I read a similar thread by HoneyBadgerDC about his slow-leaking tire. A month to drop 15PSI.
I reckon mine is not so slow as it’ll go from 30 to 15 in a day and a half. I topped it yesterday and will top it tomorrow with my cig-lighter pump. This apartment flat has been doing work for months and I’ve found screws laying about in the parking lot frequently. Yet even when I jacked it up and spun the wheel - even spraying water - I found no screws/screw ends or punctures so that doesn’t rule out the valve.
In the USA with my Thunderbird my friend Artie the mechanic yoinked a nail stub from my tire and used a plug and there was zero concern about safety or longevity.
Here, in the UK, the “tyre” is driver-side in a Toyota Aygo which should mean it’s not the “drive” tire and perhaps (?) not as critical to replace.
We do not have a lot of funds. I reckon the best course would be get two new tires, trash the leaky one and have a decent spare. I mean, it seems this is leaking enough to warrant replacement and not a dunk in a water bath and a patch (also costly mechanic time).
For the meantime (meaning months) can I just keep topping it up to 30 PSI for each ride, and not letting it fall below 25 PSI?
I don’t understand why you just don’t take it to a reputable tire shop. A slow leak doesn’t necessarily mean the tire needs to be replaced – it could be repairable, or it could just be the seal around the rim (I had a couple of problems like that – easy and cheap to repair). You just don’t want to use a tire shop that will tell you that you need new tires even when you don’t.
I’d take it to a tire shop and tell them your summary and budget concerns. Ask them to inspect it as best they can without removing it from the rim. If the leak is a nail or screw or if the valve is leaky or perhaps even a dirty bead, they’ll probably be able to fix it for under $100
Depending on many factors, it could even be a leaking wheel, not tire. That’s more common with alloy wheels that can crack than with plain pressed steel which tend not too. But any wheel will bend or crack if you hit a pothole hard enough.
Sadly the repair / replacement for wheels is not cheap.
As to what to do, agree w folks upthread: take it to somebody solid who’ll do an honest troubleshoot for cheap. After you know what the actual problem is, then you can begin plotting the cheap way out of the problem you actually have, not the one you now guess you have.
As to filling before nearly every drive …
Yes, that will work to minimize further damage to the tire. But any leak (wheel, bead, or tire) will only get worse the longer it’s driven on. So the [fill before every drive] trick will delay your need to repair, but will not postpone it indefinitely. I’ll also point out that a nail, screw, or other puncture wound may grow from repairable to irreparable if driven on long enough. That’s probably penny-wise and pound-foolish in your case.
Further, given where you live that’ll be increasingly a PITA as rainy drippy winter finishes setting in. My advice is get it evaluated ASAP, then based on that info decide how long to filibuster before repairing whatever needs repair.
How old is the tire? Check the date code. And what is the tread depth? If the tire is old and/or worn, you might want to think about putting the money you’d spend for a leak repair into a new tire.
Assuming the tire isn’t too old and has good tread, I agree with the others: take it to a good, independent mechanic. It might just be the valve stem, which would be cheap. Or a nail in the tread. (A plug is the cheap way to fix it. But if the tires are in otherwise good shape, I would opt for an inside patch.)
It could also be a bad valve stem, or (on alloy wheels) poor adhesion. If it is sidewall cracking, you want to go ahead and get those replaced as soon as possible because a sidewall blowout while you are going around a corner may end up being a lot more expensive than a new set of rubber; I’ve seen too many accidents where the outside tire blows out, the rim grabs the road, and you end up in a rollover that totals the vehicle and puts occupants in the hospital. Losing 15 psi a day indicates a real problem that needs to be fixed.
It’s a 2008 yet all the tires are decent thread depth. Nowhere near Abe Lincoln (I dunno what the equivalent is here). Yet that’s pretty good advice and something I can do.
Yes, after finding the screws carelessly dropped in the parking lot by the workmen (when I showed the foreman he agreed that is non-desirable) I spent a couple hours looking over the wheel trying to find something, anything. No obvious puncture led to this thread where I really didn’t expect anyone to say “it’s cool to keep inflating a tire every two days because of an unexplained leak - it’s your fiery wreck after all”
There’s a tyre shop just up the road and hopefully if I explain I don’t have the cash for 4 new Dunlop tyres or even more than they’d charge to pull the tire and dunk it in water.
I’ve a bit of “white coat syndrome” or however that transfers to dealing with auto shops in the UK. I’m from New York yet speak mid-Atlantic. If I try an Irish accent it can sometimes sound like a Leprechaun and my British sounds way too posh. And besides, right on my license it says “United States of America” so New York or not, I’m the rich Yank driving a 16 year old Toyota.
Thanks for sound advice. My assumption is one bad tire means getting (at least) two new tires and if there’s a problem with the alloy wheel itself I’ll get that sorted before the fiery wreck. Thanks, all. I’ll update.
If you just sprayed regular water, that won’t help much. Use a good soap and water mixture and a spray bottle. Spray liberally until the tire is really wet. You should find the leak that way, especially at 15psi per day.
No, of course it can’t be. The car has about 75K miles on it so I’d expect them to be 15-20K or so of that. I’ll follow Crafter_man’s advice and look up the codes. I truly hope they find some screw the workers around here spill about so the landlord pays for it. Outside of a valve problem, I don’t know what can cause a slow leak other than something like a nail or a screw tat will cause a quick flat tire when extracted. I’ll leave it to the tyre guys - heck I’ll pull the wheel and roll it down there myself if it saves a few pounds/
I will try that (though it’s gotten chilly even in the SW of England). I reckon it (the leak not so much the weather) has gotten worse in the past couple months. I’ll even jack the car and pull the tire as I’m sure that will save some mechanic £ particularly if I can point to an unseen screw and make the landlord pay for it.
ETA: I’ll even over-inflate it a bit. I reckon the usual pressure is 35 PSI though I’ll know more after doing the research Crafter_Man suggested and RTFM. If it’s 35 no harm going to 40 for a bit.
It’s because they are terrible, and low end car radial tires are cheap enough to not make retreads competitive. On truck tires that can cost a couple thousand apiece they are much more attractive although you can see blown retreads pretty much anytime you drive down a stretch or major highway or interstate.