Misunderstood Warning Indicator: Continued from Part I
This suggests four possible scenarios. The first three assume the light is not flashing:
1) All the tires are low on air (check your spare in the trunk too, if you have one). This occurs seasonally as the weather cools, and possibly several times. Solution? Check the pressures and inflate your tires properly.
2) One tire is low. This likely means a nail or other fault causing the tire to leak slowly. Checking all of the tire pressures will reveal a single tire to be low. A qualified service facility will be needed to address the problem.
3) The system needs to be reset. If you’ve recently had the tires rotated or replaced, check with your dealer about resetting the TPMS system.
4) If the light is flashing, there is a fault in the TPMS system, which your dealer or qualified service shop will have to resolve. Again in the first three cases, the light is simply illuminated, not flashing.
If you must drive before addressing the light, please do so carefully…under inflated tires are a potential hazard. Your tires are the only thing between you and the pavement. The light will go out after the proper tire pressures have been restored and after a bit of driving.
And by the way, the light will also come on if a tire blows, but the blowout will have your full attention…
So please, show this light some respect! Its doing its job, even if you see it illuminated on multiple occasions during year! Your tires need the attention.
Now if every car could tell you which tire and the exact air pressure…
Finally, there are a handful of cars that use this symbol instead, so be aware! Its still a cutaway of a tire, and somewhere along the line it was decided that the exclamation point would be more easily understood.
In another article, we discuss how too many of the warning symbols shown on today’s instrument panels assume too much of today’s information-overloaded drivers and do everyone a disservice.
The International Standards Organization (ISO) establishes symbols for use on controls, indicators and telltales applying to passenger cars, light and heavy commercial vehicles and buses, to ensure identification and facilitate use.
It also indicates the colors of possible optical tell-tales, which are supposed to inform the driver of either correct operation or malfunctioning of the related devices. The American National Standards Institute also has a hand in this.
To date, the ISO has defined over 220 of these symbols, and growing! They are supposed to be identified easily by all people everywhere regardless of language and background. But all the good intentions – and not too mention a good deal of time, effort and money – has resulted in far too many symbols that mean absolutely nothing to the average driver.
Check out the videos below.
And one filling the tires.
… Back to Part I
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
A Tale of Four Drivers – And the Car Dealers That Failed Them
Four Drivers
Car dealers found themselves on the wrong side of three customers who contacted us over the last week or so. They, plus a fourth who skipped his dealer, have something to teach those of us in the auto industry.
Number 1
Our first case involved a dying key fob. Fortunately, her car continued to start but the locks had begun to misbehave. She’s a personal friend and relayed the problem in casual conversation. I recommended a new battery for the fob, and as she was bringing the car in for a recall the next day, she would note the problem. When she dropped off the car, she asked to have the fob’s battery replaced.
They took care of the recall and failed to replace the battery, so back to the dealer she went. Its truly small consolation – they had the car! – but she did get the battery for free.
Our next two revolve around instrument panels. Not traditional warning lights, but rather messaging that has become so prevalent over the last several years. In each case, these drivers contacted their dealers asking what they were seeing.
Service personnel had no idea. So they took to the web and found us.
Number 2
The first car, a Smart Pulse, had begun a daily countdown past a missed service interval, which to an untrained eye looked rather intimidating. Add to this that the dealer didn’t know what the countdown meant, and the result was a very anxious driver. An example is shown to the right, has a wrench and a -3 (days). Its a bit difficult to see, but it took only a few minutes in the vehicles owner’s manual to decipher the answer.
Number 3
Our second instrument panel from a Fiat had also begun displaying information that the car’s owner had not previously seen. In this case, the driver had accidentally changed the display herself. The panel was now showing average miles to the gallon, mpg, which was in lower case. The “g” in the font used really looked like a “9”. She sent a photo shown to the right. Again, a few minutes in the owner’s manual turned up the answer.
Number 4
Our fourth driver didn’t actually have a problem, but when I relayed the stories, he laughed and said he would have called AAA! He spends that money every year, and by gosh they would be his first choice.
So what do we take from these incidents?
The first and best lesson is that only one of these drivers, the Smart owner, consulted their owner’s manuals. And he did not dig deep enough or understand what he read (he didn’t say). The first three started all made calls to their dealer. The fourth would have gone to AAA. Every new system added by auto manufacturers is backed up by an equally new entry in the manual and it is assumed that this is where a driver will turn. And understand.
They don’t…
Manufacturers are in a continual struggle to bring their customers up to speed on their vehicles, and from our perspective continue to fail. Showing a new owner a feature will never replace experiencing it for the first, second or third time. In our examples here, changeable instrument panel displays are a good idea on paper but less so in practice.
For all the training and experience, service personnel are only human. And in these incidents, their failings are left in full display. And at first blush, they may not take the time to problem solve. I say at first blush because they are not identified and do not have the opportunity to tell their side.
Which is the second lesson. Manufacturers also continue to struggle to keep their own personnel up to speed. Our largest concern in these examples is the failure to replace a key fob battery. We are moving inexorably towards all cars being equipped with push button start capability, and a non-working key fob is in our minds a safety concern. It will likely take a lawsuit from a stranded motorist to drive this point home. Every service person across the industry must make sure that their customers have new key fob batteries once a year.
And third, while a manual was available, the Internet was chosen for a search for an answer instead! This is where drivers increasingly turn for help.
We, and others like us, are happy to help.
In the meantime, automakers surely want to simplify their products. Add all the features you want, but with an eye towards making them simple to use, experience and understand.
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY