Do You Know What This Symbol Means?

[TerryMason]

I saw this on Yahoo Autos and thought it was interesting.

Do you recognize the symbol here? It lights up in your instrument panel and looks like a U-shaped pictograph with treads and an exclamation point in the middle.


Do you understand what it means now?


If you guessed a low tire-pressure warning, you are right. If you didn’t recognize the symbol, that’s also understandable because one out of three drivers do not, according to Schrader, a company that makes tire pressure monitoring systems.


The warning for the TPMS lights up when one or more of your vehicle’s tires is 25% below the manufacturer’s recommended pressure. The system is now required on all vehicles starting with the 2008 model year.


The issue here seems to be that the public hasn’t been properly educated on the warning symbol, which is supposed to be “idiot proof” and understandable across a wide variety of cultures and languages. Yet 46% of drivers couldn’t figure out that the icon represents a tire and 14% thought the symbol represented another problem with the vehicle entirely, according to Schrader.


As we said earlier in the week, properly inflated tires are vitally important to your safety. Low pressure will affect your braking, acceleration, stability, cornering and fuel economy. The government instituted the TPMS mandate after the Bridgestone/Firestone tire failures on the Ford Explorer in 2000, a controversy that was partly attributed to inadequately inflated tires.

 

[JPNinPA]

If it were a jeep you might think it was time to air down. =-)

 

[xt master]

My work van has it.When I got the van in 2008 the light was on I asked the dealership and they had no clue at that time what was or how to make it go away.After reading the Manuel I figured it out.Then the problem was trying to find an air pump that went up to 80 PSI.Which is what was recommended for the the van.Today this day the light is on.Every time I get the light off a garage rotates my tires and never reset it.Since the front has 55 PSi and the rear has 80 PSi.

 

[southtj]

I would have guessed it had something to do with the tires.

On a side note, be sure and check your pressure after getting an oil change. I got mine changed recently then a few weeks later checked my tires and they were all on about 35psi. Way too high. I lowered them back to 29 as recommended.

 

[Jason4x4]

My '08 Ford workvan has this as well, and I know this light very well cause the damn thing will never turn off no matter how much air is in the tires.

 

[Mutt]

it is from the tire pressure monitering system lets you know if you have a low tire. Wifes tundra has it and I myself dont care for it.

 

[TerryMason]

it is from the tire pressure monitering system lets you know if you have a low tire. Wifes tundra has it and I myself dont care for it.

On some cars this system also monitors the amount of air in the spare tire. You may want to inflate it as well.

 

[southtj]

On some cars this system also monitors the amount of air in the spare tire. You may want to inflate it as well.

My dad had that problem. The light kept coming on and the local shop kept checking the 4 tires and they were all good. Finally took to the dealer and they inflated the spare. Light out.