by
Mark Ollig
While
starting my car last week, I was surprised by the sudden appearance of a
brightly illuminated, yellow icon symbol, just above the speedometer gauge.
Since
getting the new car, I’ve learned several of the informational symbols in it,
but this one puzzled me.
There
I was, sitting alone in my car, staring at this unfamiliar yellow indicator
light, pondering what it meant.
A
bright yellow exclamation point was in the middle of what looked like two
slightly bulging, yellow parentheses connected to a flat, linear baseline. This
baseline had four black parallel rectangular squares etched half-way through.
“Could
this symbol mean I need more oil?” I wondered.
“It
can’t. I just had the oil changed. Maybe there’s a leak,” I said to myself.
I
opened the glove compartment, found, and briefly flipped through, the
heavily-paged car owner’s manual.
Becoming
somewhat impatient, I decided it would be quicker to just call the dealership
where I purchased the car.
Speaking
with their service department, I described this mysterious, yellow icon symbol,
and asked if I could stop in to have them look at it.
“No
problem, someone will help you when you arrive,” they confidently said over the
phone.
I
felt reassured, but somewhat embarrassed; however, since it was such a
strange-looking symbol, I thought it might be important, and wanted it checked
out right away.
I
can hear some of you giggling out there – because you know what this yellow
icon symbol means, don’t you?
Remember
folks, this is my first new car of the 21st century; I had been driving a 20th
century Ford Police Interceptor for many years.
The
Interceptor used simple-to-understand analog gauges and icons, which, when
illuminated, had a name associated with them, not symbolic codes requiring a
specialized decrypting degree in order to understand what they meant.
Fortunately,
the car dealership was close by.
As
I drove towards their service bay door; it suddenly opened, and a smiling
service person inside appeared and waved me in.
“So,
let’s take a look,” he said, while checking the instrumentation cluster panel
with the yellow symbol still brightly shining.
“Ah,
you have low air pressure on one of your tires,” he knowingly said to me.
“So,
that’s what it is!” I exclaimed.
It
seems the yellow icon I saw symbolized the cross-section of an under-inflated
tire; the exclamation point gave emphasis to the low tire pressure.
My
car model has an air-pressure monitoring sensor in all four tires, but
determining which tire has the low pressure requires one to individually gauge
each tire’s air pressure.
Some
car models have an icon symbol displaying all four tires, with the current air
pressure number for each; any tire with low air pressure is highlighted.
The
next car I get will definitely have this.
After
the service person measured the air pressure in all four tires, it was
determined the front-right tire was the one with the low tire pressure.
This
tire was taken off and inspected.
It
was found to have a nail in it; as a result, the air was slowly leaking out.
The
yellow icon symbol which was activated is called the TPMS (Tire Pressure
Monitoring System) alert indicator.
A
TPMS sensor is mounted inside each tire rim, and includes a battery.
When
a tire’s air pressure low threshold setting is crossed, the sensor will
activate the yellow dashboard TPMS symbol, using a low-frequency radio signal.
The
TPMS battery is encased inside each tire pressure sensor device, and has a life
expectancy of approximately five years. When this battery becomes low, the
yellow tire pressure indicator symbol will flash, and the dealership (or the
mechanic in the family) will need to replace the entire sensor unit, and reset
its threshold settings.
Yours
truly logically reasoned when one tire battery sensor is low, the other three probably
are too, and so, this tire-pressure-aware columnist, would have all four TPMS
sensors replaced.
The
TPMS alert no doubt saved me from ending up with a flat tire on the highway, or
worse, a tire-blow out, which could have resulted in a crash.
So,
I am therefore thankful for having the TPMS installed.
Having
correct tire pressure improves fuel economy, lengthens a tires road life, and
most importantly; increases safety by avoiding accidents caused from
under-inflated tires.
The
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s TPMS mandatory compliance date
was enacted for all new light-motor vehicles sold after September 1, 2007.
The
“Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems;
Controls and Displays” webpage is: http://tinyurl.com/nb5mur4.
The
internationally recognized TPMS low-pressure warning symbol can be viewed from
my online photobucket collection at: http://tinyurl.com/kjdbd95.
By
the way, I found the low tire pressure warning icon symbol, and its
description, on page four of my car owner’s quick-start guide brochure.
