I have a slow leak in one of my tires. Takes a week or two to lose 10 - 15 PSI and set off the car's low tire warning. Annoying.
I'm sure a tire shop won't find a leak that slow. I guess I'll just have to remember to top off the tire every week or so. With my memory?
Anything else I can try - besides buying a new tire?
TIA
I suggest you try. Take it off and use some soapy water. Often it's a nail that is still in the tire. When you pull it out the leak won't be slow any more. Better to find it now than to have it turn into a fast leak while you are on the road somewhere.
Of course they will...and so can you if you try. They'll put in in a dunk tank and find it. That slow, it's a good chance it's the valve stem...try the spit test on it.
check the valve. if you aren't sure how, bring it into a shop... they will usually have to take the tire off, so it might cost a bit more than you would like.
visually inspect it though... does it look good to you?
Aluminum wheels by any chance?
My daughter bought a used car with aluminum wheels. Within the first month we had it in the shop twice for slow leaks in the front tires. After they both turned out to require nothing more than the cleaning and sealing of the rims to get a better seal, I brought it back and had them do the other
2 wheels as a preventative measure. Things have been fine since then.
Don't be so sure they won't find it. I had a tire like that and the tire shop pulled a 3" nail out of it. That small leak may become a big leak on a cold dark night. Get it checked.
I agree, a competent shop should dunk it, rotate it, and find the leak.
What I do in case my tire goes flat when a shop is not convenientis carry a can of stop-leak. It has enough compressed air to inflate the tire pretty much, and some sticky stuff to seep out of the leak and seal it. If one only has one can and he uses it, he has no can and has to buy a can immediately or he'll have no can. So for a while I carried two cans. But if then I use one can, I'll only have one can, and that's not enough, so I carried three cans. Nothing made the numbers go up higher after that. Now that I get so few flats, I'm down to one can.
I also carry strings, a little glue, and two tire repair tools. I've patched a lot of my own leaks, made by nails, etc. I also carry a 12v tire inflator. It puts out enough air to find a leak if you look closely, unless you've separated the bead from the rim, but if you have, by the weight of the car perhaps, you can usually squeeze the tire or stand on it enough to get that part back the way it was. Just follow the directions to use the strings. You need a tool, like a needle with an eye, to push it in, twist it, and pull it out. Had a cheap thin one that I used several tiems but eventually it broke and I bought a bigger better one. There is a also a rasp-like tool which I didn't have most years and did fine without it, but I finally got one. Haven't had a flat since. It helps to have a razor or razor tool, to cut off the string where it comes out of the tire, but I think I just let it wear off.
Strings are better than plugs, and maybe easier too.
Yep, it very often is a valve when there is a very slow leak. At any rate a tire shop should be able to find the problem as long as you explain it's a very small leak.
I had a car that leaked like that, one day my wife drove on the flat, it w as a emergency. The only fast replacement wheel was a steel one, in the nex t year the only one that didnt go flat. the tire shop shwed me the problem, I bought 4 replacment steel wheels and never had a flat again.
alunimum wheel rust with a white poweder that causes rim leaks.
steel can too but it takes many many years.......
The more expensive stuff with the push button and hose, worth the money. The one with the one nipple on top, not as effective.
I'd take the tire in to a shop, and have it checked.
What was the weight difference between the steel wheel and the aluminum ones?
I'm not sure that driving for a year with one different wheel is a good idea, but I could be wrong.
Hi, Remount the tire.
I've never used any of the products in a can, but it's my understanding that it costs more to repair a flat if you use that stuff. Don't they have to scrap it out of the tire before plugging/patching it?
I heard it can totally screw up the balance of the tire.
If Wikipedia is right, then there are other issue, including explosions, to be concerned about.
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Current issues
The biggest complaint by tire professionals regarding tire inflators is around removing the sealant from inside the tire. They believe that it is a difficult, time-involved process that may damage the tire. Some brands like Fix-A-Flat offer a water-soluble formulation that allows the product to be removed quickly and easily with a towel and water.[citation needed]
The gas used in some inflators contains butane which is flammable and which may explode if exposed to high temperatures (either when in the can or in a re-inflated tire). Other inflators use a non-flammable formulation instead.[citation needed]
Also for safety reasons, the US National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has mandated that all 2008 vehicles sold in the US and manufactured on or after September 1, 2007 must be equipped with tire pressure monitoring systems. Because many of these sensors are inside the tire, there was a concern about whether or not canned tire inflators and sealants would affect the sensors? ability to correctly operate. Manufacturers have been working on finding solutions to this new legislation.[citation needed]
If a canned tire inflator is used on a tire mounted on a wheel with chrome plating, then it is very important to thoroughly clean the entire wheel and the inside of the tire in order to prevent Chrome Peel.[1]
I've been told by a local auto shop manager that they won't work on tires that have had that stuff used on them. Safety hazard for the techs, and fixing a flat isn't profitable enough to make the aggro and risk worthwhile.
However, a growing number of new car models don't come with even a donut spare; instead, they come with only a can of fix-a-flat. Dunno what that means in terms of tire service/sales.
A good tire shop should find that leak without too much trouble. You (or they) will need a tank to test it in. I've found leaks that took a month to loose 10psi
A nail still in the tire or a slow bead seepage - or a valve stem, or a valve core. VERY occaisionally you will find air coming out through a sidewall (tire body defect or curb damage)
Any tire shop should be able to easily find such a leak. All they have to do is inflate the tire to the maximum pressure as given on the sidewall and immerse it in the tank. Even a tiny leak is detectable in this way.
As a mechanioc and having owned many vehicles with both aluminum and steel rims, I'll still take aluminum rims over steel - particularly for my summer tires - but I run alloys on my winter tires too - and i'm in the salt belt. Sure, they start to leak at about 5 years - but by then the rubber is hard enough I throw the tires away anyways - and clean the rims. I do have one slow leaker on the Taurus right now - on a wheel that I paid a tire shop to install the new tires. I'll likely end up breaking the bead and cleaning it up when the weather gets warm.
I disagree. I think there is a good chance a tire shop WILL find the leak. Or you could try to locate it yourself using soapy water. Be sure to check the valve itself and where the bead meets the rim too. If you have something that holds water that you can place the tire in, even a leak as slow as you describe can often be found. Depending on your driving habits and the amount of tread left, you may want to try plugging it yourself too.
Many years ago my brother heard a clack-clack-clack as he was driving. He stopped and saw the hex head of a bolt in his tire. He brought the tire to a shop to have the bolt removed and the tire plugged.
He watched as the mechanic pulled and pulled and pulled on the bolt. Turned out to be a six inch long 3/8? bolt. He must have hit it just right to drive it all the way into the tire and have it seal itself tight.
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