Living With New Automotive Technology

ski3pin

ski3pin

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It was a beautiful fall Sunday yesterday. The two wives wanted to go for a hike in the high country. I drove the Lady's 2015 Subaru Crosstrek with us abroad to the trailhead. In route the tire pressure warning light came on.

A first for us with this new technology.

"The tires are fine," the Lady insisted as we stopped and did a walk around. "Must be a glitch with this new stuff."

Confident the tires were fine, we had a great day.

Upon arriving home we researched the issue. A simple fix as most of you probably know. The spare also has a tire pressure sensor and its pressure was low. Good to know and a nice reminder to check.

The added benefit was a refresher for the Lady - and me too - on where the spare lives, how to access and remove it, and the location of the tools to change a flat tire.

Yeah, this takes some getting use to................but maybe there are benefits. :)
 
ski3pin said:
It was a beautiful fall Sunday yesterday. The two wives wanted to go for a hike in the high country. I drove the Lady's 2015 Subaru Crosstrek with us abroad to the trailhead. In route the tire pressure warning light came on.

A first for us with this new technology.

"The tires are fine," the Lady insisted as we stopped and did a walk around. "Must be a glitch with this new stuff."

Confident the tires were fine, we had a great day.

Upon arriving home we researched the issue. A simple fix as most of you probably know. The spare also has a tire pressure sensor and its pressure was low. Good to know and a nice reminder to check.

The added benefit was a refresher for the Lady - and me too - on where the spare lives, how to access and remove it, and the location of the tools to change a flat tire.

Yeah, this takes some getting use to................but maybe there are benefits. :)
Click to expand...
Ski I did not know you had two wives??

My 4 Runner tire light came on and stopped and did a walk around, turns out it was the spare as I had rotated it recently.

The spare is the most neglected tire for checking air pressure as it will most likely be low on pressure when you need it. In a way this technology is good to notify us.
 
Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems with just an idiot light can be pretty annoying, but do serve a purpose. The systems that actually display tire by tire pressure are really useful. When not looking at something specific on the multifunction display on our Tacoma, I leave it on the TPMS screen. If the pressure goes down, I know I have an issue (has not happened yet, knock on wood).

It is more interesting to watch the tire pressure go up as we drive - I now know that the tire pressure increases by about 5-10% as the tires come up to 'normal' operating temperature (which would indicate that operating temperature is ~ 20C above ambient). It is also gives you an idea when you air down, if your tire pressure is high enough for the speeds you are driving - if you see the tire pressure increase by more than 15 - 20% over cold, your tires are probably too low for the speed you are driving and are heating up too much.

Finally, if you see the pressure go up in just ONE tire you have a problem, likely a stuck brake caliper or bearing issue causing that one wheel to heat up.
 
My F250 has built in TPMS, but it only reads the four road wheels. The spare does NOT have a sensor in it. Apparently it's also one of those TEMPORARY spare tires, too . . .
 
My Tacoma also only has 4 sensors (none in the spare) and the ECU programming only allows 4 sensor serial numbers so you can't even add one to the spare if you want to. Reminds me that I should probably lower the spare one of these days and give it a look-see.
 
pvstoy said:
Ski I did not know you had two wives??
Click to expand...
They just keep piling up, I guess. :)

A wonderful single friend of Julie's needs help with fix it projects. Julie & I show up and take care of it. She has joking started referring to herself a wife number 2 - as in I now have double the stuff to fix.

All strictly clean and decent.
 
And, I used to like Honda's. Well, I still like the older ones.

2018, CRV, multiple false positives with the TPMS. Spare tire was always OK. Started carrying a manual tire pressure gauge. And, then it failed completely with no low pressure message when we actually had a nail in the right rear tire. Interior of the CRV is really well insulated from exterior sounds. Tire totally shredded. Honda doesn't warranty the original tires supplied with a new vehicle, however, they do warranty the $130 replacement tire I purchased. Tire rotations were also problematic with the TPMS giving false positives, right there at the dealership shop. Fix was supposed to be activating the key switch a certain number of times, didn't really work. Unmount the tire and remount didn't fix it either. It just cleared itself in a day or so. F-ing magic.

Then the backup camera started to fail, tuning off and on multiple times when in reverse. Sometimes never activating.

