A tire on my wife's car has developed a slow leak. I can see no visible issue with the tire indicating a puncture, which leads me to believe that there is a defect in the tire or an issue with the mounting. They are the OEM tires fitted to the car when purchased and have never been unmounted, although they have been properly rotated. What are the odds this is covered under the warranty?
Normally, where ever you purchased and had the tires mounted up at will leak test for free. Unless you want to soapy water the tire down at home first.... Then go from there.
Might now be the "tire" at all. More an installation thing possibly or something that happened between mounting and now.
Anything but steel (but steel as well, just not as common that i see) wheels can corrode along the wheel lips and cause a slow leak. I know GM has bulletins on this and i am 100% sure most every other car manf. has the same.
Solution is easy.
Dismount the tire, use a grinder with a 3M scothbrite pad or soft sandpaper pad or the green finger pad and clean the inside outside edges. Throw some of that black tire sealer over the inside/outsdie lips and remount tire.
Done.
I see it a lot. Easy fix.
I still see lots of junk Chinese valve stems leak. Can't get a decent vavle stem anymore unless you can go with some screw-in metal stems mounted up in the wheels, if you can.
You should start by checking and tightening the valve stem core. Otherwise, there's too little info to make a guess.
How long since the car (or tire) was purchased/installed? What's the rate of pressure loss? Are these on a new car or an older car with new, OE-style tires recently installed? Is the wheel (or tire) damaged from impact allowing air to escape from the bead area?
While a manufacturing defect is remotely possible, chances are much higher there is another issue involved.
Be happy you're not dealing with a condom.
My factory 20"s on my F150 leak when its cold out. My buddy with his factory 18"s, said his leak when it's cold out. I didn't consider the corrosion...
Makes me want the factory 18" steel wheels. I thought my truck actually looked good with them, tires are cheaper...
I had one mounted with a thin, paper label on the bead.
If they are OEM tires, they are covered for 3 yrs or 36k miles (Ford). Punctures are not covered unless you have a tire protection warranty. We fix flats for free, no biggy. I have had tires leak on the barcode that's on the bead, put some black tire sealant on there and you're good to go. Some Firestone tires were bad about that. We would have to try to remove all of that really super sticky label off the tires before mounting them.
Also realize that tire pressure changes with temperature. Every 10 degrees is 1 pound of tire pressure. If you last checked your tires on an 80 degree day and it's now 30 degrees, they will be 5 lbs off. The reverse is also true. Every time we get a cold snap here, we get a full days worth of people saying they have low tires or a leak in their tire. I set pressures and tell them to drive on. 99% of the time, it's due to climate.
I have also seen chrome peeling off a wheel that allows air to bypass. Nothing to do but replace the wheel. Same for steel wheels where someone has put fix-a-flat in it at one time and didn't immediately get the tire fixed. Wheel has rust spots and will NEVER seal properly again.
Usually when that happens either there's a leak around the base of the valve or crud has worked its way into the bead seal.
Why not call the dealer and ask them if it's covered? Seems like it should be.
In my experience, slow leaks on cars in the rust belt are most often from corrosion on the wheel. It's simple enough for the repair shop to fix, they demount the tire, clean up the rim of the wheel and put it back together.
General rule: the vehicle manufacturer waranties the entire vehicle except for the tires. Tires are covered by their manufacturer. For a while, VW and GM had a deal where they could warranty OE installed tires through a new car dealership, but I think that's over now.
That means you will probably need to find who the local dealer is for that tire brand and have them take a look at it. Caution: the warranty is only for defects in workmanship and materials, it does NOT cover road hazards.
CarKid1989 wrote: Might now be the "tire" at all. More an installation thing possibly or something that happened between mounting and now. Anything but steel (but steel as well, just not as common that i see) wheels can corrode along the wheel lips and cause a slow leak. I know GM has bulletins on this and i am 100% sure most every other car manf. has the same. Solution is easy. Dismount the tire, use a grinder with a 3M scothbrite pad or soft sandpaper pad or the green finger pad and clean the inside outside edges. Throw some of that black tire sealer over the inside/outsdie lips and remount tire.
This, the barcode on the bead, and the valve stem. See it everyday. Most common at my shop is the corrosion on the bead surface of wheels or bent wheels. Next common would be the barcode or the little nipples that are on the bead of the tire. Pirelli tires are the only tires we have an issue with barcode and nipples.
I would be willing to bet dollars to donuts that its a bead issue. Either a bent wheel or corrosion.
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