June 2, 2025 • 7 mins
Ron Ananian joins Mendte in the Morning to talk about the TPMS in your car and how its used for proper car maintenance.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Are you driving your car? Right? And the little exclamation
point in the middle of the parentheses, that's the best
way I can describe it. Comes up the for low text.
That's a good one, low tire pressure.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Because I always looked at it as it looked like
a vase with the exclamation point, and I never knew
what it was.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
I was like, what is that? No, I looked it
up and he says, low tire pressure. You go, eh,
I can wait on that. That's that's not a big deal.
You know, it's not like an engine failing. It's not
a big deal. But apparently it is according to Ron
and Nani. And he would know. He's the host of
the Car Doctor, which is available weekly on the iHeartRadio
app and owner of r A Automotive in Waldwick, New Jersey.
(00:46):
So I apparently this is called TPMs. What does that
stand for?
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Tire Pressure Monitoring System? Good morning, Larry, good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
And this is why is it so important?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Well, tire pressure mind And by the way, I think
it looks like a mayonnaise jar with an exclamation point.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
That's another way.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Yeah, it's another way. TPMs was something that came about
in the late nineties. Remember the Ford Explorer and how
it was low tire pressure and the cars were having
issues with stability. Congress mandated and put into effect the
law that's said, by a certain time, we're going to
have systems on the vehicle to tell us when tire
pressure is low. So you know, when you get into
(01:28):
your car and that light comes on, that means you've
either got low tire pressure or you've got a bad
tire pressure sensor, depending upon what the light's doing.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, so you have to go get that filled up immediately,
because I think most people that are listening right now think, oh,
I have time next time. I'm mad.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Oh, it's you know, tire pressure is. It's funny. Tire
pressure is still one of the most overlooked things on
a car, and it's so simple and it's something everybody
can do. If you open your driver's door, there's a
sticker there, a decal there that tells you what tire
pressure should be. Now, keep in mind that tire pressure,
that pressure rating that's on the door placard as we
(02:08):
call it, is based on a degree temperature of the
day of sixty eight degrees. So if you're doing it
in ninety degree weather, you've got to account for tire
pressure at a different rate. If you're doing it in
thirty degree weather, you've got to account for thirty degree
weather a little higher, ninety degree weather a little less,
and it'll it'll accommodate and be correct.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Now why is it important? What does it help improve?
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Well? Stability, traction, tire life, fuel economy, traction on the road.
Nothing worse than driving a vehicle on a wet road
with either overinflated or underinflated tires. Think of it like this.
Take your hand, Larry and put your hand palm down
on the desktop. Okay, right, that's about the amount of
(02:57):
the contact patch, the area of the tire that is
actually gripping the road. So if that's underinflated, now stand
your hand up on your fingertips. That's an overinflated tire.
How much how much grip does that tire have versus
if it's palm Then this is so disappointing because I'm
I was over on the rule.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
I'll put five extra pounds in so as it's leaking,
I'll be okay, yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Oh you can't. You can't. Not good, huh No, you
can't do that.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
The other thing is you raised a good point, though.
Natalie raised a great point in that when you go
to fill up your tires some people I know I am,
sometimes you don't know exactly where to where to go
with it. How many pounds are you supposed to put in,
and you don't want to overinflate it. So sometimes people
put in less than they should.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Right and and sometimes they put in more than they
right and and those are the cars that either ride hard,
ride funny, wear out tires early, and suffer aisle of
other issues. There's nothing nicer than being in a vehicle
with properly inflated tires heading down the road, and it
(04:06):
keeps you safe, all right. You're less susceptible to problems
with a properly inflated tire. If you read the owner's
manual of any car, I don't care when it was made,
new cars twenty twenty fives on down, they're all going
to tell you that tire pressure is still supposed to
be checked on a regular basis, even with a TPMs system.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
So this didn't originate in the United States. The TPML is.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Actually this actually came to us in Europe. Europe had
it in their cars in the late eighties, and then
it came to the United States late nineties and two thousands,
and by two thousand and eight, every vehicle manufacturer and
produced in the United States has a TPMs system. Everybody's
got the light.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
So as soon as the light goes on, that just
to sum this up, as soon as the light goes on,
you should make your way to an air pump.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Right assume you're low on pressure. And the other thing
to think about is depending upon what model vehicle you're driving,
and toyotas have a censor on the spare tire, so
it may not even be one of these four tires.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
You got to go check another tire.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
You gotta go check another tire. You gotta go find
the trunk, okay, which means you have to pick all
that stuff out of the trunk to get to the spare.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Exactly, with all this technology, why can't they come up
with a system that continually regulate the pressure of your
tires so it adds it when it needs it and
takes it away when it doesn't need it.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Why can't they just do that?
