How reliable are tire sensors?

[Chik a Boom]

Thanks, everyone for your input, I learned a few things.

Maybe the silly thing reset itself causing the light on dash to go out. I will check the manual and see what it says about resetting. However, for now, it appears to have mended itself (see fingers crossed)....yeaaa.

 

[Frank46]

I'm another "old school" driver. Tire pressure guage in the glove box and i use it. I had a Isuzu Rodeo that the check engine light kept coming on every so often. Dumped some gum out in the tank while the engine was running and after about 15 minutes driving it went out. So every time it came on gumout in the tank..Then shortly after that it went out. gave it to my daughter when she went to Texas. Back and forth and she complained about all the gas it used. Reminded her that it was built on a truck body and probably better than most SUV's at the time. She gets a new car in Texas then gives away the rodeo. Told her she should have brought it back as it still was in nice shape. Frank

 

[g-dad]

I worked many yrs with Mercedes and BMW. When TPS 1st became available we experienced many false readings. TPS improved and false readings left. The cooler weather would trigger TPS also. Nitrogen in the tires eliminated the weather change alerts. I was not a believer at first. After a yr of satisfied customers I was sold on nitrogen.

 

[Snapping Twig]

My car and wife's both have the dash low pressure light. Previous car did too - Lincoln. Seem to work well.

My moto has pressure reading/displaying type. Saved my bacon a few times and gives me peace of mind. Going over an odd road surface that mimics a flat and a quick glance at the dash and tire pressure is perfect - it's the road.

Also, helps me to keep the pressure correct. I keep a bicycle pump in the garage and when the pressure is a pound low, every other week or so, I top it off. The pressure display is useful.

 

[rwsmith]

They are great......when they work....

We have an old car and all of the warning lights started coming on years ago and now they are all lit constantly. The car runs great and the mechanics tell me, the sensors are bad, just ignore them. The dashboard looks like a Christmas tree.

 

[rond]

Mine work great, 3 times they have caught a slow leak before the tire even looked low. You have to reset every time you add air or rotate tires.

 

[islamoradamark]

That tire light on my wife's car drives her nuts. costs money to have them checked, your time oh lets not forget about the stress

 

[Comrad]

I've had sensors in several cars since 2001 never a problem. Current ride Lincoln MKZ 6 years old with 110,000 miles with no problems. Knock wood.

 

[steelslaver]

My BIL has a tire shop. Every winter he is flooded with people new to tire sensor warnings. When the weather her drops to around zero most of them go off. Having a slightly low tire temp on snow packed roads isn't bad really. All my vehicles have a tire gauge in them. Change oil, check tires. Plus, a preflight check of you rig before traveling is always a good policy.

 

[Bullet Bob]

"I will check the manual and see what it says about resetting."

Whoa now, no reason to get crazy!

Just kidding around; I belong to a couple of car forums, and it amazes me how many (usually young) people will not read a manual for even the simplest things.
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"That tire light on my wife's car drives her nuts. costs money to have them checked, your time oh lets not forget about the stress"

Don't you just check the air pressure first to see if the tires are a few pounds low before going to the dealer? I would only go to a repair shop if I found a nail in the tire, or the tires kept losing pressure more rapidly or often than normal.

 

[OLDSTER]

IMO reliable, but too sensitive. As others have posted, in this part of the country, as soon as winter sets in, the light comes on. I've learned from our last 3 vehicles to just carry a tire pressure gauge in each vehicle and spot check once a week or so. But no I don't add air to compensate.

 

[Arik]

Guys, if you are having issues with the light coming on but tires check out fine remember to check your spare. Some spares have a sensor that will turn on if pressure is low

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[Tom S.]

I'm an old school guy, started working on cars when I was 15, which means 1965. That being stated, I love tire pressure sensors. It means one less thing I have to monitor on my truck, which BTW, I added sensors to because they don't come on dually trucks. I also put them on my 5th wheel, where they are almost a necessity. I can't begin to count the time I've seen people driving on nearly flat tires, and tire pressure sensors would have warned them. No, they aren't infallible, but they beat ruining a tire because you didn't know it was under inflated. The internal (factory) sensors are really quite reliable and accurate, while the add ons, like I have, are a little less accurate but much easier to service and less likely to get screwed up when changing tires. Either way, I like them!

 

[Krell1]

Mine come on when the temp goes down along with the tire pressure. The problem I have is, it doesn't tell you which tire has gone a little soft. They all look the same so each tire has to be checked. In the couple times this has happened to me, it's always the last tire I check that ends up being a little low. Once the tires are all pumped up to the correct pressure, you have to drive around a little to get the light to reset. I guess it's still all good to know the tires need to be checked.

 

[5Wire]

It's the rolling circumference of the tire that is sensed, pressure is implied.

 

[chaparrito]

Wife's 2014 Subaru has one on all the time. Dealer has not been much help. Nothing wrong with the tires.

 

[LVSteve]

IMO reliable, but too sensitive. As others have posted, in this part of the country, as soon as winter sets in, the light comes on. I've learned from our last 3 vehicles to just carry a tire pressure gauge in each vehicle and spot check once a week or so. But no I don't add air to compensate.

Why ever not? When the temperatures here drop and the pressures go down my SUV wallows like a stuck pig until I boost the pressures.

 

[snuffy51]

My wife drives a Chevy Cruze Eco we bought new in 2012. It has a tire info screen that comes up and shows the pressure in each tire. Took her about 2 years to stop telling me her left front tire is 1 pound low. And the thing is accurate. I checked it with my digital tire gauge. If it ever messes up, no telling how much it will cost to fix, but it does help with servicing the car.

 

[Tom S.]

Why ever not? When the temperatures here drop and the pressures go down my SUV wallows like a stuck pig until I boost the pressures.

If the "low" signal comes on and you're only a pound or so low, that should change almost as soon as you start driving and the tires begin to warm up. If you are experiencing that problem with your SUV, you may want to go to a stiffer tire, or read the tire pressure ratings on the tires and run them with more air in them than the factory 'recommended' setting. Remember the Ford/Firestone fiasco? The tires were rated to run at higher pressures, but Ford recommended people run them at lower pressure to soften the ride. The results were if people let the tires get anywhere below that setting, the tires were too low in pressure and damage to the tire resulted, causing blowouts.

I'm not sure if factory units warn you about high pressure like my aftermarket one does (it also does temps inside tire), but if not, you could also run into an over pressure issue when going from a cold environment to a warm one. For example, if your tires read 3 pounds low when the outside air is 0 degrees, and you add the 3 pounds, then drive to a warmer clime, you could end up with tires over the tire manufacturer's limit. Probably not the end of the world, but it could cause the center of the tire to wear prematurely from over inflation.

Regardless of what any tire pressure monitoring system, you should still have and use a good tire pressure gauge. Notice the emphasis on good. $5 cheap ones aren't worth the money you're saving or the risk you are taking. A good gauge will run at least $20, and get one that's within the range of your tires. A 120LB truck tire gauge won't give you as accurate readings as a 50LB one if your running pressure is 32LB.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Friend has a Nissan truck with tire air sensors. Not happy.

When there's a problem it requires an exotic dance of some kind to reset and get the dash light to stop glowing. I think he's replaced them twice with factory units. I suggested he just put some tape over the dash light. He didn't think that was funny.