Well, the cooler weather's arrived here in the esat. I've had my '07 Maxima since the dog days of July and yesterday, on the way home from work, on popped the TPMS light on the dash.

I remembered the threads here with some of the difficulties that others have had and was envisioning trips to the dealer, etc. My first attempt was going to a local gas station that has a free air pump. Unfortunately that didn't work out since it was "out of order."

I then stopped at the next closest gas station to home, and after pumping it with three quarters, began pumping air into the tires. It had one of those gauges on it to check the pressure, but it was dark and my vision isn't quite what it used to be when I was younger, so I couldn't tell what pressure I was putting in there.

Getting back in the car, I saw the light still on and chalked it up as a bad job or a car defect. I went to bed last night wondering how it would end up being resolved.

This morning, in the brighter light of day, we stopped at a different gas station. Here, after another 75 cents, I again pumped air into the three tires that seemed to need it. Each of the three low ones were down to around 32 PSI, so I upped them to 36 as recommended in the other thread. The fourth tire was a bit high, so I let some air out - probably as a result of my futzing with it last night.

After returning to the car and driving for about a half a mile, the light went out - just the way it's supposed to.

So hopefully many of us won't have the problems that SOME of us have had with the '07 TPMS system.

Harry

 

I know in the 04 Max, we have a sticker on the underside of the center console storage compartment which list the recommended tire pressure for the car. That is the recommended pressure you should be following...

 

chernmax: yeah there is a sticker and a sticky in the manual telling you what tire pressure we need to be which is 32 psi but the dealership told me specifictly not to pump to 32 because the sensor will read it a low pressure. Only pump up to 36psi on the tmps tires. He was suppose to be the main guy that took the tmps training. beats me.

Hgn2001: glad it works out for you! its annoying having that light on.

 

I have gone rounds with tire dealerships, (notice I didn't say manufacturer?).

The last three vehicles I have had, when ran on what vehicle manufacturer said, I was replacing tires that had looked like I had ran with them flat. The sidewalls were wearing so fast.

I have learned, go by the tire sidewall. I don't care what Nissan says, I care what the tire maker says. I keep my OEM tires at 42 cold. They call for 44psi. I would rather run 2 lbs under than too much once they heat up, because the 44psi is MAX. I have extended tire life greatly by doing this, and have noticed, my tires are wearing evenly, not on just the sidewall, and not just down the center.
30-anything is way too low for my car.

Swee

 

42PSI sounds kind of high. I don't know what everything else is
using, but I am at 35PSI. The manual recommends 30PSI,
but I feel that is too low to protect the 18" rims. At the beginning
I was running 30PSI, but that wound up pinching a bludge on one
of my tires after hitting a pothole.

 

I can understand that, I was just stating what my experience has taught me. There are so many conflicting PSI's that you have to do what works for you (stating the obvious here).

If what you're saying, and I believe you, is that the manual is telling you to keep it at 30 PSI, it makes me wonder who's running the show here.

Arm rest says 35PSI, (IIRC), Manual says 30 PSI and tire side wall says 44PSI, all cold mind you.....you have got to wonder.

I just know what has worked for me. I only have 24,000 miles on the car and will be needing new tires around June '07'. By then I should have rounded 36,000miles.

Swee

 

Your tire side wall will indicate Max load (PSI). Since many new cars share the same tires, manufactures do drive test based on the cars weight, suspension, and handling characteristics and then determine the best recommended tire pressure for the vehicle. That's why any two vehicles can have the same tire but the vehicle handles best at a specific tire PSI.

Nissan sold you a $25-30+ thousand dollar car, I would trust them before the $800 dollar tire manufacture, Nissan has more to loose!!!

 

Right on the money chern....




Swee, my track instructors even told me running anything over 40psi is a safety risk, your tires will go up 2psi, but when you hit a bump or make a sharp turn, those tires can have an additional load of up to 10psi. Thats wheere sheet can go down hill real fast. Imagine getting on the highways at 70mph, your car is leaning left, your at 42psi at warm tires, you add aditional load to the left side tires. BOOOOOOM!!!! They explode and you end up under a tractor trailer with your family.......... SCARY SHEET!

Kam

 

I pump to 35 PSI all around even thou 32 is recommended.

