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What Should You Do If Your Low Tire Pressure Light is On?

All cars since 2007 have been mandated to have tire pressure monitoring systems installed on them from the factory so it’s likely that your car has one equipped on it. Driving without air in your tires or with under-inflated tires can damage your car’s rims, cause damage to the tires, and can decrease the gas mileage you can expect to get from your car.

So what should you do when you notice that your low tire pressure warning light is on? When you notice that your low tire pressure light is on you would want to get out of your car to inspect your tires, one or more of your tires may be flat or could be low on tire pressure. If your tire is flat don’t drive on it, doing so can damage your tire and rim.

But what tire pressure or PSI should your tires be pumped up to? Can you still drive with low tire pressure? These questions and more are answered below.

What Is A Tire Pressure Monitoring System?

All cars manufactured today will come equipped with a Tire Pressure Monitoring System or TPMS for short. The TPMS system has sensors that are installed within your tires that can monitor the pressure of your tires to let you know if one or more of the tires get out of a certain range of PSI.

On most passenger vehicles, tires are intended to be inflated in the range of 30-36 PSI when the tire PSI level gets outside of that range the tire pressure light will come on indicating that the tires are either under-inflated or over-inflated.

What Does It Mean If Your Tire Pressure Light Is On?

Typically if your tire pressure light is on this means that one or more of your tires are under-inflated. Your tire pressure light can come on if your tires are over-inflated but usually, it’s a problem that the tires have become under-inflated because of fluctuations of temperatures outside.

If your car can give you specific readings on your tire pressure of each tire you could look to see if there is a problem with a specific tire without needing to get out of your tire. Usually, the tires are under-inflated because of temperature fluctuations multiple tires will need to have air added not just one.

What Should You Do If Your Tire Pressure Warning Light Is On?

Most likely if your tire pressure warning light is on you have one or more tires with low tire pressure. If one or more of your tires looks under-inflated but not flat they are likely low on tire pressure. To fix this problem you would want to inflate your tires so that they are within the specified PSI range that is recommended from your vehicle manufacturer.

However, if your tire looks flat (and the car hasn’t been sitting for a long time) then you may have something that created a puncture in your tire causing it to go flat. If you are unlucky enough to have run over a nail or a screw they can sometimes cause a small puncture that allows you to air up your tire to the point where you can continue driving on it (it will have a slow leak) that will allow you to get to a tire shop to get the tire patched.

Whatever you do don’t remove the nail/screw or whatever caused the tire puncture as doing so will create a larger hole in your tire allowing more air to escape. Instead, you would want to leave whatever caused the puncture in your tire in place until you can get your car to a tire shop to have your tire repaired.

The above scenario is why I would recommend that most people have a portable air pump that can be used in a pinch to inflate tires. That way if you are stuck on the side of the road you can try reinflating your tire to see if it will hold air before putting on a spare tire. Usually, if there is a nail or a screw in your tire tread the tire will hold air long enough to drive short distances.

The need for a portable tire pump is magnified if your car does not come with a spare tire as if you get a flat tire you will need to get your car towed if you don’t have a way to re-inflate your tires. To check out the current prices of the portable tire pump that I bought and that I would recommend to most people click here(link to Amazon.com). It features a digital tire pressure gauge and is powerful enough to fill up most tires with air within a few minutes.

If the tire puncture hole is on the larger side then you probably won’t be able to get the tire to hold air again without first having it repaired or replaced altogether.

Low Tire Pressure Light Is On But Tires Look Fine?

Just because your tires look fine and look to be inflated doesn’t mean that they are inflated to the proper levels. Once your tire PSI drops below 28 PSI on most cars the TPMS system will alert you that your tire pressure is low. This is why most of the time your tires may look fine but they are actually below the recommended PSI.

What Tire Pressure Is Right For My Tires?

The easiest way to find out what specific PSI is recommended for the tires on your vehicle check the driver door sill for a sticker that tells you what the front and back tires should be inflated to. The sticker should look like the one pictured below and should indicate what the cold tire pressure should be for the front, read, and spare tires. To learn more about car tire PSI and how it affects your vehicle check out my other article here.

Can You Drive With Low Tire Pressure?

If your low tire pressure light is on is it still fine to drive around? After noticing that your low tire pressure light is on you would want to inspect your tires to see if they are low or if you potentially have a flat tire. This means that if you are driving you would want to pull over to the side of the road or someplace where it’s safe to stop to get out and inspect your tires.

Your tires may just be partially deflated in which they are fine to drive on for the time being, at least until you can get somewhere to get the tire reinflated. You wouldn’t want to go take a long road trip on tires that are low on air. Tires that are under-inflated will have a negative impact on the gas mileage that you can expect out of a vehicle.

Obviously, if you have a flat tire you wouldn’t want to start or keep driving on a flat tire, otherwise, you risk damaging your rim and tire.

If I Buy New Tires Do I Need New TPMS Sensors?

When you buy new tires you may be wondering if you also need to buy new TPMS sensors. As long as your current TPMS sensors are working fine then they can still be used again with your new set of tires. Some tire salesmen may recommend replacing your TPMS sensors when you get a new set of tires but I wouldn’t replace them unless you are really having a problem with one.

Also, keep in mind that if you need to buy new TPMS sensors that they will probably be marked up at the local tire shop and you can likely find a better deal online.

If I Buy New Wheels Do I Need New Tire Pressure Sensors?

Just because you get new wheels doesn’t mean that you need to get new TPMS sensors. Most of the time your current TPMS sensors can be swapped over to your new wheels without problems. But if you plan on swapping back and forth between your sets of wheels (between winter and summer months) then you would want to look at buying an extra set of TPMS sensors so that you don’t have to keep swapping them back and forth between sets of wheels.

Are TPMS Sensors Expensive? How Much Do They Cost?

TPMS sensors like most car parts will vary in cost depending on the brand and who you buy them from. I was able to find cheap TPMS sensors for my second set of wheels on Amazon that were significantly cheaper than the TPMS sensors that were offered to me at my local tire store.

Just keep in mind you want to buy tire pressure sensors that are compatible with your specific car. Not all tire pressure sensors are compatible with all cars. To check out the prices of TPMS sensors on Amazon click here.

Low Tire Pressure Light is On? How To Fix