flat tire monitor
Driving to work this morning I noticed a flashing warning lamp on the dash. According to the Owner’s Manual, “the warning lamp indicates a flat tire or system malfunction. In the event of a flat tire, an acoustic signal also sounds.” My iPod Nano was playing at the time the lamp illuminated, so I wasn’t 100% sure that the acoustic signal had sounded.
Just to be safe, I stopped at the first available petrol station 2 miles down the road to check the pressure of each tire. All 4 tires were fine, so I followed the instructions in the manual to determine if there was in fact a flat (run flats don’t make them easy to spot), or if the system had malfunctioned.
1. Switch off the ignition, ignition key position 0 (ignition was already switched off).
2. Switch the ignition back on, ignition key position 2, or start the engine.
If an acoustic signal sounds, it’s a flat! Otherwise, the system has malfunctioned or failed.
In my case, there was no signal, so it was just a matter of initializing the system:
1. Start the engine, but do not start driving.
2. Press the button to the right of the handbrake long enough for the indicator lamp on the dashboard to light up for a few seconds.
3. Drive off.
The lamp stayed off for the remainder of the journey to work, so I’m hoping that everything will be fine tonight when I’m on my way home…..
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April 5th, 2006 at 7:19 am
[…] MINI wierdness - just out driving around at lunch on Monday (3rd) and as I turned a corner 3 warning lamps came on all at once. I’ve had the DSC lamp flash briefly when I’ve been a bit heavy on the accelerator before, and I’ve certainly had the flat tire monitor illuminate before, but I’ve never had all 3 lamps light (and stay lit). I pulled into a nearby 7-Eleven, checked the tire pressure and looked for any screws or nails that might have got lodged in the tire - nothing. […]