It's been freezing in VA for the past two weeks and this whole week the tire guage has been beeping and flashing every morning. The PSI drops below 30 and 25. Does anyone else in the area have the same problems with their tire gauges?

 

That is what happens when it gets cold. Your tire PSI will drop. Make sure to check with a tire pressure gauge and ensure that your pressure is filled to 35 PSI cold. If you keep leaking pressure, have your tires checked, and maybe think about having it filled with nitrogen. GL.

 

is it 35 psi no matter what size the tire? I've got 35 and 30 series tires, still need to be 35psi?

 

+1 on the nitrogen, especially if you drive alot and your tires constantly go from cold to warm to cold again.

 

Yes, 35 cold is recommended regardless of profile.

 

Where do you get it? I know Costco, but only with tire purchase I've been told.

 

Craven Tire and Auto does it. They have a few locations around NoVA.

*edit* you might have to call them. Its been awhile since I had mine filled (my old stock wheels but it was done with new tires are put on). However, as far as I know, as long as they instpect the tire and approve it for nitrogen fill, they will fill it. Might want to call to be sure though.

 

I fill my autox tires with nitrogen maintains Tire Pressure very well, even under extreme conditions

 

Great, thanks for the info Nowell.

 

I have a nail in my rear sidewall, I'm not sure how long the nail is, but I haven't lost any air from that tire compared to the rest. I'm quessing these nitro air places aren't going to fill it if they see the nail.....

 

Have it pulled and plug-patched.

 

don't use the normal plug pathed, it's not going to hold up, b/c the nail pass the steal belt and it will blow up on you, you need to have someone to put the patched from inside out.

 

You need to get rid of that tire if there's been damage to the sidewall. I would not risk a blow out over a $200 tire.

 

just check your tires when they are cold to the touch and just get them aired up to the proper contact patch. The real way to find out if you are good on pressure is actually using a pyrometer.. but no one here is going to spend that kind of money on such things for a daily driven car..

just go by the touch after your commute to work (get the tires nice and warm and feel for the tires outer shoulders and middle of the contact patch, it should be evenly warm all around).. depending on your car's alignment (and I hope most of you run on zero or negative camber), if your inside tire edge is warmer than the outside shoulders, then you may have a little too much tire pressure, and if you have too little, usually the middle and sometimes outside shoulders are warmer.. adjust accordingly to 2 psi increments, but definitely start off at least at 75% of the maximum allowed pressure that the sidewall of the tire's markings..

generally, there are two sets of tires made that either have a limit of 44 psi or the other is 51 psi (but check your sidewall markings for your tires as they may differ from what I know).. so I normally start off at 31 psi for one tire or 40 psi respectively. Once you get the tires to the ball park figures, you can then make sure that you dont have too much pressure in the rear because of the RWD (drive tires usually build up more heat than non-drive tires, AWD acts more so like FWD cars especially if the AWD is front-engine mount). It's just a lot of trial and error to get where you want it, but that's the fun of suspension tuning 101.

 

I'm having this same problem. I fully understand how and why cold weather causes tire pressure drop, but my question is: How do I get the pressure warning light to turn off? I've filled my tires back up to a proper cold pressure, but the warning light has been on for a week now despite that. The pressure monitoring system is displaying the correct tire pressures, so I know the sensors inside the tires are working correctly. Do we maybe have to manually reset that warning light after it comes on?

 

You shouldn't have to reset anything manually. Once the tire pressure goes back up the warning light should go off. Sounds like you may have a glitch thats needs to be taken back to the dealer.