Speaker 3 (05:27):
I love this question, Natalie. They have you'll you'll find
it on certain BMW's I don't know if it's still there.
But BMW was playing around with the idea of having
self inflating, self regulating tires, but the cost was astronomical, so.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
I got problem.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
It went the way of the Dodo bird, just because
you know, it costs money to do all this.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So I do love the fact that there are cars
out now that show all four tires and they can
tell you which one.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Yeah, and that's important. And you know the other thing is,
you know, we just had a car in here last week.
A new customer came in and they were having problems.
They telling us the left front tire was low on air.
We looked at the left front, The left front was good.
It wasn't the left front. It was the right rear
because the last place they had been to when they
rotated the tires didn't reinitialize or learn the system telling it, hey,
(06:17):
we move the tires. You see, here's how it works.
If the car has a direct TPMs system, meaning the
little transmitter in the wheel puts out a radio signal.
Radio's common to us, right, well, each each one broadcasts
at a certain value and it knows, hey, serial number
one is here, serial number two is there, and so on.
(06:37):
If you rotate the tires, the computer doesn't know that.
So if serial number one goes low, it still thinks
it's in the left front, but now it's in the
right rear. So it's important people. We straightened it out. Obviously,
we reinitialized the system and explained to the customer and
fixed the tire. But it's important when you rotate tires.
If you're doing it at home, you should reinitialize and
learn the TPMs system.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Wow. Who knew just inflating your fires can be so
important and so complicated at the same time.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Nothing simple anymore, Larry, I'm learning that.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Thanks a lot, Ron and Nanny and host of the
Car Doctor, which is available weekly on the iHeartRadio app.
He's also the owner of R Automotive in Waldwick, New Jersey,
if you want to go there and meet him yourself. Ron,
thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
You're very welcome, Larry. You guys be well.
Are you driving your car? Right? And the little exclamation
point in the middle of the parentheses, that's the best
way I can describe it. Comes up the for low text.
That's a good one, low tire pressure.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Because I always looked at it as it looked like
a vase with the exclamation point, and I never knew
what it was.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
I was like, what is that? No, I looked it
up and he says, low tire pressure. You go, eh,
I can wait on that. That's that's not a big deal.
You know, it's not like an engine failing. It's not
a big deal. But apparently it is according to Ron
and Nani. And he would know. He's the host of
the Car Doctor, which is available weekly on the iHeartRadio
app and owner of r A Automotive in Waldwick, New Jersey.
(00:46):
So I apparently this is called TPMs. What does that
stand for?
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Tire Pressure Monitoring System? Good morning, Larry, good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
And this is why is it so important?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Well, tire pressure mind And by the way, I think
it looks like a mayonnaise jar with an exclamation point.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
That's another way.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Yeah, it's another way. TPMs was something that came about
in the late nineties. Remember the Ford Explorer and how
it was low tire pressure and the cars were having
issues with stability. Congress mandated and put into effect the
law that's said, by a certain time, we're going to
have systems on the vehicle to tell us when tire
pressure is low. So you know, when you get into
(01:28):
your car and that light comes on, that means you've
either got low tire pressure or you've got a bad
tire pressure sensor, depending upon what the light's doing.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, so you have to go get that filled up immediately,
because I think most people that are listening right now think, oh,
I have time next time. I'm mad.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Oh, it's you know, tire pressure is. It's funny. Tire
pressure is still one of the most overlooked things on
a car, and it's so simple and it's something everybody
can do. If you open your driver's door, there's a
sticker there, a decal there that tells you what tire
pressure should be. Now, keep in mind that tire pressure,
that pressure rating that's on the door placard as we
(02:08):
call it, is based on a degree temperature of the
day of sixty eight degrees. So if you're doing it
in ninety degree weather, you've got to account for tire
pressure at a different rate. If you're doing it in
thirty degree weather, you've got to account for thirty degree
weather a little higher, ninety degree weather a little less,
and it'll it'll accommodate and be correct.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Now why is it important? What does it help improve?
