Tire Pressure Light...I know...I know

[cgs0409]

Hate to sound like a broken record. I know this has been discussed several times...but my light has started coming on. I can reset the tire pressure light and it stays off...as long as I'm below 60 mph. As soon as I get on the interstate or anywhere above 60 mph it comes on. This didn't start until I rotated my tires last week. I checked the air pressure in the tires...all at 30psi, checked to see if I damaged anything when I did the rotation, etc. This has never happened before when I rotated the tires...I have around 24,000 on the car. Anyone have anything simiar happen?

[Jewls]

I have to keep a MINIMUM of 32-34 PSI in my tires to keep that stupid light off. It is especially annoying to have it come on while driving along the interstate because you cannot reset it until you stop!

[drglitch]

Not to sound bad, but READ THE F***** MANUAL!

In our cars, every tire has a sensor inside [think radio transmitter]. When you rotate the wheels you MUST reset the system -it thinks your wheels are in wrong spots, which they are [you just rotated them!].

Now, there are TWO types of reset - first is using the button and holding it for 5 seconds. That does a soft reset. In theory, you should never do this, as once your driving returns to normal [not too bumpy or wet, around 40mph] for around 5 min, it would automatically shut off.

Second type of reset, and the one you gotta do, is a hard-reset. It involves playing with your ignition key and brake pedal from what i remember [got new tires 5K miles ago] - read the car user manual - page 136 from what i remember [not the short description, the long detailed one - if you cant find it, let me know and i will give u exact page number].

After hard reset, your car "relearns" the position of tires and their pressure. You have to drive normally over smooth [preferably] roads at like 40mph for about an hour.

It took me two hard resets to make my genius car finally "learn" new tires. Although on first try i did not adhere to the 40mph part of the equation at all...

On a side note: After the crappy stock tires went after like 15K miles, i got Michelin Pilot A/S - although madly expensive, i think they are worth every penny. They are slightly lower profile [+10w/-5h], but that does do much. The car handles turns like it is on rails - i really regret not getting the SE Sport version now If i get enough $$$ together, i'll try to get sway bars and see if that makes suspension a bit stiffer on turns.
Best part [and i didnt know it was a general problem, not just individual alignment problem - is that the left drift is completely gone with the Michelins. For those interested - they fit just fine on stock 17" rims.

Oh, one more thing about the tire pressure warning light - mine would come on after driving on a H/W for extended periods of time at high speeds [high double-digits]. Didn't happen with stock tires. I attribute it to Michelins heating up to their "working temp" [they are ZR rated and supposed to run hot?] Just my personal guess...

Lastly - be aware of your tire pressure!!!!! - with my original tires, i thought my system was being glitchy as always - until 3 days later it would CONSTANTLY come back on - on the fourth day i found out i had a puncture :-/. So dont go resetting the thing like crazy - if it keeps coming on, and you havent rotated tires, maybe its just...working? Trust the technology

[cklinh]

Not to sound bad, but READ THE F***** MANUAL!

In our cars, every tire has a sensor inside [think radio transmitter]. When you rotate the wheels you MUST reset the system -it thinks your wheels are in wrong spots, which they are [you just rotated them!].
[/b]

Haven't been following the Tire Pressure problems much (don't have them myself...)

But from what I can gather from that statement, IF you get new rims/tires, the Tire Pressure Sensor thingy won't work anymore?

[cgs0409]

Thanks for the rely drglitch...I did the resets both the soft and hard as you called them. I thought the hard reset would have fixed the problem but didn't. Now I just do the soft reset and drive...reset it at the next stop. It does get aggrevating after a while. I'll try the hard reset once more and see what that does. What is so strange is that this is the first time I've had this problem after rotating the tires...always tried to keep around 30 psi in them. Truth is stranger than fiction. Thanks again guys for your response. So you like those Mitchell tars as we call them down here...ha. I've been looking to replace my stock tires in the future...right now they still have plenty of tread on them. Been wondering what to buy.

[junest]

I never had any problmes with that with my stock wheels. But when I installed the 18's and slightly smaller tires than stock the light started turning on when I drive 60 MPH or over. Since I just did my 5K service and had the tires rotated, I've not had any promblems with it again...for now.

[drglitch]

But from what I can gather from that statement, IF you get new rims/tires, the Tire Pressure Sensor thingy won't work anymore?