Maximum pressure marked on the tire doesn't mean anything for your car. Its just states the maximum pressure the tire will handle. One would have to be retared to pump his/her tires to 50PSI is the tire allows 52 to be MAX. My tires show max PSI to be 51. To pump it to around that value would be crazy as the pressure would grow with temperature.

While higher PSI (bumping it by about 2-3 PSI) for longer highway trips is desireable and would raise your MPG, raising it much higher would wear out your suspension. Your car was designed with certain PSI in mind. The PSI specified by Nissan is the PSI recommended by tire manufacturer for the weight it would carry. Your suspension components are designed around it and tire flex is taken into consideration. If you pump your tires to a much higher PSI, they get harder and your shocks/struts/springs have to take the hit. Read your manual its all there.

 

Again, I thank you all for your advice, I will double check my theory! I certainly don't want a blown tire.

I just know that I have replaced too many tires because they were underinflated, and I don't mean a lot...just a few pounds really. It is discouraging to replace tires unnecessarily. All set at a consistent 33-35psi.

I know that 35psi is the norm. 35psi looks way too low. And I agree that 44psi is way to high. I wouldn't run on that.

Again, thanks Kam, for your concern. And Chern for your info.

On a side note, Kam:

I hear you about tractor trailers and being under them. I drive a rig for a living and have blown a steer tire on that beast. Scariest thing I have ever experienced. Overinflated? Nope, deemed under inflated.......(Michelin XZA2)....

 

lol....

this has nothing to do with 04-06 maxima's...

the new 07 maxima has a light that tell's you the tire's are at low pressure, thats why he pumped more air in them.

all he wanted was to remove the low pressure light.

our 32 psi might be too low for the 07 TPMS rating, hense the 36 psi for them.

 

The recommended pressure must be tested when the tire is COLD, not driven. It is normal for tire pressure to go up by 5 lbs after a few miles, up to 10 lbs under certain driving condition (full load, high speed). If you use Nitrogen (like Costco), the variation is cut in half.

By the time I get to my Sonoco station about 1 mile away, the pressure is already up 3 - 4 lbs. So now I set the pressure at 36 lbs, hot.

 

ALSO what i discovered in the 07 if u have the Navigation is u hit trip a few times, u'll get a screen tha actually TELLS u the pressure in each of the 4 tires!!



Also have other screens that tell you how many miles till oil change, and tire rotation.

 

LOLZ .. you only found this out now??? You know if you go to your gps selection you can find out your attitude, speed , and even how many satelite is tracking you. :P . I know if you don't have navi you can find out by using a scanner that nissan has to tell you which tire has the problem. Just some info. happy modding

 

I have seen several PSIs posted here as 'manual' or 'console sticker' pressures. For '04 thru '06, the manual and console stickers read 32 PSI for the SE and 33 PSI for the SL.

I agree with several here that those should be minimum pressures for most drivers, although we have one poster from Texas who was posting here for a year or so that he had best results with 28 PSI on his '04 SE.

The tire sidewall 'PSI maximum' is sort of like the maximum pressure for a steam boiler. It is an absolute limit that should not be breached. When we consider that the pressure in a tire rises as we drive, especially in hot weather, I would be very hesitant to run with a cold pressure over around 38 PSI.

Not only does an extremely high pressure such as 42 PSI punish our suspension; it gives a reduced 'footprint', in that the flat area where the tire makes contact with the road is smaller, hence the grip of the tire on the road is somewhat reduced. Additionally, an overinflated tire has a greater tendency to 'bounce' at places like RR crossings and irregular road surfaces, losing much of its grip with the road.

I have had the best overall performance on my 2000 SE running 36 PSI all around. On my '04 SL, I run around 34 in the rear and 36 in the front (where 60% of the total vehicle weight is). I measure tread depth at each groove across the tread every few months in order to be sure the tires are wearing evenly between the middle and the edges of the tread, adjusting the PSI as necessary.

I do not know what PSI the manual and console sticker gives for the '07. But, as the '07s have exactly the same sizes and brands of tires as the '04 thru '06, I would not expect a great change; certainly not all the way up to 36 PSI. As the '07s are about 100 pounds heavier, I would not be surprised to see the recommended PSI go up a pound. But no more.

In other words, I feel the service folks calling for 36 PSI (although that is a perfectly good PSI) may be covering up for a not very accurate TPMS system.

I would like for one of our '07 owners to check their manual and their console sticker and let us know what Nissan says about PSI.