After several times where the digital display screen would not activate, the wife was ready to throw in the towel.

Honda dealer response was always "we need to experience it in person". However, no loaner vehicle was offered if we left the CRV with them for a few days.

So,that CRV was history. It's gone.

I did like the walk away with the key fob and the auto lock was activated. Remote starting was good to warm up the interior for my 92 year old mother-in-law. The false impression of accuracy of the remaining gas millage in the tank was pretty neat. The heated and electrically adjustable leather seats were great. The dual climate controlled interior was a must have. The USB port for music had an excellent software interface and the sound was just as good. Auto anti-collision stuff worked without flaw (however, the wife was skeptical after the TPMS stuff).

So, now I'm getting used to the Subaru. I'd guess, it's almost 4 years technically behind the Honda CRV in all of the above aspects. Wish my finger on the door handle would activate the locking of the doors, but, I still have to use the key fob for that when I walk away. The door does unlock when I touch the door handle, nice. The small turning radius is great. Steering is very responsive, reminds me of a go cart or my Meyers Manx. Need a little stiffer spring on the throttle for my lead foot at the start of acceleration, ouch my neck hurts and the back of my head bangs against the headrest. Visibility is fantastic. So, we have have our hopes up on this one. Time will tell.
 
Will all this great technology, one would think they could come up with a better way to remove the spare when it is located under the truck bed, as in my Tacoma. After lowering it, I have to crawl under the truck, and again to put the spare back.
 
Further corrected Information. Contrary to what the Subaru guy said in the YouTube video, the Crosstrek does not have a TPMS sensor in the spare. The light was triggered by driving up in elevation on a cold morning. Local tire shop recommends running 35 lbs. in the tires instead of the 33 lbs. stated on the door.
 
old school here, do a walk around before first drive of day (i'm a one time trucking co. owner)
still can feel a below normal tire as i drive, that being said our ford transit conversion recently
threw the tire fault light, stopped check pressure every thing ok, light still on.
Ok i will use this as a teaching moment pull out manual read section on reseting code
unbelievable the process that has to be done,
put manual away.
As a ford dealer is not out of my way i let it be their problem, must be so common that
they had a special lane just for resetting fault code.(only 2 ahead of me).
Van is still under warranty only problem since owning it.

Les.lqhikers
 
CougarCouple said:
Hay O. P.
you have a donut spare for a 3/4 ton truck?

Russ
Click to expand...
It's not a mini-spare, but rather a tire/rim marked "For Temporary Use Only". At least, according to the owner's manual that came with it.
 
Thanks O. P. I’m going to have to check mine. The tire looks full size, and wheel I black and looking like a base factory wheel. Gotta check the owners manual.
I’ll let you know.
 
lqhikers said:
old school here,

... must be so common that
they had a special lane just for resetting fault code.(only 2 ahead of me).
Click to expand...
That's beautiful.

Old school here also. Fixed my TPMS light with a small square of black tape.
 
Alley-Kat said:
. Tire totally shredded. Honda doesn't warranty the original tires supplied with a new vehicle, however, they do warranty the $130 replacement tire I purchased.
Click to expand...
Also classic, 'chuckle'
 
“So, now I'm getting used to the Subaru. <snip> Wish my finger on the door handle would activate the locking of the doors, but, I still have to use the key fob for that when I walk away. The door does unlock when I touch the door handle, nice. <snip>”

A-K, the two little marks at the front, top of the driver side handle will lock the car for you, just touch them. It only took me two years to learn that about our ‘16 Outback. :)
 
Thanks, however, according to my wife, I'm touching the door handle in the right spot to activate the locking function. I'm batting about 30% on this issue with the door handle. Maybe my hands don't have the right surface film on them or something. It makes no sense to me.
 
I must confess about this newer vehicle stuff... After owning new to me 2005 4 Runner for 8 years, February I discovered that the windshield visors slide out to cover more of the side window... go figure! Makes you think what else are I missing :oops:
 
pvstoy said:
I must confess about this newer vehicle stuff... After owning new to me 2005 4 Runner for 8 years, February I discovered that the windshield visors slide out to cover more of the side window... go figure! Makes you think what else are I missing :oops:
Click to expand...
:) it happens...
 
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