ricir

My tire pressure light has been on most of the day. Doesn't seem to be a tire problem. It's been very cold - I heard it's possible the cold is what's keeping the light on. Any thoughts?

ekb16

iTrader: (1)

raise the air psi in ur tires to 34 or 36..cold weather lowers the psi in ur tires

K5^

The "cold" pressure is listed in your driver door jamb. Same thing happened to me a month ago and I was running on tires 4psi below recommended cold pressure after warming up the tires.

ricir

Thanks. This website is great.

07FG2

The civics have a tire pressure monitor?

K5^

Yes they do. All I know is is that they're standard on 08's and I believe on some later 07's. Some one chime in to verify this please.

Ricey McRicerton

Same thing happend to me the other night coming home from a hockey game where my car had sat outside in sub 20 degree weather.

clemsonhatch

One thing to note is that if your car is an 08+ your tires are filled with Nitrogen. It's better to top off with more Nitrogen instead of just adding air, this will reduce tire pressures from fluctuating.

Targa250R

Thoughts? Did you actually check the tire pressure, since that's what the light indicates?

The pressure of a gas is dependent on its temperature (ideal gas law, PV=nRT). Thus, the lower the ambient temperature drops, the lower the air pressure in your tires will drop. Odds are that one or more of your tires has dropped below the threshold accepted by the TPMS due to the recent cold temps. It's pretty common. Check and set your tire pressures according to the sticker on the driver's door jamb.

For reference, it is generally accepted that the air pressure in the tires drops about 1 pound per square inch for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit decrease in tire temperature.

It's a federal requirement for all '08 and newer model year vehicles to have a tire pressure monitoring system as standard equipment. This stems from the Firestone Wilderness AT/Ford Explorer debacle some years back. Your '07 Civic doesn't have it, but '08+ models do.

No it won't. That's just marketing BS indended to get suckers to show up and pay for compressed air. The ambient air already consists of 80% nitrogen.

K5^

I was going to say the same exact thing about all the hype of nitrogen filled tires.

ricir

To TARGA 250R - of course I checked the tire pressure! This is a new car and I want to make sure everything is working properly and that lights/gauges are sticking.

I took the car in to Honda and they filled the tires to 37psi. Said by the time the temperature got a little warmer, the pressure would have dropped so I didn't need to release any air.

I don't believe the tires are filled with nitrogen on the new Civics - one dealer I went to wanted to charge me $45/tire to put nitrogen in the tires. After doing some research I agree with Targa 250R that it's a marketing gimmic.

i-VTEC_DOHC

i think as of 2008, its the law that all new cars have tpms systems and drl's.

lovecheese45

all 08+ none of the 07's have them.... civic wise.

Ricey McRicerton

I just checked mine earlier as the light is still on. I'm at 33psi cold pressure (as the door jamb says) and still have my light on. Is there a need to reset it somehow or is it supossed to go off on it's own?

lovecheese45

You can disconnect the battery for 30 minutes to try it... If not, take it to the dealer... there could be a faulty sensor.

JackSparrow

^^

2008 Canadian civics do not have TPMS.

My 2008 4-door civic LX-SR does not have it.
I was pleased to find out before I went shopping for winter rims and tires.

How does the TPMS system work, btw?
I believe I heard that only certain wheels are compatible and/or you need the valves modified to accomodate a TPMS.

JackSparrow

If it's like my employer's Ford minivan,
yes, after adjusting your tire pressure you have to reset the TPMS display.

On the Ford minivan, (Freestar) this is done on the dash holding the odometer button
for several seconds when the display is in the TPMS mode.

If you wanted to, instead of filling the low tire,
you could simply reset Ford's TPMS system to think 22 psi is an acceptable pressure to get the beeping to stop.

Targa250R

What sort of gauge did you use?

Most gauges vary a few psi from model to model, but the pen-type gauges are notoriously inaccurate. I recommend a dial-type or digital gauge. It's best to use the same gauge each time you check pressures.

I'd suggest setting the tires back to the recommended pressures on the door jamb sticker. Just like low pressures, higher pressures will decrease overall grip and can cause uneven wear. When the temperature increases, it will cause the pressure to increase. The light may come on again once the pressures reach the TPMS overinflation threshold.

Most Honda/Acura models I've seen will turn the TPMS light on at around 28psi. I believe the acceptable deviation is up to 10% from the pressures listed on the sticker.

The car has to be moving for the light to reset. Have you driven the car since adding air?

90sedan

This is false. During the PDI process the tires will be deflated and then set to the cold tire pressure to initialize the TPMS sensor. That means that whatever that specific dealership chooses to fill the tire up with is what it gets.

I would also suggest setting them to the recommend specs, which they should have done that in the first place. That's some flawed reasoning on their part.

It there was a fault in the TPMS system, then it would throw a TPMS MIL, not a Low tire pressure indicator light.



After setting the tire pressure you'll need to go drive the car like Targa suggested. It should reset within the first couple miles at or around 35mph.



I'm really not sure why there is constantly so much misinformation floating around about the TPMS and low tire pressure light its crazy.

Ricey McRicerton

I have, but I may not have hit 35. Thanks man.

clemsonhatch

When I bought the 09 I was told it had Nitrogen because of the tire pressure sensors. I assumed wrongly that they came that way from Honda, not that it was dealer specific. My 09 has Nitrogen.

bjones

did u check the spare??? lol

K5^

Everyone's tires are filled, to an extent, with nitrogen in them. "Normal air" is composed of 80% nitrogen.

2008fijibluesi

Here is a wonderful story about the joys of tires and cold weather!!!

Yesterday morning, I left my house at 5:30am on my way to pick up my gf from college. The temperature was -4 degrees! I needed gas so I headed toward a service station. About a mile from the gas station, my low tire pressure indicator came on. I pulled over and tried to check the pressure with my gauge but it was frozen. I could tell that the front passenger side tire was a little low, but I determined I'd be fine if I just drove slowly down to the station.

So I filled up with gas and drove around to the compressor, but the tire wouldn't take air. I thought it was because the compressor's air chuck was frozen so I drove across the street to another gas station. I tried again and the tire wouldn't take air from that compressor. When I went to pull the air chuck off of the valve stem, the valve stem broke in half, causing the shrader valve to come out, and let all of the air out of the time. So, I had to change both passenger side tires (front to back because of LSD, and spare on back) in -4 degree weather holding metal tools with no gloves. YAY for fun!

Do you think my valve stem/tpms will be covered by warranty? I think it should be because the thing definitely shouldn't break in half. I didn't put any excessive force on it, and I've never curbed the wheels so it shouldn't have broken. I really wouldn't care about having to purchase a new valve stem, because they are cheap, but I believe the valve stem is part of the tmps, and I know they aren't cheap. So, tomorrow I guess I'm going into Honda and throwing a **** fit if they don't help me out. I need new tires anyway, so it's a good time to swap those, but I don't feel like paying for a new TPMS.

Ricey McRicerton

Good god Fiji, that sucks.

If it makes you feel any better, now I've still got a TPMS light (after checking, driving, and being sure that I'm at the 33psi cold recommended) AND I've got to call honda and get the PIN for my damn radio. I pulled the backup fuse for about 15 minutes to get the TPMS light to reset, and ended up not fixing a damn thing.

I'm also pretty pissed off about the whole thing. There is no reason in the world 10 degree weather should cause a TPMS light to come on, period. The car is 2 months old and I hadn't touched the tires or the tire pressure. Having a bunch of monitoring stuff is kind of neat I guess, but if it causes more headaches than anything else, I can't say I'm too happy about it.