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Well? Stability, traction, tire life, fuel economy, traction on the road.
Nothing worse than driving a vehicle on a wet road
with either overinflated or underinflated tires. Think of it like this.
Take your hand, Larry and put your hand palm down
on the desktop. Okay, right, that's about the amount of
(02:57):
the contact patch, the area of the tire that is
actually gripping the road. So if that's underinflated, now stand
your hand up on your fingertips. That's an overinflated tire.
How much how much grip does that tire have versus
if it's palm Then this is so disappointing because I'm
I was over on the rule.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
I'll put five extra pounds in so as it's leaking,
I'll be okay, yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Oh you can't. You can't. Not good, huh No, you
can't do that.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
The other thing is you raised a good point, though.
Natalie raised a great point in that when you go
to fill up your tires some people I know I am,
sometimes you don't know exactly where to where to go
with it. How many pounds are you supposed to put in,
and you don't want to overinflate it. So sometimes people
put in less than they should.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Right and and sometimes they put in more than they
right and and those are the cars that either ride hard,
ride funny, wear out tires early, and suffer aisle of
other issues. There's nothing nicer than being in a vehicle
with properly inflated tires heading down the road, and it
(04:06):
keeps you safe, all right. You're less susceptible to problems
with a properly inflated tire. If you read the owner's
manual of any car, I don't care when it was made,
new cars twenty twenty fives on down, they're all going
to tell you that tire pressure is still supposed to
be checked on a regular basis, even with a TPMs system.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
So this didn't originate in the United States. The TPML is.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Actually this actually came to us in Europe. Europe had
it in their cars in the late eighties, and then
it came to the United States late nineties and two thousands,
and by two thousand and eight, every vehicle manufacturer and
produced in the United States has a TPMs system. Everybody's
got the light.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
So as soon as the light goes on, that just
to sum this up, as soon as the light goes on,
you should make your way to an air pump.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Right assume you're low on pressure. And the other thing
to think about is depending upon what model vehicle you're driving,
and toyotas have a censor on the spare tire, so
it may not even be one of these four tires.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
You got to go check another tire.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
You gotta go check another tire. You gotta go find
the trunk, okay, which means you have to pick all
that stuff out of the trunk to get to the spare.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Exactly, with all this technology, why can't they come up
with a system that continually regulate the pressure of your
tires so it adds it when it needs it and
takes it away when it doesn't need it.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Why can't they just do that?
Speaker 3 (05:27):
I love this question, Natalie. They have you'll you'll find
it on certain BMW's I don't know if it's still there.
But BMW was playing around with the idea of having
self inflating, self regulating tires, but the cost was astronomical, so.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
I got problem.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
It went the way of the Dodo bird, just because
you know, it costs money to do all this.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So I do love the fact that there are cars
out now that show all four tires and they can
tell you which one.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Yeah, and that's important. And you know the other thing is,
you know, we just had a car in here last week.
A new customer came in and they were having problems.
They telling us the left front tire was low on air.
We looked at the left front, The left front was good.
It wasn't the left front. It was the right rear
because the last place they had been to when they
rotated the tires didn't reinitialize or learn the system telling it, hey,
(06:17):
we move the tires. You see, here's how it works.
If the car has a direct TPMs system, meaning the
little transmitter in the wheel puts out a radio signal.
Radio's common to us, right, well, each each one broadcasts
at a certain value and it knows, hey, serial number
one is here, serial number two is there, and so on.
(06:37):
If you rotate the tires, the computer doesn't know that.
So if serial number one goes low, it still thinks
it's in the left front, but now it's in the
right rear. So it's important people. We straightened it out. Obviously,
we reinitialized the system and explained to the customer and
fixed the tire. But it's important when you rotate tires.
If you're doing it at home, you should reinitialize and
learn the TPMs system.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Wow. Who knew just inflating your fires can be so
important and so complicated at the same time.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Nothing simple anymore, Larry, I'm learning that.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Thanks a lot, Ron and Nanny and host of the
Car Doctor, which is available weekly on the iHeartRadio app.
He's also the owner of R Automotive in Waldwick, New Jersey,
if you want to go there and meet him yourself. Ron,
thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
You're very welcome, Larry. You guys be well.
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