They wont work until you do a hard reset - the system needs to re-learn the new tire diameter [and thus, rotation per minute REL TO speed].

I got new tires [diff size] and it works just fine after a proper reset like i mentioned

[drglitch]

What is so strange is that this is the first time I've had this problem after rotating the tires...always tried to keep around 30 psi in them. Truth is stranger than fiction. Thanks again guys for your response. So you like those Mitchell tars as we call them down here...ha. I've been looking to replace my stock tires in the future...right now they still have plenty of tread on them. Been wondering what to buy.

Make sure you follow hard reset procedure to the tee - AND ON TOTALLY LEVEL GROUND!!!!. From personal experience, best way to properly reset is go on a highway and drive the speed limit [55mph, for those of us who have forgotten ] for a bit. Dont brake too hard or take hard turns too fast [ie making ABS go on].

What are Mitchell tars? Too lazy to search. hehe

If you've got the money [i didnt, but scrubbed everywhere and got just enough!] go for michelins pilot A/S - expensive, louder than stock, but you will be AMAZED at handling change [esp in wet weather]. Cant even start describing difference in way car handles at 75+mph....
Read reviews online!

For looks-before-anything-else crowd: you can actually throw 235s onto stock rims if you're so inclined and be just fine.

[drglitch]

Haven't been following the Tire Pressure problems much (don't have them myself...)

But from what I can gather from that statement, IF you get new rims/tires, the Tire Pressure Sensor thingy won't work anymore?

Correction : Every WHEEL - a sensor is strapped onto the rim inside the tire with a giant zip tie [haven't seen it, just info i've been told/read]

[michaels artic frost]

Not to sound bad, but READ THE F***** MANUAL!

In our cars, every tire has a sensor inside [think radio transmitter]. When you rotate the wheels you MUST reset the system -it thinks your wheels are in wrong spots, which they are [you just rotated them!].
[/b]

Haven't been following the Tire Pressure problems much (don't have them myself...)

But from what I can gather from that statement, IF you get new rims/tires, the Tire Pressure Sensor thingy won't work anymore?

Mine still works and I have confirmation. I'm running 245/35/20 around 30-32 psi and it dropped down to 27 cus somebody was messing with my tire pressure and the light came on. I reset it and didn't know why it kept coming on. I stoped and saw finger prints around the valve stem and called & confronted them and long story short; problem was fixed by inflating that one tire back to 30-32 psi. No more tire pressure light.

Another short story:
I was running 225/40/18 around 30-32 psi and tire pressure light came on constantly. Even checked the spare and that was fine. It was because of the diameter of the wheel that caused the tire pressure light to come on. Resolution: Change tires sizes from 225/40/18 to 235/45/18 to keep in stock diameter range.

So, aftermarket wheels/tires will not disable tire pressure sensor. It may throw it out of whack.

[cgs0409]

Drglitch...thanks again for the response. Mitchell Tars is slang for Michelin. Back in the '70's I worked on the design of the tire test track they have in SC. During that time all us'ns well educated engineers started referring to Michelin as Mitchell Tars. Used to make the French mad...hey it was a joke...get over it. Anyway...it has stuck...my wife gets on me all the time about my slang. But thanks again...say you really like those Mitchell Tars....

[drglitch]

Ha, thought you were making a vague reference to mitchell-on-demand line of automotive repair/parts software

I do like the michelins - i have no clue how long they will live, but i expect it to be around 20K - we'll see. Going for a first rotation at some point next week.

Going to see if i can pickup sway/strut bar cheap so i can improve body roll on turns!

[cgs0409]

Finally got the light to go off and stay off. What I was doing wrong was not resetting the light before doing the hard set. According to the manual you have to reset the light so it goes off...then...you have to hold the reset button in till the light comes back on and blinks three times. That re-sets the system to the new parameters. Just be sure you check the tires to make sure they all have the same pressure. Got my fingers crossed...it was nice driving home today and not seeing that dang light.

I stopped on the way home and looked at Goodyear Eagles and Michelin something or others...didn't write the name down. The Michelins were $130 and some change...the Eagles were about a C note...both were 50,000 miles tires. I drive a little over a hundred miles day during the week so I need the mileage. Let me know how yours look after the rotation.