Cold-start cockpit drill with a soft tyre
At 06:50 in January in Amman the temperature is 6 °C and the car has been parked overnight nose-down on a 10% slope. The windscreen and door mirrors are covered in dew, and the rear window is dusty. You are 160 cm tall; the seat is low, pushed fully back, and the steering wheel is set high. When you turn the key to the run position, the tyre-pressure warning lamp stays on and the left rear tyre looks softer than the others. The practical test is at 08:00 at a centre 12 km away, fuel is just above one quarter, and a relative is waiting in the passenger seat. You have a phone, a tyre-pressure gauge and a 12 V inflator in the boot, but no spare wheel. Traffic outside is already moving.
1. What must you check and adjust before turning the engine on, and what must you resolve before driving?
Read the worked answer
Before starting I would complete a walk-around and a cockpit drill, because the test can be terminated for an unsafe tyre or obscured glass.
- Walk around: check all four tyres and look for cuts or bulges; use the gauge on the left rear cold. Inflate to the door-placard pressure and recheck after a few minutes. If it falls again, do not drive; use the inflator only if the tyre holds.
- Clear vision: demist the windscreen and rear window fully; clean the mirrors. Dew must be cleared before moving, not while driving.
- Cockpit: set seat height and distance, recline, head restraint, then mirrors, then belt. Confirm the parking brake is on and the gear is neutral before starting.
- Fuel: one quarter is enough for 12 km, but I would not rely on it for a long detour. The key judgement is that the TPMS lamp plus a visibly soft tyre is a defect until proven otherwise; time pressure does not justify driving on it.
2. In what order do you set the seat, head restraint, mirrors and seatbelt, and why?
Read the worked answer
Set the seat first because every mirror angle depends on eye position.
- Seat height: raise it so I can see over the wheel and operate the clutch fully.
- Distance: clutch depressed, slight bend in the knee; arms bent at the wheel.
- Recline and head restraint: upright, restraint top level with the top of my head.
- Mirrors: interior mirror centred on the rear window; door mirrors show a sliver of my own car and the horizon.
- Belt: lap low across the hips, shoulder over the collarbone, no twist; passenger belt too. If I set the mirrors first and then move the seat, the mirrors will be wrong. On a slope, keep the parking brake on until the engine starts.
3. The inflator raises the tyre to the correct pressure but the warning lamp remains on after a short drive. The test starts in 15 minutes. What is your decision?
Read the worked answer
The lamp staying on after inflation can mean the sensor needs recalibration, but it can also mean a slow puncture or a sensor fault. I would not simply ignore it.
- Recheck the left rear with the gauge; if it is at placard and holding, follow the manufacturer's reset procedure, often a button or menu, and drive a short distance to see whether the lamp clears.
- If the pressure has dropped again, or the tyre is hot, cut, or bulging, the car is not roadworthy. I would tell the examiner, use the inflator only to reach a safe repair point if permitted, or reschedule the test.
- With 15 minutes left, the safe decision is to reschedule rather than start a test on a suspect tyre. A missed test is cheaper than a blowout.