Making the Simple a Complex Affair

I think most cars have these now, I have them on my Mustang, had the low pressure go off a couple of times, seem to have a slow leak in my left front tire....once you fill it up it resets automatically...but if you change the wheel position they have to be reset, they are wirelessly monitored individually....now they would probably still work out of position, but tell you the wrong tire is low, ha like you can't tell by looking at it...and I think like most people if you have to check one, you check them all anyway....

I'm currently having a problem with the driver's side window, has lost part of its program somehow, and when you open the door the window automatically goes all the way down....now when you try to put it up or down, it only moves a small amount and you have to keep pressing the button over and over until it reaches its proper position...I've tried to reprogram it according to youtube instruction, but no luck so far...I would be happy with just a manual crank like in the good ol days, are people so weak they can't crank a window up and down anymore?

This Technology was spawned from the racing industry.

Tire pressure is underappreciated for what it can keep in your wallet when you tires are correctly inflated as well as safety and extending the life of your tires to its warranty.

"Under-inflated tires can lower gas mileage by about 0.2% for every 1 psi drop in the average pressure of all tires. ... "

I think the industry realizes that the average Driver does not do maintenance on their own cars, hence, more warning lights.

I just got new tires,... even though it had some tread left, there was a cut on one tire and must have had a flat spot so the ride was rough. Bought new tires about 3 weeks ago, and the ride was smooth as well as quiet as well as a slight improvement in gas mileage.

So to make a long story short,... things are made more complex to counter todays level of drivers that are lazy, stupid and ignorance about their vehicles maintenance.

It's unusual to get better mileage with a new set of tires. Usually the worn old set with less rubber to deform has lower rolling resistance than a new set with thick new rubber.....unless perhaps the old tires were not properly inflated.

Are you sure the old tires were at a similar pressure to the new?

The savings I just posted from a source.

For myself, as far as the tire pressure, yes, there were at 29-30 PSI...

I do check the air pressure maybe twice a year, and it's stays relatively the same. Other than,.... I notice that every year on the first cold snap (Below Zero F), my low tire pressure gauge would come on, and I have to air them up.

I don't know what pressure it was at, I'm usually travel, and I'd stop at the gas station where you just set the desired pressure on the service compressor, and it pump until you hit that pressure.

There problem I had. It was near the end of tires life. When I rotated them last winter, I notice a cut on the front tire, that's when I order the new set.

Also there were flat spots that developed. (possible from locking up the brakes), but I believe I may need new shocks... When I rotated the tires, I notice a small oil leak on one of them and that may be the culprit... I bounced the front end, and when I lift go, it settle right away.... On a Buick Lucerne, the front of the car is heavier that any other car of that size.

What I did notice was the smoother and quieter ride since I had the tires replaced. Though I didn't do a gas mileage comparison... but I'm happy with the results.

Oh..

I took, "...Bought new tires about 3 weeks ago, and the ride was smooth as well as quiet as well as a slight improvement in gas mileage..."

to mean you had done a gas mileage comparison.

Only on fill-ups estimation based on the gas tank needle low fuel warnings.. with a 17 gallon tank, I can go to work and back for 5 days and fill up....on Saturday... when I fill it up,... with in 2 miles of a gas station the gas tank low fuel warnings come on,... since I put new tires on,... it has yet to happen. hence a slight mpg improvement.

"... things are made more complex to counter todays level of drivers that are lazy, stupid and ignorance about their vehicles maintenance."

Could be the other way: today's cars are so complex that owners can't perform their own maintenance.

Until my last car, I used to do most of the maintenance myself. Wanted to change a fuse (as simple a job as any) but when I saw how many vital functions were controlled by the circuit the fuse was in, I decided to let the service department do it.

It's possible, it could also work out as a marketing ploy to sell more product, such as OnStar. Or maybe I'm just cynical today.

There were things that I wouldn't touch, even after I bought an small electronic reader to read the codes.

I wonder if the complexity is also a ploy to get people to rely on the maintenance facilities.

I've been told that where car dealers make the most money is on the financing and (very often dubious) maintenance.

I touched off that on my post #27. I agree to a certain degree about the financing, but that the money is actually into selling the debt.

Is that because people have become so lazy and stupid we can't keep it simple anymore?

(KISS)

Stop thief... you stole my post.

you should see how they check oil level.......no dipstick!

I see... I think they shouldn't have idiots owning and driving the cars.

Hillary: "I don't drive"

P911: "Exactly,... Thank Goodness"

I noticed my Impala's manual says the tire pressure sensors are supposed to be re-calibrated under similar situations. Didn't really make sense to me until I read this post on how the sensors work.
I figured they were pressure sensors so what difference does it make what size tire or which location they where in. 32 lbs of Pressure is 32 lbs pressure no matter what tire size.
Ok, when you switch wheels around it might tell you that the right front is low when its the left rear but when one is low I'm going to check them all the old fashion way anyway so who cares. I always tried to check at least once a month anyway but I seem to check more often these days.
Guess this is also why since I put new tires on, my old fashion pressure gauges give a different reading than the cars sensors. Only a slight difference so until my car needs major service won't bother having them re-calibrated.

sorry you learned something

OW! My Head!! PAIN!!!! IT HURTS...IT HURTS!!!!!!

