Tire pressure gauge

[joshuajim]

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, sensor is going bad.

Just to be sure I got a pencil type gauge and checked it and it read 3# higher. Got a dial type gauge and it read 5# higher.

I guess it's time to replace the Michelin gauge I've been using for 10 years or so.

Can anybody recommend a good gauge, not the cheap **** they sell at Walmart or auto parts stores. I'm willing to spend $20 to $25 to get a good gauge.

Incidentally, it still doesn't solve the warning light as 2 of the 3 gauges read higher than spec.

[PUCampin]

For vehicles with TPMS sensors, if the light blinks or is on and the pressure is verified good, the sensor is faulty or has a bad battery. My wife's car currently has this problem, the light will randomly come on for a couple days and then go off. Each time it does, I check and the pressures are good. Tires were recently replaced, so I will be returning for a new sensor when I have time. For cars like my Mazda3 that use the wheel speed sensors, there is usually a button on the dash somewhere to "zero" the calibration when you have refilled the tire.

[Range_Maggot_Bo]

LittleBill wrote:
I have this one for about a year, reads identical to my hand held digital. it hooks right to the airline and is accurate and can deflate as well while hooked up!

I use this one

That is what we use and is an excellent gauge. Sometimes digital isn't always better than analog.

EDIT: That is NOT the one we use. Looks just like that except it's analog. Just a gauge.

[joshuajim]

Lynnmor wrote:

joshuajim wrote:
No need to reprogram the tire location. My wife’s Genesis reports the location, not the individual tire. I.e. if you take a low tire off the left rear and move it to the left front it will then report the low tire in its new location without reprogramming. Pretty smart, huh?

Pretty dumb, it doesn't actually read tire pressure, it reads wheel speed from the anti-lock brake system.

You know this for a fact HUH? If so, why does each tire have a TPMS sensor? Get your fact straight before publishing. Don’t guess what other cars use.

[allbrandauto]

sometimes the sensor will read wrong. we have a tool that reads the sensor to determine if the sensor is reading correctly. a completely bad sensor will make the light blink

[Airstreamer67]

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!

[Lynnmor]

joshuajim wrote:
No need to reprogram the tire location. My wife’s Genesis reports the location, not the individual tire. I.e. if you take a low tire off the left rear and move it to the left front it will then report the low tire in its new location without reprogramming. Pretty smart, huh?

Pretty dumb, it doesn't actually read tire pressure, it reads wheel speed from the anti-lock brake system.

[joshuajim]

No need to reprogram the tire location. My wife’s Genesis reports the location, not the individual tire. I.e. if you take a low tire off the left rear and move it to the left front it will then report the low tire in its new location without reprogramming. Pretty smart, huh?

[Dave_H_M]

agree with cougar. Also check the spare if it ha a sensor in it.

[jjrbus]

Having a couple gauges that I no longer trusted sitting in a drawer, my ancient inflator went belly up. So I looked around, and did not see anything I wanted to spend my $$ on.

I need a straight foot inflator with the ability to release air and of course needs to be accurate.

So with it on sale and my 20% off coupon I bought a Harbor freight inflator. I removed the angled foot and replaced it with my straight foot. Removed the made in China by lowest bidder gauge and replaced it with a high quality liquid filled gauge.

Likely too much effort for most but I am very happy with it.

[DFord]

Take a look at this one:
https://www.amazon.com/AstroAI-ATG180-Pressure-Stainless-Flashlight/dp/B01NCX3H1G/

[Dick_B]

this was just discussed. I use an Accutire digital gauge.

[azdryheat]

Reprogram your car TPMS.

[IAMICHABOD]

The Accutire is a really great one and as it's name implies they are very accurate.

I have one in all my vehicles.

When I use it the sensors on my vehicle and it always agree.

[LittleBill]

I have this one for about a year, reads identical to my hand held digital. it hooks right to the airline and is accurate and can deflate as well while hooked up!

I use this one