Tyre pressure warning light: what TPMS is telling you
The amber horseshoe with an exclamation mark means at least one tyre is significantly below its target pressure — or the monitoring system itself has a fault.
Investigate soon — a system is degraded
Check at the next safe opportunity. If the car pulls, thumps or feels unstable, stop and inspect immediately — that can be a deflating tyre.
Briefly and gently, to reach a safe place to check pressures. Driving on a badly underinflated tyre overheats the sidewall and can cause a blowout.
Common causes
- Genuine slow puncture or a valve leak
- Cold weather reducing pressure — roughly 1 to 2 psi for every 10°C drop
- Pressures never reset after a tyre change or rotation
- Flat TPMS sensor batteries, typically after five to ten years
- Spare or replacement wheel without a paired sensor fitted
What to do next
- 1Check all four tyres cold with a gauge against the placard in the door shut or fuel flap.
- 2Inflate to the recommended pressure, including the load-specific figure if you are carrying weight.
- 3Inspect the tread and sidewall for nails, cuts or bulges.
- 4Run the TPMS reset procedure for your car after adjusting pressures.
- 5If the light returns within days, treat it as a slow puncture rather than a sensor glitch.
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Ask the AI mechanicFrequently asked
- Why is the TPMS light flashing rather than steady?
- A flashing light for around a minute at startup, then staying on, normally indicates a system or sensor fault rather than low pressure. Steady means a pressure reading is out of range.
- Why did it come on when the weather turned cold?
- Air contracts as temperature falls, so pressures genuinely drop. Reinflate to the placard value rather than assuming it is a false alarm.
General guidance only. Symbols and thresholds vary between manufacturers — always confirm against your vehicle's owner manual, and treat any red lamp as a reason to stop.
Other dashboard lights
- Check engineThe check engine light (an engine-block outline, usually amber) means the engine management system has stored a fault code. Steady means investigate soon; flashing means stop driving.
- Oil pressureThe red oil-can symbol means the engine has lost oil pressure. This is the most serious light on the dashboard — continued driving can destroy the engine in under a minute.
- ABSThe amber ABS lamp means the anti-lock braking system has disabled itself. Normal braking still works, but the wheels can lock under hard or emergency braking.
- Brake systemThe red brake light (an exclamation mark inside a circle) covers three very different things: the parking brake being applied, low brake fluid, or a hydraulic circuit fault.
- Battery / chargingThe red battery symbol means the charging system is no longer supplying enough voltage. The car is running on stored battery charge and will eventually stop.
- Coolant temperatureA red thermometer symbol means the engine is overheating. Continued driving risks a warped head, failed head gasket or a seized engine.
- Airbag / SRSThe SRS or airbag symbol means the supplementary restraint system has detected a fault and has disabled itself. In a crash, the airbags or pretensioners may not fire.
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