Slow leak

Joined
Jan 3, 2006
Messages
1,958
Location
Ohio
Wife's car has a slow leak in one tire, enough that after 1 month or more it loses enough to trip the light. Don't know if the shop can find one that slow, but it's slightly annoying. Can the stuff in a can take care of it, or does that create other headaches with TPMS?
 
There is most likely an object in the tire that is causing the leak . That sealer in a can will work with(surround) the object to help to slow down or even stop the leak. Personally I would remove the tire and spray soapy water around the tire to ultimately find and repair the leak permanently. I plug my own tires right at home.
 
I would avoid the canned-stuff. YMMV, but I'd bet it's the valve. Soapy water as suggested or a trip to the tire store to have them dunk it in the tank should show the problem.
 
Take the tire of the vehicle and put air in it to the maximum on the side wall. Then go after it with soapy water. Slow and careful is the key. Ed
 
Yes and yes. I've had good luck with that stuff in a can. You need to add it to a completely empty tire, though, and then inflate to sidewall max (44 psi) and drive around to shake it up. The higher pressure of the overinflated tire really sends the goop into all the nooks and crannies. Never tried it on a TPMS equipped car, and don't plan to, save a real emergency. Check on the tire the following day to see if it held pressure, then deflate to proper spec.

Being a 2015 it shouldn't have enough corrosion on the bead sealing surfaces to cause a leak, but maybe.

The soapy water thing really is great-- come back in 1/2 hour after it "dries" and you'll see a little mole-hill of bubbles.
 
I would go ahead and take it to your tire shop of choice. They should be able to find the leak and can fix it while you wait. It won't cost much and may even be free if your tires are under warranty with that particular shop.
 
I've repaired hundreds of tires, and inflating them to high pressure doesn't always show the leak after spraying it down with soapy water. With a small hole that much pressure won't even make a bubble, as the air velocity is too high. I have found some impossible to find leaks by airing the tire down to 5-10 psi and then it will slowly make a big bubble you can see. Just like kid's soap bubbles, you have to blow through the ring slowly, because if you blow fast you do not make a bubble.
 
How much tread do you have left on the leaking tire? How old is it? If you have less than 5/32 left, or if you've had the tire more than a few years, put some slime in it and shop for new tires. The threshold required to trigger the TPMS light is 25%, which usually ends up being around 7-8 psi low (most OEM pressure settings are around 30 psi). Loing 1-2 psi a week is often not even noticeable, and tires that don't leak could lose that much, especially in the winter.

Slime is good stuff. Fix a flat doesn't work at all. Somebody else on here posted a video where they tested several tire sealants, including slime and fix a flat.

You could also buy a used tire to get by until the other tires are worn.
 
Got the same thing. Wife’s car, slow leak. Finally got a tire place to track it down. They say it’s unrepairable. Too close to the sidewall. Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring. Tire rack wants $159.00 For a new one. I know a place that would plug and patch it in a blink but I really shouldn’t. What a pain.
 

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2 things to share that you should look for:

I bought a set of 19 inch wheels for my Mustang and they had some pretty new tires on them, but I noticed from day to day that one of them was losing air when the others didn't. Turned out the valve core needed to be tightened. It stopped losing air.

Had new valve stems & sensors installed in those same wheels, and discovered while checking pressure that one of the valve cores protruded past the end of the valve stem by about a millimeter, and the cap was pressing on it when tightened, giving a little "hiss" when I loosened it. I dremeled the extra millimeter off and fixed that.
 
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