The funny:

Yesterday as I was walking through the parking lot to the mall I noticed a black Mustang GT with a custom paint job (black and silver flames on the sides). It looked pretty cool. The funny part was the fake hood scoop with stenciled white lettering on the sides advertising "300 H.P.". Yeesh.

The not-so-funny:

It was almost 17 C yesterday so my friend and I went for a cruise around our usual route. I thought my slow leak was fixed, but apparently not. This time, before embarking on the cruise, I checked my tire pressures and everything was A-OK. We usually blast down to Cochrane means about a 18 to 20 km straightliner going west on the highway from the NW corner of Calgary. After a few twisties, we pulled over and stopped at the exact same point from a couple weeks ago when the leak first made an appearance.

Sure enough my right front tire had lost air again - in fact, it was down to about 15 psi and dropping. This time I was equipped with my compressor, so I inflated the tire and drove back home.

Over the past few weeks, I observed that the car only lost about 1 or 2 psi when it was parked in the garage. Driving at highway speeds appears to accelerate the speed of the leak. I also noticed yesterday that my left front tire was a lot cooler to the touch than my right front tire.

I would have had the tire/wheel checked out earlier but the last 2 crazy weeks at work made it impossible for me to do so. But obviously this is a safety concern. It's just frustrating because I literally only have 250 km on the new front tires. So I'm going to make it a priority this week.

Interestingly enough, the shop that installed my right front tire last fall filled the tire with nitrogen, which I understand, maintains a more consistent tire pressure.

Perhaps it's just the valve stem, or I was unlucky and have a small but patchable puncture somewhere. Hopefully the wheel is not bent.

 

Thats unusual that you loose more air while traveling faster...usually its the other way around. Atleast i think it is.

-sean

 

With cast wheels, it's sometimes difficult to get a good seal around the bead.
Get the shop to dismount it and find the leak by immersing it.
I'll bet it shows up around the beading.

G/L (not quite that warm here but soon... )

Colin.

 

Sean that's what I would have expected, but then again I'm no physicist.


Hi Colin - yup that's what I plan to do. It just concerns me that this is happening on a brand new tire and that this was the same corner that blew out on me late last summer. So I'm thinking it has to be this specific wheel. I was able to unload my Michelin Pilot Alpin winter tires so in worst case scenario (bent wheel) I was going to use the cash to buy a brand new wheel and then send the current wheel off to get repaired, if possible.

Question though - so if the leak is around the beading, how do people work around this or resolve this?

 

A little off topic, but the big day must be getting real close eh Joel?

 

You bet. The little critter is scheduled to enter this world in 11 days. Yikes!

How's your baby daughter doing? How's the adjustment to life as a papa been?

Cheers.

 

If it's leaking around the beading it's usually due to corrosion of the metal and needs to be cleaned and smoothed.
It's it's a bent wheel you should feel it while driving in the form of a bounce, wobble or vibration of sorts..

If you suspect the wheel structure, it could be a crack but a leak test should determine where the air is escaping.

C.

 

Wow, 11 days sure isn't long now Joel. Both you and your wife must be getting very excited.

Both my wife and I are adjusting quite well to the new lifestyle. Some nights I get a decent amount of sleep, while others I get next to none. Ava will be three weeks old on Tuesday and it's crazy the changes we've seen already with her.

Keep us posted with everything.

 

Well I took off my right front tire/wheel and mounted my OEM 18 tire/wheel to stand in its place while the 19 heads to the shop for an inspection (and no, I sure as hell will not be driving around with 3 19's and 18, looking all silly! ).

After wiping off the grime off the inner portion of the wheel, I did a visual inspection of the wheel and it does not appear to be bent. The diameter remains constant at 19" at all the measurement points I checked. One thing I noticed was that the valve stem seemed a bit loose. It is joined to the wheel by a washer and a hex bolt and in comparison to the other wheels it seemed to swivel around a lot easier than the other wheels. Could a loose valve stem be the souce of the leak?

There was no evidence of cuts on the tire or any embedded sharp object(s).

I guess I'll find out once the shop has a look at it.

 

A squirt bottle of soap and water is all that's needed to find that leak.
Or if you have a large tub of water to imerse the wheel/tire in.
Shouldn't be hard to find.

Yes the valve stem could be the source...

C.

 

^+1. I've done that more than once myself to find a leak source.

 

Thanks guys. I'll try that. I guess if the leak is coming from the valve stem, I'll have to take it to a shop anyway, won't I? Do they tighten the stem by dismounting the tire and tightening from the inside of wheel?

 

I would think a replacement stem would be needed.
C.

 

Tried the soap/water trick around the valve stem - doesn't seem to leak much, if at all if the valve stem isn't touched, but if i swivel it around or press on the stem, those soap bubbles make a quick appearance. I guess this makes sense then, that the leak is much slower when the car has been parked for a while, but perhaps the rolling at high speeds and bumps and jars on the road jiggle the valve stem enough to cause rapid air pressure loss.

Oh well, I'm off to a tire shop tomorrow morning to get the valve stem replaced. I'll ask them to their own check of the tire and wheel but I'm sure I found the cause of the leak....I hope!

 

That'll be nice to get that PITA finally fixed.....There's nothing worse than a pesky leaking tire...

G/L tomorrow.

C.