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Got ready to run Marv to get a new battery for his car and got the low tire pressure light.
Assuming it's because it was the cold, I pulled up the pressure display and saw that it was 32 psi on every tire but the right rear that was at 22 psi. It's ALWAYS the right rear.
I sigh and grab the pump and ran it up to 35 psi and heard hissing.
Not gonna stay 35 long with audible hissing.
Hoping for a quick plug job, I have Harvey back the car so the screw I found was at an angle to work with; and I gashed my head open on the garage door rail!
Then I couldn't find the rubberized ropes to save my life.
So Harvey ran Marv to get his battery and I asked them to pick up some new ropes on their way back.
Pretty much as soon as she was out of sight, I found the old ropes.
I then discovered that I couldn't get enough push under the car to get the ropes into the freshly reamed out hole (which was now also spewing air).
GRUMBLE!
Pull car forward again, pull the wheel, fire up the pump and try to get a rope in.
I have never had to fight so hard to use one of these things in my life.
It would almost go in and then the insertion tool would cut the rope.
I repeated this step seven times before I managed to get one to insert properly.
Even lubing them up with rubber cement didn't help!
All's well that ends well, I guess.
I read where some newer cars have tire pressure monitors on not just the 4 wheels on the road, but on the SPARE tire as well. What a pain in the, um, neck that would be, if one didn't have the correct tool to do a scan.
ReplyDeleteMy spare has a TPMS sensor installed. It's probably been in there since the car left Australia in 2012. I'll bet the battery is LONG dead.
DeleteI've got the TPMS learn tool so I can inform the computer which sensor is in what position and it doesn't ask to scan the spare.
It's POSSIBLE that the spare's TPMS battery is actually OK.
DeleteIIRC, the transmitter only turns on when it senses that the wheel is rotating. This is why there pressures are often not displayed until after the car has moved a little after starting.
Of course the power to keep that sensor running is not zero (although less than the pressure sensor and transmitter use), so the battery is in all likelihood dead.