Cooler Weather and the Effects on Tire Pressure

Sep 18, 2015

As cooler weather moves into the area, you may notice a few more lights begin illuminating on your vehicles dashboard. When it comes to our vehicles, cooler weather can trigger a sign of winter in the form of a indicator light alerting drivers that your vehicles tires have become under-inflated. Don’t panic when you automobiles tire pressure indicator light is present. That’s just your vehicles way of informing you that your tires need to be inflated due to change in outside temperature. This is most common after chilly nights during the early fall.

Please do not ignore the tire pressure indicator in your vehicle. Having the vehicles tires inflated to the recommended PSI is critical for your vehicles safety, performance, and tire sustainability. Incorrect tire pressure can compromise your vehicles breaking, cornering, and steering. In worse cases, under inflated tires can result in tire failure and blowout – which could end in serious accident. Incorrect tire pressure can result in unsatisfactory driving comfort, decrease the life of your automobiles tires, and poor fuel economy. Need help further help? Our technicians can assist you at our Fayetteville, NC dealership. Schedule a service appointment today.

Here’s what’s happening:

Several vehicles that are 2000 and newer cars and trucks are equipped with a Tire Pressure Monitor System which triggers your dashboard warning light when the air in your tires drops just a few PSI below the recommended tire psi.
Your tire pressure will decrease about 1 psi for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit the outside air temperature drops. (Likewise, it increases about 1 psi for every 10 degrees when the temperature rises.) If your tire pressure was last adjusted during the day or after just coming off the road, the air pressure could be related to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. So now, the temperature drops over night overnight temperature hits the low 40s, your tire pressure will drop down by 5 psi, almost certainly turning on the tire pressure warning light.
To remedy your low tire pressure light, a simply check or adjustment of the air in your tires is all that is required. You can do this at a local gas station, or bring it to your local mechanic.
Make sure you let your mechanic know that the tire pressure light was on in the morning when it was cold. If you drive your car down to the local shop, the tire pressure will rise from where it was in the morning because the tires will heat up. Parking the car in the afternoon sun will also boost the tire pressure falsely.

To find out your vehicles recommended tire pressure, look on the inside of the drivers door panel for a sticker similar to the one below or check your vehicles owners manual.