RE: tire pressure sensors

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Interesting article about tire pressure sensors. I have seen them at camping world, where they can be added on, but this article says it will be offered in some vehicles later this year, and in four years ALL vehicles sold in US will have it! Cool! Guess I ll need an EIGHT wire Bargmann, so I can add them to my (insert camper name here) s tires! []
 
 http://trailerlife.com/output.cfm?ID=214849&Newswire=1
 
 Larry

[aw738]

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I deal with automobiles everyday at work and all this electronic stuff sounds good until it fails. I say you can t beat checking tire pressure with a gauge.

[Turn Key]

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Got to agree with " aw738"  on this one.  Our new TV has all kinds of new " bells and whistles" .  One of the " whistles"  is suppose to tell me when to change the oil.  It s not based on miles driven but on some formula that the computer figures using distance, time, temperature, phase of the moon, voo-doo and a Ouija board from all I can tell[8D]!!!  Not for me.  Oil gets changed every 3000-3500 miles, 4000 outside if I m pressed for time.  Gave the new TV it s first change Thursday with 2700 miles on it (Like to do the first one early).  Computer said I still had 55% of my oil life left.  I think not!
 
 Comuters and sencors that make them work are great things.  Some things are still best checked the old fashion way.
 
 

[Gone-Camping]

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Yep, saw one the other day on a late model GM (I think it was an Alero) it had an idiot light on the dash that said low tire pressure. It didn t state which one (was the left rear), but I can just see the dollar bills rolling through the service dept cash drawer from customers with low pressure idiot lights that won t go out. Lord knows we ve seen more than enough of the dreaded " Check Engine"  lights over the years, and though they often indicate legitimate problems, other times it was a one time glitch but ya gotta pay someone to clear the codes.

[wahoonc]

 Gone-Camping

 

ORIGINAL:  Gone-Camping
 
 ya gotta pay someone to clear the codes.
 

 Gee Cliff,
 Ya mean the code doesn t clear if you just take the offending bulb out??[8D][][]
 
 Aaron[]
 

[springer02]

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Don t know about others, but Jeep has offered this option for a model year or two. Each tire s pressure can display in the overhead console. It ll alert you when one is out of spec.
 
 Very cool.
 
 

[tlhdoc]

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DH added a tire pressure system to his truck.  He likes it.

[wynot]

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I m more curious how one finds out how much time or use has been done on the oil on the GMs.  How is that done?  GM, who spends 20 pages telling me how to use a seatbelt, gets notably quiet on that type info.
 
 I think these systems are better than the archaic every 3,000 mile concepts.
 
 BTW, I get several hundreds of thousands of miles out of my engines with no oil burning.

[brainpause]

 wynot

 

ORIGINAL:  wynot
 
 I m more curious how one finds out how much time or use has been done on the oil on the GMs.  How is that done?  GM, who spends 20 pages telling me how to use a seatbelt, gets notably quiet on that type info.
 
 I think these systems are better than the archaic every 3,000 mile concepts.
 
 BTW, I get several hundreds of thousands of miles out of my engines with no oil burning.
 

 
 I have seen lots of people who say that today s oils, especially the synthetics, are much better than the oils of old, which have more ash as they are used. I have no dispute about that. I even saw one character who gets 20,000 miles out of an oil change! He uses all-synthetics. I still can t change. My owner s manual says every 3750, IIRC, and that s what I ll stick to for now.
 
 I use all synthetics (motor, transmission, gear lube, chassis grease) on my ATV s, and have since they were new. So far, no problems, and one of them has been run quite often under loads, in hot weather, for long periods. The book on them says change every six months or 100 hours. Well, that s where I falter. Those lubes are expensive, and we don t run our ATV s as often (or as hard) as most ATV s are. So, they get changed about once a year, and no problems (yet).
 
 As for the tire pressure sensors that I originally posted, I guess it sounded like I TOTALLY would trust them. Not really. I would still carry a gauge in my glove compartment like I do now. But it would be nice to have an indicator (dummy light) for those times I forget, don t notice, or just otherwise get lazy on checking the tire pressures.
 
 Larry

[wynot]

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Continuing to drift on that side topic of oil life (which I am still curious about determining how much longer I have til a change...hint, hint!)-
 
 The oils today are far superior to the oils that I have run as long as I can remember.  I run synthetic in the Tahoe and run a homemade mix in the other two cars, which is the best compromise I have between expensive and practical.
 
 We had a brief period in automotive time - not too long after Larry and Holly came into the world, where the oil change interval lengths shot up to well beyond common sense (10,000 miles  normal  service), unless one was running highway of 50+ miles one way.  And this was on conventional oil, to boot.
 
 I personally think that what has happened, is with the explosion of the  quick lube  places, that get 5 out of the 6 quarts in your crankcase out, that they are both convincing people that they need to change oil, 1) to pad their income, and 2) to protect themselves from all the dirty oil left in the pan over time tears the engine apart.  I know that my oil is still draining pretty good after 30 minutes, and I bet they have run at least 2 cars through in that time.

[chasd60]

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The only true way to know when to change your oil is to have an analysis done on the oil. This will tell you not only level of contamination but the presence and quantities of metals from which you could derive which componenents were wearing. A practice that is quite often used for larger more expensive engines.
 http://www.oilanalysis.com/
 
 And back to the original topic of this post. I will probably try the air pressure sensors when they are what I think is reasonably priced. It is just too easy for me to check the pressure when they are cold to warrant much of an expense for the sensors.

[griffsmom]

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We just bought a 2003 Expedition that has the low tire pressure alert system.  It wasn t something that we really cared about--we ll still check witha gauge--but it just happened to come with the car.  Weird to think that for once, we re ahead of the curve...
 
 As for the check engine light, our salesman told us to check the gas cap and a few other things, then disconnect the battery for about 15 minutes and hook it back up.  If the check engine light is still on, then you probably need to have it checked .  If it goes out, you just saved yourself a few hundred dollars for having to reste the codes![]

[chasd60]

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As far as the computer codes/lights. They can usually be accessed, understood and reset without complicated tools. Check this book out http://www.repairmanual.com/catalog/H10205

[Gone-Camping]

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And speaking of oil....
 
 With all the clueless people out there that never seem to find time to check their oil, you d think that something as simple as an oil level indicator or meter would be handy. Oil pressure gauge just tells you when you loose pressure, and that happens usually after it s too late. With all the technology we have, you d think someone would installed a system to take an oil level reading just as you start the car. This probably wouldn t be real accurate when warm starting, but on a cold start you d at least know what the oil level is.
 
 I m lucky, I work for a car dealer and it s ingrained in me to check the oil on every fill-up. They used to make us do that daily, but eventually determined that when adding gas was often enough.
 
 ok, rant mode is off again...

[mike4947]

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Since the threads already been hijacked []
 Cliff, I got to see a demonstration of a clear poly oil pan. Ain t no way a gauge would work for oil level.
 While during the 70 s there was a J.C. Whitney special consisting of a dipstick with a sensor and wires to a light bulb you could mount on the dash, it got about as much play as the plate with the little propellors you mount under the carburator to give you 50 miles per gallon.
 Between the crankshaft and rods throwing the returning oil around and the amount of oil that actually climbs the side of the pan when the vehicle makes a turn I m suprised the oil kept the pickup covered on a stock vehicle.
 Even in a race engine with deeper pan and equipped with a scrapper rail, knife edged crank journals and a screen covering the entire crank area to reduce foaming the oil they need to have a movable pickup so it follows the oil on it s trips around the bottom of the pan.