Tire Pressure and the Weather

Yesterday morning was the first extra cool morning this fall, and I didn't really think much of it at first.  However, as I was leaving for church yesterday morning, I noticed that I had a warning light on my dashboard as I was heading out of the neighborhood.  It was from the TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) on the Civic.  I was fairly certain that the drop in temperature was the culprit so I dropped by the local QT station to check the tire and make use of their free air pump.  

I was rather surprised at what I discovered.  Rather than one of the tires being low, all four were 6-8 lbs. below the 32 lbs. that they should have held.  I was in effect driving on about 2 1/2 tires worth of air pressure.  However 10 minutes at the QT put things back in order quickly.  No big deal.

Well, the big deal to me was that in the past I would have never known that the tires were low.  They didn't visibly "look" low.  This is the value of having a TPMS.  Our Nissan Quest also has one, and I would guess that it is a pretty common feature on newer vehicles.  However, if your vehicle does not have one of these, it would be a good idea to check your tires after a drop in temperature.  It's just one of those many things that is easy to forget about.

Until next time...

PH