 

From the '07 manual:


Looks like they haven't changed -- recommended "normal" pressures are still 32/32(SE) or 33/33(SL). "Optional" pressures are 38/38 for SE, 35/35 for SL.

TPMS shouldn't trigger on anything at or above 32psi if that's the recommended pressure. Acounting for a little tolerance, I find it difficult to believe that the system would trigger until at least 31, maybe even 30 depending on the accuracy and precision of the sensors.

BTW, I've been running 35/33.

 

wait waittt.......u can??? FING LOUSY DEALER!!! They didin't show me all that goodness. How do i access that? Gonna go experiment!

 

jcalabria - Thanks! I had been wanting to see that '07 tire sticker.

I agree with you about the TPMS trigger level. The purpose of the TPMS system is to alert the driver if a potentially dangerous tire pressure situation occurs, not to enable us **** drivers to 'fine tune' our tire pressure.

With that in mind, I feel the 'trigger' point should have been no higher than 28PSI. I could have even understood setting it at 27. Having the trigger at 30PSI or above could potentially be very annoying to those running the recommended 32PSI in their SE tires.

 

While wandering my dealer's back lot today, it dawned on me that the silver metallic valve stems (part of the TPMS system on the '07 Maximas) stick almost directly out to the side of the car. I had not realized that until now.

I can remember way back when valve stems pointed directly at the axle, and, depending on the style of wheel, could be difficult to reach. Gradually, they have pointed more and more toward the side.

Time passes. Things change. Sometimes for the better.

 

I think my tires were inflated to about 30 psi each at the dealership. I checked them on Saturday when I washed it and they were at 29/30 each. The light came on the day before yesterday so I stopped off at Sears after work and bought one of those sloooow 12 volt inflaters and put them all at 35, which is what's listed in the door well. I got in, drove around the block, and the light went out.

 

Check with tire, not the sticker on the car/ I had aftermarket tires, so i dont care what sticker on car says. Also, the MAx tire pressure is when tire is COLD>

 

I see the chart from the owners manual, but there's also one in the door jamb that states 35 PSI. Which is correct?

Harry

 

Harry - The owner's manual and glove box stickers of previous 6th gens specify 32psi for SEs and 33psi for SLs. The door jamb stickers of my '04 do not mention tires or pressures.

As the '07 is essentially (mechanically) the same vehicle as the '04 thru '06, with exactly the same tires, I believe the 38psi in the door jamb can be only one thing: the MAXIMUM COLD PRESSURE as recommended by Nissan.

This would agree with the owners manual and the glove box sticker, which list 38psi as the pressure for the SE for maximum load or very high speed driving.

Having said all that, I find it best to carry the psi that results in my tires wearing evenly across the tread. Too much pressure results in the center of the tire tread wearing out first, while too little pressure results in the edges of the tire tread wearing out first.

The ideal pressure for a particular Maxima depends on the type of driving being done. Lots of sharp turning or curvy roads or heavy loads or agressive driving tends to wear the edges first, so may require a slightly higher psi in order to wear evenly. Lots of freeway or straight road driving or light loads or sedate driving would usually require a lower psi in order for the tires to wear evenly.

As the front carries over 60% of the Maxima's weight, I usually carry two psi more in front in order that the front tires will maintain the same profile as the rear tires and wear evenly. A cold psi combination such as 35 front and 33 rear, or 36 front and 34 rear works very well for me. More agrsssive drivers, or those doing lots of turning or driving on curvy roads may find a 37 front, 35 rear, or even a 38 front, 36 rear gives them even tire wear.

One thing you NEVER want to do is fill the tire to the maximum psi molded into the tire wall. That is the MAXIMUM pressure for which the tire is structurally designed, and will normally give a very firm, rough ride with a tendency to bounce on uneven road surfaces. Filling the tire higher than around 38PSI cold pressure can result in pressures approaching the maximum structural tire limit when the tire has warmed up from driving; especially in hot weather.

Additionally, with normal driving, having forty-something psi in the tires of a Maxima will result in the center of the tread wearing out rather quickly.

Also keep in mind that the change of seasons has a major affect on tire pressure. You may have 34 psi in your tires in 80 degree October weather, but the same tires may measure something like 29psi when November brings a sudden forty degree drop in temps.

As Fred Rogers might have said, 'Boys and girls, tires are our friends. They keep us safe. We should always take good care of them.'