes, this can be the work of trouble codes, and a quality code scanner picks up on it, detecting tire pressure sensors with a weak battery. Still, different trouble codes can send the car's computer a warning message.
Find Professional Help
Please select your vehicle's brand and location so we can locate the best professional help for youVehicle Health Inspection Proof
Explore the following typical inspection results that show a potential cause for the symptom and select the one you believe is similar to your vehicle's issue.
Unsynced tire sensor
Wheel speed sensor
Tpms battery
Overheating tire
Faulty tire pressure sensor
Low tire pressure
The red arrow in this image points to a dashboard notification concerning a tire learning mechanism in progress. This is a must-do process for many vehicles after rotating their tires in an auto shop.
A customer brought this vehicle into the shop because its tire pressure was inaccurate on the dashboard. More specifically, the dashboard indicated that the front left tire was low, but the rear tire was the low one. In addition, they've shared that the car recently went through a tire rotation at a different shop.
Rotating the vehicles' tires is a maintenance process that car owners can do to spread tire wear and improve their tires' life expectancy.
The technician began by performing a vehicle health inspection. First, they measured the car's tire pressure per square inch (psi) to the one recommended in the door placard. In this case, the right rear tire was low, contradicting what the dashboard indicated.
The client agreed to additional testing, which the technician started. First, they disassembled the tire and analyzed it internally; it didn't have significant damage, so the mechanic repaired it. Then, with modern tools, they relearned the new positioning of the tires.
The positioning is essential to accurately display the tires for the right location concerning the instrument cluster. The cluster is a part of the computer module that reports tire pressure.
So, they readjusted the tire pressure sensor. Note that vehicles often require position readjustment whenever they undergo a tire rotation.
1/6
This image shows a scanning device screen displaying information about a vehicle's wheels. In this case, the rear wheel value equals zero, meaning it has an issue.
A customer dropped this vehicle at the shop complaining that one of its tires was almost flat, yet the dashboard didn't have any warning.
As customary, the mechanic did a vehicle health inspection, checking the tires' condition and air pressure. In this case, one of the tires was lower, and the instrument cluster wasn't picking up on it.
However, there was an anti-lock brake warning light on the dash, which the customer didn't mention because they thought it wasn't relevant. Still, the technician scanned the vehicle's computer network, detecting a warning code. The code signaled that the wheel speed sensor wasn't sending information to the ABS module.
Note that a wheel speed sensor tracks tire rotation speed. Then, they compare the four wheels' speeds to see if they match. The logic is that an under or over-inflated tire rotates at different speeds. Unfortunately, an ABS failure can disable the tire-pressure monitoring system.
2/6
The image shows a TPMS sensor programmer inspecting a vehicle's tire sensor. In this case, the device notified that the tire sensor was extremely old and its batteries were dead.
The TPMS light notifies about the Tire Pressure Monitoring System. Note that a TPMS doesn't replace regular tire pressure checks.
The customer brought this car into the shop complaining about an intermittent tire pressure warning popping on the dashboard. They also mentioned recently taking the car to a local parts store for a system scan, revealing a low tire pressure sensor battery.
The technician began by performing a vehicle health inspection, finding that all tires had normal air pressure levels. Then, they did a scope scan, getting the tire pressure sensor's low battery code. This process was part of additional testing.
During a conversation with the customer, the technician discovered that the car's tire pressure sensors have ten years of use. Note that these sensors' life expectancy spans around 6-10 years, and their battery gets low at this range.
Since this car's tire pressure sensors reached their expected age and activated the TPMS warning light, the mechanic recommended changing them.
3/6
This image shows a thermal camera vision pointing towards overheating tire, wheel, and brake components. The red arrow indicates a sticking caliper that's sticking and overheating the brakes.
This vehicle arrived at the shop because a tire pressure warning light was popping on its dash. Additionally, the driver noticed a change in tire pressure on some of the wheels after driving the car for a while. The customer also felt a smell and thought their car was burning oil and needed a change.
The technician began by performing a test drive, verifying that all tires had the same pressure and temperature. However, by the end of the drive, they noticed a slight difference in one of the tires. The tire pressure rose, and the wheel was warmer.
Using a thermal camera, the technician documented that one of the wheels had an overall hotter temperature. The mechanic proposed additional tests to investigate the issue, which the customer agreed to.
During a brake system evaluation, the mechanic found that the right front caliper was binding, causing additional heat. Then, they planned repairs for the damaged part.
4/6
This case image shows a computer scan device screen. The device displays warning codes from tire pressure monitoring systems. In this case, the tire sensors are out of range.
This vehicle arrived at the shop because its tire pressure warning light flashed and stayed on the dashboard. The mechanic confirmed this on the test drive.
Then, during a vehicle health inspection, the technician tested the pressure of all tires. The result was that all of them had normal pressure levels. So, the client agreed to do additional testing to track the underlying issue precisely.
The in-depth testing revealed that the tire pressure system failure is directly linked to a faulty sensor. Therefore, the technician recommends replacing the defective sensor. In addition, due to the vehicle's old age, they suggest replacing all four sensors; the life expectancy of a standard tire pressure sensor is six to ten years.
The replacement is crucial since the tire pressure is one of the most important safety features in a car. After replacement, the technician programmed them into the computer module.
5/6
This case image shows a tire's inner portion. You can see damage and rubber strands, meaning that the tire is not safe to use anymore. This tire damage is enough to disapprove a truck during a DOT inspection.
A customer dropped this vehicle off complaining that a tire pressure warning light was permanently showing on its dashboard. Still, they didn't point out any performance issues on the vehicle, and the car didn't have a flat tire.
The mechanic started with a test drive, which revealed the tire pressure warning on the car's dashboard. Then, when they measured the tires' air pressure with a tire pressure gauge, they found an issue; one of the tires had an extremely low air pressure level.
The customer allowed additional testing, which the mechanic performed by removing the tire in question and examining its inner part. Unfortunately, the inspection revealed that the tire had catastrophic damages, and repairing it wouldn't solve the issue.
So, the auto shop replaced the tire with a new one that would match the vehicle's driveline. Then, they applied the proper tire inflation on the wheels.
Even though the shop found the issue's cause during a vehicle health inspection, the additional tests were crucial in isolating the problem as underinflated tires.
6/6Typical Makes
That need Tire Pressure Light significantly more often than average vehicle makes
Chevrolet
GMC
Acura
Ford
- Make:
Chevrolet
- Model:
Cobalt, Aveo, Avalanche, Express Van, Silverado Pickup, Tahoe, Impala
Tire Pressure Sensor
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Typical Fixes to Address the Cause(s)
The following chapters bases themselves on experiences from our auto repair shop; we'll describe related problems' causes and fixes.
The AutoTechIQ ranking for Safety, Cost Avoidance, and Environmental Impact is
Vehicle Symptoms
Below are just a few examples of typical Symptoms and Fixes your car might be experiencing
Other things your auto repair shop might talk about:
tire rack. owner's manual