Tire pressure gauge
My wife car has been displaying a low pressure light for the left front tire recently. I checked the pressure with my Michelin digital gauge and it indicated 31#. Recommended is 33#. Thought, hmmm,...
Forum Discussion
My 2015 Mazda3 also uses the anti-lock brake system to read the tire rotations instead of the actual tire pressure to let the driver know there is a problem with a tire. It works on the principle that an under-inflated tire will start revolving faster than the others due to the lessened circumference. It works well.
The other day I found an unexpected bonus to this tire-problem approach. I got a tire warning on the road and pulled over to check things out. I found that all tires all had the proper tire pressure. So why the alarm?
Well, after looking closer at the tires, I found the problem: one of the tires had a bulge in the middle of the tread because of a belt separation. The reason the alarm let me know is that with the bulge, that tire's effective circumference was enlarged, thus causing it to rotate more slowly compared with the others. The system alarmed because of this discrepancy.
Brilliant!
The other day I found an unexpected bonus to this tire-problem approach. I got a tire warning on the road and pulled over to check things out. I found that all tires all had the proper tire pressure. So why the alarm?
Well, after looking closer at the tires, I found the problem: one of the tires had a bulge in the middle of the tread because of a belt separation. The reason the alarm let me know is that with the bulge, that tire's effective circumference was enlarged, thus causing it to rotate more slowly compared with the others. The system alarmed because of this discrepancy.
Brilliant!
