A couple times I've been driving on the freeway for a ways and the low tire pressure light will come on on the instrument cluster. Thing is I have aftermarket wheels on my car and I'm pretty sure there are no sensors in their. At least if I check in the trip computer the pressure for the front and rear just shows "--:--". Any idea why after a long drive on the freeway the car might think that the tire pressure is low?


Eric

 

It flashes when you go a certain speed. It displays a horshoe symbol, correct?

 

Yeah it looks like the bottom of a tire with a dot in the middle with arrows pointing into the dot. Kinda hard to explain in words.

Why does it display when I got a certain speed?


Eric

 

If you take then sensors out of your wheels, the system displays "--" instead of a pressure. After about 30-45 minutes of driving, if it doesn't get a signal, the (!) warning light will come on. That's normal, that's how it's designed to operate.

 

Yep. I cant wait to put my factory wheels back on after the winter season. Everytime I start mine up, it flashes the (!) symbol for a few minutes and then it goes solid.

 

It's not telling you they are low, it is telling you that you removed them and need to put them back in.

 

Is there anyway to turn off that light without putting the stock tires back on?

 

no, there is not

 

if i could get this problem with my new 05 sorted i would be so grateful to the forum. i have a manual trans, touring model, with 19" hp design wheels. i have only had the car for a month. it has 17,000 miles, but i have not taken it to the dealer. the tires are: rear 275/30/19 generals, and fronts are 245/ 35/19 hankooks. the symptoms are -when i am driving hard into a corner one of the front tires feels like the abs system is activating even if i am still on the gas. this freaks me out and i lift off the gas. the sensation lasts for about one second. the gauges show the low tire symbol in the meter area, and the first small gauge up top shows the flat line indicating no pressure gauges. the psi letters flash on this gauge. i have no beeping and the low pressure symbol is always on. so i think my tires are incorrectly matched and are causing a problem with the vdc system, except that the cornering problem occurs with the system enabled, or not. the rear tire has a circumferance that is smaller than the stock tire, and the front tire is close to the same circumferance as the original.
second, does not having tire pressure gauges in the wheels cause any problems for the car's driving systems?
your help/advice is most appreciated in advance.

 

Yup, you are correct in that the tires are the wrong size. The correct sizes would be 245/35 and 275/35, the 30 series rear tire makes it smaller diameter than the front tires. That essentially freaks VDC out.

The missing tire pressure sensors only affect the pressure display, they have no connection to TCS/VDC, etc.

 

that is reassuring. i discovered(thanks to this great forum) that the tires were the wrong size, but was hoping that the sensors were not going to cause any driving issues.