The TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) on your vehicle is a system designed to detect when one or more of your tires are low on air pressure. When a tire is low, a light will come on in the instrument cluster area or a warning will come on in the message center if equipped. When you see this warning simply check your tire pressure and set it to the vehicles recommended pressure (see last post Tire Pressure). Next you should drive the vehicle and if the light goes out the system is working fine, have any tire checked that was considerably lower than the recommend psi (example if the recommend psi was 32 and 3 tires had 29 psi and 1 tire had 20 psi you should have that tire checked for leaks). If the message center displays sensor fault or the indicator light is flashing then the system is experiencing a malfunction and should be checked by a competent professional. Also see the vehicles Owner’s Manual for more specific information about the TPMS on your vehicle.
When checking tire pressure it is important to make sure the tires are cold. You will need to find the recommended air pressure for the vehicle. You may find this in the owners manual or the sticker in the driver's door area is another good place to find this information. Once you know the recommended tire pressure, set all tires to the recommended pressure. Do not go by the max pressure listed on the tire! This may not be the recommended tire pressure for the vehicle. If a low tire light message was on, take the vehicle for a short drive, and the light should go out. If the light stays on, the tire pressure monitoring system may require service and should be checked by a trained technician as soon as possible. Keeping the recommended tire pressure is important not only for safety but also for optimal fuel economy and tire life.
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