tyre pressure light

[polish]

This evening my tyre pressure light came on when starting the car having been parked for most of the day , it was orange and was rather concerned that a light should come and I did not know what i was, when I checked the  manual when home it said it was the tyre pressure light.   However the light went out after driving for around 3 miles and stayed out, any idea why this could have happened?

Also does anyone know of a decent foot pump.   My other yaris never had the tire pressure light and so I relied upon looking to know when the tyre needed checking.  My car has only done 1,423 miles since I purchased it in July of this year, it is a yaris excel.

 

Many thanks Jules

 

[alan333]

Tyre pressure changes as the tyre heats up, say after driving a few miles.  Check and set the pressures and it'll probably be fine.

[polish]

Thanks Alan but the light came on when the car had been standing all afternoon so the tyres would be cold, it went off after driving around 3 miles?

 

Many thanks Jules

[FROSTYBALLS]

Tyre pressure monitoring systems can be affected by cold temperatures. When the temperature is cold, the tyres contract and can present false readings from the tyre pressure monitoring system until the tyres heat up. 

This seems to be the case with your car, as the tpms light extinguished after the car had travelled a distance and the tyres had warmed up.

Check the tyre pressures anyway to be on the safe side

[PeteB]

I had the same on my Prius about this time last year, and found the pressure had dropped as Frosty said due to the cold weather.  All four tyres were down about 3-4 psi and I'm certain it was just the weather, as once pumped up they stayed at the right pressure for the rest of the winter.

[PeteB]

1 hour ago, polish said:

Also does anyone know of a decent foot pump.

I haven't used a foot pump for a long time, I bought one of these:

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/3776173

It's not cheap, but means I can deal with a flat Battery, the LED light with run for hours, it has a 12V lighter socket and will pump up tyres from it's internal Battery.

It is a little heavy though.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Have a look at the Auto Express report from 2016 - http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/86069/best-car-foot-pumps-2016-group-test

The Michelin pumps have a stronger frame than ones like the Halfords pump, which can twist.

[CPN]

Hi Jules, when this happened, the pressure in your tyres was probably down at the lower limit just before your TPMS light would have come on. The drop in temperature this weekend would have tipped it into alarm territory by virtue of the direct relationship between pressure and temperature. Hence you saw the alarm come on. Driving a few miles would warm the tyres up and hence raise the pressure above the alarm threshold again. Ergo - light out again. The conclusion would be that your tyre pressures were possibly a bit on the low side in the first place...

[polish]

Thanks everyone much appreciated.

[polish]

Hi Pete regarding the foot pump, have looked at the tyre inflators/compressors where you use the 12v cigarette plug, however this uses the Battery so wonder if a plug in to the electric one would be better so as not to drain the Battery, new to this I have to say, previously used a foot pump for my other yaris.  Many thanks Jules

 

 

 

[PeteB]

2 minutes ago, polish said:

Hi Pete regarding the foot pump, have looked at the tyre inflators/compressors where you use the 12v cigarette plug, however this uses the battery so wonder if a plug in to the electric one would be better so as not to drain the battery...

Hi Jules

Depends how careful you are...

My ex-partner has one that plugs into the lighter socket, but I told her to always be running the engine while using it so as not to flatten an already weak Battery as she uses the car so little.  She prefers this because it's small enough to keep in the car and she finds the built in Battery ones too heavy.

Mains ones get around this problem, but obviously can only be used when you're near a mains socket.

My jump starter/inflator has a built-in Battery gauge which you can use to check when it needs recharging.  It comes with a lead to charge it from your car's lighter socket while driving, and a mains charging lead to charge at home.  It does need a top up charge every so often, and if used to start a car.  However, when fairly full, just topping up each tyre by 3-4 psi won't drain it enough to need charging just because of the pumping.  However, if you pumped four nearly flat tyres, it would probably need plugging in for a   few hours afterwards.

 

[polish]

Thanks again Pete very helpful.