Slow leak in tire...anything I can do?

[JasonF]

Came back from vacation yesterday and found one of my tires half flat. I had noticed before that it was down a bit more than the others but this is much worse, probably from not driving it. Are there any tricks to fixing slow leaks? I need to air it up ever 2 weeks right now. I guess the first logical step would be to look for a nail or something, and replace the valve stem.. What's the current consensus on tire sealant?

Jason

 

[BrooklynBay]

The repair shops don't recommend sealant, because it gets all over the place inside of the tire, and makes it more difficult to repair. The best way to check where the leak would be is to place the whole tire in a tub, and check for bubbles. The second best way would be to use a spray bottle with a bubble solution, and check the area where the rubber meets the metal, and from the air valve port (Schraeder port).

 

[Blee1099]

First figure where its leaking from. Get some liquid dish soap and water and put it in a spray bottle. spray the tire liberally and then fill the tire up with air and see where it is leaking from. If it is leaking around the bead, then more than likely you will need to have it broken down and then re-seated. If it is leaking from the tread, you can it plugged. If the valve stem is leaking, then either the valve stem core is loose or the valve stem has a cut in it.

 

[carlover]

best thing ive found to do is take it to your local tire shop and just have them plug it, doesnt cost more than 10$...

 

[Con Seann3ry]

or plug it yourself, 10 bucks for the materials and you can fix the next 8 or so flats ya get. Not tough to do.

 

[ryf]

I had a fast air down, my alloy wheels had the white crusty corrosion around the bead area, when I seated a new spare, they scrubbed it off well, and I believe used the rubber cement/sealant. you could have a case of dry rot (the tires would have lots of little cracks all over them), a hole in the tire, a bad valve, a bad seal...

I would follow blee's advice, then spend money accordingly!

 

[BenS]

I'd use tire sealant. My wife's explorer had two tires with slow leaks and it sealed both of them right up. Cost me about 8 bucks for two bottles.

 

[aldive]

Avoid the sealant snake oils like the plague.

Good luck ....

 

[BenS]

Avoid the sealant snake oils like the plague.

Why?

 

[Blee1099]

Why?

You never had it on you then I take it Ben. Its messy.

 

[410Fortune]

well if a tire is old anyways the sealant can in fact stop the leak and then the mess inside is o big deal when you replace the tires. Sealant has its place in this world.

MOST tire places will fix a leaking tire for free. thats what I do, Discount Tire, keeps me coming back to to buy stuff from them.

 

[aldive]

Sealant has its place in this world.

Not in my world, sorry, I prefer to make proper repairs.

 

[410Fortune]

thanks for that Me too! But I have used it in the past to get my friend with no $$$ by until a couple weeks later he could get new tires. Also it is great for road trips, when I was in the middle of WY and one of the boat trailer tires developed a slow leak I was pretty damn happy to have a can of that stuff in with my tools....

So yeah it has a place in my world when "proper" repairs are not exactly an option at that very moment.
I guess you can take duct tape and zip ties out of your tool box then. Hell my dad even used my moms nylons once as a alternator belt to get us to the next city when i was a kid. I wouldnt call that a proper repair, but at least we didnt fry inthe sun outside of vegas for too long

but whatever to each his own....

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

I've repaired many tires myself where a slow leak could be from the bead leaking (corrosion on rim), valve stem leaking, or just a the smallest pinhole in the tire.

i've also had to deal with repairing a tire that has 2 cans of fix a flat in it which was not fun.

 

[410Fortune]

If I use it its because I need to or because I plan to throw the tire away.
That stuff is a mess inside there and I would think it would be a bi*ch to balance out also.

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

yes we've had people coming in saying that there vehicles shake and its all the tires fault.


then we wash out all the fix a flat ****, repair it if needed and re-balanced the tires and voila its fixed.

but you really have to clean the tire otherwise the patches with the glue wouldn't stick to the rubber.

 

[JasonF]

Thanks for all the discussion guys. My cross terrains only have 35k on them so I will avoid the sealant. However, my leak is so slow that it only drops about 1 psi per day, so I dont think I would be able to find the leak using soapy water or even submerging it. Maybe with 75 psi in the tire it would leak a little faster?

Jason

 

[410Fortune]

You can find it, yes bump up the pressure, but not that high.

Like I said most tire plaecs will fix your leak for free, they are equipped to find it easy.

 

[ExplorerDMB]

I believe patching is the only way to repair a tire. If worse comes to worse, put a tube inside the tire. I repair tires sometimes at work, and most leaks are repairable (unless the tire is worthless). Good luck

-Drew

 

[Turdle]

I would avoid the stop leak, and plug.
Take it to a tire shop. If they won't patch it for 10 bux, go to another.
My tire shop charges 8 bux to bond a patch and balance.
Plugging a tire may make it split, or bulge. Tire sealant will piss off tire shop and cause imbalance, possibly even ruin valve. ( good for EMERGENCY only)
Fix it right, with a patch