SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The colder weather always seems to bring with it the tire pressure light.
It’s not because there’s someone that goes around Michiana just takes a little bit of air out of your tires, rather a direct relationship with the air temperature.
The relationship between pressure and temperature can be described using the Ideal Gas Law, pV = nRT.
The “n” and “R” in this equation are constants, based off the gas in question, so if a tire is filled with the same air as the outside, we don't need to worry about those.
In this scenario, the “V” volume of the tire won’t change either and what we get is a direct relationship between “p”, pressure and “T” temperature.
When the temperature of a gas goes down, so does the pressure.
If your tires are already low, you’re going to continue to notice the little light come on as we continue into the colder months.
While we still have some fairly mild weather this week, it’s not a bad time to start prepping your vehicle for the colder months.
“Probably the battery is number one. So, I’d suggest to most customers, you know, if they think their battery is three or four years old it’s probably a good idea to have it checked out at the shop. They can load test it and tell you what kind of condition it’s in.”
Brad Craig from the Pathways Auto Program at Wawasee High School says that the most common system failure in the colder months starts with, well, starting the car. However, there are a couple more issues you can run into in the winter.
“We worry about condensation in the fuel system, so keeping the fuel tank as full as possible most of the time will help eliminate some of that problem.”
Craig tells me not allowing the fuel tank to get too low cuts down the amount of water that can build up thanks to temperature swings inside the car, which would dilute the gas. Another place you don’t want water is on your windshield.
“See a lot of people get in trouble because they’re fine all summer and we get to winter and the windshield solvent doesn’t have that winter blend, but you can add that de-icer to yours for 2 or 3 dollars, which adds good peace of mind.”