Mazda 5 light, what does it mean?

[v_tofu]

Hi All,

My 5 didnt' come with a manual, so I was wondering if I can get some help as to what the symbol means?

It pretty much looks like this (!)

Its orange, and at about 3 oclock form the check engine light.

I guess windshield wiper fluid but thats full, so I have no clue. Its for a 2008 if it helps.

cheers,

 

[Heat]

That's your Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), telling you that you have low air pressure in at least one tire. Some cars will tell you which tire has a problem, the Mazda5 doesn't - kind of like how the Mazda5 will tell you that a door is open, but not which one.

Check the air pressure in all four tires ASAP, put 35 psi in. One will be low, probably in the 26psi to 28psi range.

The image is a cross section of a tire, with an exclamation mark. This is a universal symbol, not Mazda specific.

A few years ago my friend's wife called him after driving about 50 miles or so with a strange light on her dash. "It looked like Aladin's lamp". It was the oil pressure warning light - the engine was fried and the car was never driven again.

 

[v_tofu]

ahh i c, thanks. my last vehicle I purchased was 12 years ago, so i'm not aware of these newer lights.


Anyways, its since dissappeared. I went camping last weekend so it was loaded with quite a few things. I'm guessing thats what did it. I'll double check the pressure in the tires anyways.

thanks!

 

[thaxman]

ALWAYS check your air pressure after the vehicle has sat for a long period of time (overnight, after an 8-hr shift) and before you have driven more than 1 mile. You will get an accurate reading of the tire pressure that way. If the tires warm up from road friction, the air becomes warmer and exerts more pressure, causing the reading to be inaccurate by as much as 6 psi. So if the tires are warm and you find them to be above the recommended pressure, and you let air out, then the cold air pressure (true pressure) will be too low, and that's not good. Low pressure causes excessive heat buildup, which degrades the tire integrity which is a very common cause for a blowout, and for certain vehicles, complete loss of control.

 

[Silentnoise713]

The average car owner is pretty clueless and so Uncle Sam requires all cars have an idiot gauge. High end cars actually have a very useful TPMS system that displays the actual air pressure per tire. Unfortunately, the one most common cars have is generally useless.
http://www.safercar.gov/portal/site...id=4786f32a25f36110VgnVCM1000002fd17898RCRD#2


The TPMS system is also vulnerable to remote hacking so the next time you light comes on it could just be your local neighborhood kid playing a joke -but you should still check your pressure.
http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/defcon-hacking-tire-pressure-monitors-remotel

 

[flcruising]

Click on my username and shoot me an email and I'll send you a PDF of the manual.