low tire preasure indicator ( brrrr cold)

[Shoe]

So last night was prbably the 1st cold night up here in toronto water turned to ice and apprently north of the city got some snow flurries

AND my tire preasure indicator light came on

it looks very much like the failed parking break indicator but the squiggly line is the tire so im like ok what the?

did a quick feel of the tires thing in the parking lot all seemed reasonably ok, so im driving and thhinking what the hull? So my guess would be the cold air made the molucules condence and the air leaked outa my tire setting off these low preasure indicators im on my way to the gas station now b4 i head out for the night to add any needed air in the tires

WOW IS THIS GAUG EVER PICKY IF IM THINKING WHAT HAPPENED HAPPENEDS YA KNOW?


SHOE

[Yanks0114]

did a quick feel of the tires thing in the parking lot all seemed reasonably ok, so im driving and thhinking what the hull? So my guess would be the cold air made the molucules condence and the air leaked outa my tire setting off these low preasure indicators im on my way to the gas station now b4 i head out for the night to add any needed air in the tires

SHOE

LOL well close. As temperature goes down, with a constant volume, pressure will go down. So as a result of the extra cold night, the air just condensed, but did not leave your tire. It would be safe to drive on the tire, but I would add a few PSI. Check your tire when its a normal temperature and make sure its at manufactuers specs. Other than that, you're fine.

[Shoe]

ya you said it the sofisticated way i told ya the red neck way

shoe

[bigpow]

What da ya mean yer fine?

if everything were okay - the alarm should not had lit???

Fine is when the tire pressure is really low and the alarm lit - anything else then it's not fine, IMO

I don't have to be in cold temp. to get my alarm lit BTW

it's a piece of sh1t!!!

[jim1974]

I ran into the same problem sat night, during a heavy downpour. I checked the tires with a gauge and it was fine. reset the tire pressure switch, and to no avail. Just gonna bring it in to the dealer and have them check it out.

[rgache]

I think this (false indications) may become a bigger problem for Toyota. I had a false indicator just two days ago. Checked my tires with indicator and all was fine. I even put more air in to make sure. I am doing the recalibration proceedure (see your manual) to see if that helps to prevent false indications.

By the way, the system does not measure the air pressure directly in a tire. It measure the difference the rate at which the tire turns versus other tires and a calibration constant (I guess it is set at the factory). As the tire presure decreases, the tire rotation rate either increases or decrease (I don't know which).

I will try to post any other info I get on this.

-R

[hari-bhari]

As the tire presure decreases, the tire rotation rate either increases or decrease (I don't know which).

I will try to post any other info I get on this.

-R

hmm...that doesn't make sense to me. the tires rotate at whatever speed the car is travelling. if one tire was rotating a slower speed, the car would turn in the direction of whatever side that tire is on. imagine having a tricycle and someone holding one of the back wheels while u pedalled....you would just keep going in circles. so i dont think any tire actually moves more slowly when ur driving except during a turn, in which the outside wheels are travelling slightly faster than the inside wheels, depending on the sharpness of the turn (imagine a u-turn, inside wheels have to travel much less, and more slowly than the outside wheels)...anyways, just my two cents [/quote]

[slingshot]

I just had the low tire indicator come on tonight while driving. I drove about another five miles and then checked the tire pressures. They all read at 36 which is higher than the recommended 32. Perhaps driving those five miles warmed up the tire a bit. Still, there is no way I should have gotten the low reading. It was mid-30's and above freezing outside. I ended up holding in the tire reset button on the dash below the traction control button for a few seconds then saw the low tire light go off on the dash.

I don't recall seeing it blink before going out. The manual says if you don't see it blink when resetting, take the car into the dealer to fix it. Has anyone seen what I"ve seen and taken it to the dealer? What happened?
Dave

[bigpow]

proper calibration procedure if your warning light is ON and you believe your tire pressure are fine:
1. press The Button (if you don't know which one, I give up ) for 5 sec
2. the warning light should come off
3. keep pressing the button, don't let go for another 7 sec
4. the warning light should be flashing now
5. keep pressing The Button - until the light stop flashing
6. release The Button - you're done (good till the next rotation or any wheel/tire maintenance)

If you only do step 1 through step 2, then expect the false warning to keep popping out.

[cascino]

Same story in Rochester, MN. First night near 0 degrees F and the light went on. The dealership "reset" the indicator.