Reminder to cold-weather owners

[vinylhaircut]

Hello fellow northerners! Just a friendly reminder. Here in Minnesota, we are having our first legit string of cold nights with temps falling below freezing. Tire pressure can drop 1-2 PSI for every 10 degrees, so it's pretty easy to have your tire pressure sneak down on you. Low tire pressure is a safety hazard, so this is a great time to check it.

I picked this up last year and it's a really easy way to inflate your tires without leaving your garage. You simply set the PSI you want, connect it, and hit a switch. Stops automatically when the pressure has been reached (I set it a half-pound below my target because it seems to fill a little extra). Could not be simpler. In a very Dad-like move, I checked my kids tires when visiting them ... they were all low too (vindication!).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VMM69N9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[Tellmeride]

Once the tires warm up with a few miles of driving, your tire pressure will be too high. Wouldn't it?

 

[PittPa]

Once the tires warm up with a few miles of driving, your tire pressure will be too high. Wouldn't it?

Thats why you have the tpms to check! I generally only see them going up in warmer, (60 deg or higher) weather. Once near the freezing mark, driving doesn't usually produce enough heat to make much of a difference. At least for me. I use to use my compressor to do my tires but picked this up. It's a nice tool if you already have the system.

https://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Electric-Tools-2475-20-Inflator/dp/B07CTY3W98

 

[sprengBoard]

Once the tires warm up with a few miles of driving, your tire pressure will be too high. Wouldn't it?

Manufacturer PSI recommendations are almost always given as cold PSI (ambient) and account for the air inside expanding due to tire heat while driving.

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[vinylhaircut]

Once the tires warm up with a few miles of driving, your tire pressure will be too high. Wouldn't it?

Not really, no. The PSI will always go up while driving, unless it's REALLY cold. That's normal and the PSI posted on the driver's door accounts for that. That'll happen in the summer too ... the PSI will rise as the tires heat up. Again, perfectly normal. If you live in a place where the temperature is going to be lower for awhile (i.e. throughout winter for those of us in the north), then you want to make sure the cold tire pressure (car has been idle for 3+ hours) is set as indicated on the door.

 

[vinylhaircut]

Thats why you have the tpms to check! I generally only see them going up in warmer, (60 deg or higher) weather. Once near the freezing mark, driving doesn't usually produce enough heat to make much of a difference. At least for me. I use to use my compressor to do my tires but picked this up. It's a nice tool if you already have the system.

https://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Electric-Tools-2475-20-Inflator/dp/B07CTY3W98

Hmmm, be careful here. The idea of tpms is NOT to see how much the PSI rises as they warm up. That might give someone the idea that they should use the displayed PSI in the middle of a drive (with warm tires) to hit the PSI value on the door. That's definitely not what anyone should do. The door value is for cold tires, and what the display shows after driving for awhile will be higher (which is normal). Use the tpms display to check your pressure immediately after you get rolling, while still cold, to verify that the PSI is what the door says.

 

[PittPa]

So you are saying your TPMS are only useful immediately after the start of driving and provide no useful information after?

 

[vinylhaircut]

So you are saying your TPMS are only useful immediately after the start of driving and provide no useful information after?

No I'm not saying that. If your pressure is low, for example, it's a useful warning system. Low pressure is generally more of a safety issue than high pressure. It's also useful if you can't add air in your garage, while tires are cold. If you have you have to drive a few miles to a gas station to fill up, you can use the readings right when you leave, cold, and when you arrive, warm, to determine how much to adjust. But the psi on the door is meant for cold tires.

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[Yossarian]

No I'm not saying that. If your pressure is low, for example, it's a useful warning system. Low pressure is generally more of a safety issue than high pressure. It's also useful if you can't add air in your garage, while tires are cold. If you have you have to drive a few miles to a gas station to fill up, you can use the readings right when you leave, cold, and when you arrive, warm, to determine how much to adjust. But the psi on the door is meant for cold tires.

I'd go even further and say that high pressure is not a safety issue at all, unless it exceeds that of the tire capacity. That will vary but in general will be much higher (probably close to 50#) than that experienced by tires after warming up from the the car manufacturers recommendation for max pressure when cold (so maybe 40# after warm up from a 36 psi cold start point.)

Adverse effects from high tire pressure, again with the caveat that it remains below the max recommended by the tire manufacturer, are pretty much limited to excessive treadwear on the center of the tire, and perhaps a harsher ride.

 

[ozzieandfriends]

Anyone have any issues when starting the engine cold? It was around mid 20s here and I used the remote start to warm up the car. But the engine wouldn’t turn over right away. Anyone experience this?

 

[judojim]

Anyone have any issues when starting the engine cold? It was around mid 20s here and I used the remote start to warm up the car. But the engine wouldn’t turn over right away. Anyone experience this?

May just be my imagination but seems like if I'm holding my phone, or even if it's in my pocket, I can't always remote start the car. Maybe an interference thing or, again, maybe just my imagination.

 

[ozzieandfriends]

May just be my imagination but seems like if I'm holding my phone, or even if it's in my pocket, I can't always remote start the car. Maybe an interference thing or, again, maybe just my imagination.

It recognizes and tries to start but it’s like as if I’m turning the key in the ignition and holding too long.

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