Hmmm. So if all the tires are low (say someone misreads the requirement, the gauge, or just guesses); none of the wheels will be turning slower. They all should be vibrating similarly. Does the system detect a problem?

Yes - modern technology - you have to take it even if you don't want it. This one works fine until the first time you get tires changed and the boys in the shop put the wheels back on in a different position than before. (right front on left rear for example) Then when you find you have a slow leaker cause they didn't get it sealed, and the readout on the dash says RF, you try to add air to the wrong tire, because this system catches problems in pressure before they are visible. Good it catches low pressures so soon. Bad you have to keep track of which wheel is in which position. Even the dealership gets these messed up.

Which could be pretty bad if you have directional tyres.....

I have seen it several times here and when possible, warned the owner with a message under the wipers....or directly if possible.

I don't get that fancy with the tires on my 8 year old Chevy HHR. It is just a to/from work car on secondary roads. Secondary is over rating it for the last 3 miles, where the road is one lane tar and chip. Is there such a thing as a tertiary road?

Is there such a thing as a tertiary road?

When I lived in Wales, we had "D" roads, one lane wide. If you met someone coming the other way, one of you had to back up to a wide spot. It was also interesting when you met the local farmer taking his cows to the common grazing field.

Fortunately this road is used enough that the berms have been run on for years so it is now a 2 lane road with 1/2 of each lane paved. Now the berms do get a bit sketchy in very wet weather. Winter they are fine as the snow gets packed on them to the point that the berms are better than the paved roadway.

Cows - not here. Fifteen miles to the nearest farm - we are in the middle of the forest. We dodge deer and bear there frequently, and I've even dodged a coyote and a bobcat each one time.

My TPMS has never worked and it never will. I am in and out of the metals recycling yard all the time and so I have green goo in my tires. No leaks, but no TPMS either.

I have the TPS on my 2009 Mini Cooper S.

There is a reset procedure you can do yourself involving one button on the turn signal lever.

It's not quite Morse code, but close. It's necessary when the sensor change position, or when the tires are replaced and require a different pressure.

IMHO the more there is to something the more there is to go wrong with it.

A) How do you disable it?

B) Rented a Mustang convertible. Couldn't figure out how to put the top. Returned it to the rental agency full of water. Didn't realize you had to put the damn thing in Park.

Large companies are trying to not lot you tamper or do that, saying even if you own the vehicle or equipment the manufacturer still owns the rights to the program.

the latest in the news who is trying establish this is John Deere.

You misunderstand the performance requirements of the R8. A regular street car may go 0 to 80 mph but the R8 is expected to go 0 to about 200 at the track. Drivers do not want warnings to appear while doing high performance activities. Tires heat up with higher speed and higher g-force operation, Mine typically increase 5 psi at Watkins Glen where I go up to 135 mph in my street DOT Michelin tires on my Porsche 911. We start at lower than street pressures to compensate for the hot pressure. My car doesn't have the sensor system. Vibrations are also a bad thing. The cars pick up more vibrations at the high speeds anyway. My tires have been hot enough to have the rubber and stones of the track stick onto the surface until they wear off.

incredibly off topic

'.We start at lower than street pressures to compensate for the hot pressure....... My tires have been hot enough to have the rubber and stones of the track stick onto the surface.

....'

.

Perhaps it seems counter intuitive. Perhaps I will be told that the physics that applies on the street is not the same as the physics on the race track.....

Reducing tire pressure in an attempt to mitigate high temperature high pressure tire conditions during aggressive driving is ill advised.

Underinflated tires fail from overpressure and high temp during aggressive driving. By allowing the rubber to distort more, you gain some traction but build heat more quickly.

Any pressure safety margin you hoped to add by underinflating can quickly be overshot due to the effects of the underinflation.

I agree with you for roads completely.

But I would guess that under racing conditions, there might be some truth in the effects mentioned, it seems to have some basis in fact.

F1 racers get "hot" tyres put on the car to offset such problems. But amateur racers......

I personally do not want my road tyres, under any conditions of usage, to exceed my blood temperature. I test with the back of my hand.

If they get warmer than that, I increase the pressure slightly, till they don't....the further benefit is very effective braking and stability under heavy braking, better stability in unexpected sharp cornering......plus longer tyre life!!

The only negative side is a slightly harder "springing", which after a few days is "normal"....

For me its a win win situation.

Actually, I like your answer, and agree. I just keep driving my truck until the tires seem more like squares going around, and the mileage drops off to a fill-up at every station. Life has a way of making me not care a lot right now, other than that, it is pure laziness.