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Any clues about these tyres? (Read 543 times)
Jul 29th, 2011 at 6:33am

machineman9   Offline
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Nantwich, England

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For a while now, the tyres on my car have been absolutely dreadful. They're constantly deflating, which means I constantly have to get covered in tyre dirt to inflate them again.

They're Avon ZV5 tyres, 195/65/R15 (91V) TL tyres. They're on a 2003 Seat Leon S.

The reccomended tyre pressure (by Seat) is 33 PSI. I inflate them with a crappy electric air pump (the pressure gauge is buggered, so I confirm pressure with a Halfords tyre pressure meter)

Within a week, the pressure can drop to 30 PSI, and I checked today and they were down to 25.


What's going on? One of the tyres is literally 3 or 4 months old, and it's decreasing at a similar rate to the others. They've been checked, MOT passed, etc.


Any advice?

Cheers
 

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Reply #1 - Jul 29th, 2011 at 8:40am

ozzy72   Offline
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Pretty scary huh?
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First things I'd check would be the valves are screwed in properly and that the tyre doesn't have any tiny puctures.
Also are the rims okay or do they have dents?
 

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Reply #2 - Jul 29th, 2011 at 11:20am

machineman9   Offline
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Nantwich, England

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I think they water tested some of the wheels, and one of them is a few months old. It maintained its pressure for about a month and then started to decline like the rest.

The wall of the tyre looks just fine to me. As do the alloys.
 

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Reply #3 - Jul 29th, 2011 at 11:27am

ozzy72   Offline
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Pretty scary huh?
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Okay you need to tighten the valves, if they're Schraeder you can get a little tool from the local bike shop or Halfords, looks like a pair of prongs on a length of metal or plastic. Get the tool onto the valves and check they're properly tightened (turn clockwise).
As kids when neighbours were unpleasant to us or wouldn't give back things that had gone over the fence into their garden (and we always asked very politely) then this was a good prank to play and most people never think of it Wink
Halfords do two types, both are good;
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogI...
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogI...
 

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There are two types of aeroplane, Spitfires and everything else that wishes it was a Spitfire!
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Reply #4 - Jul 29th, 2011 at 4:53pm

dave3cu   Offline
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Procrastinate now, don't
put it off.
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As it's all tyres, I would suspect the alum. alloy wheels. Over time they can oxidize, and start slow leaks around the tyre seat and/or valve stem seat. Even more likely if they were re-tyred without properly cleaning and polishing the seating areas.

Try a 'soap test'. A few of squirts of liquid dish soap in a liter of water. Use a spray bottle or a rag to wet everything down and, over time, watch for bubbles to grow. Even very slow leaks can show up with this method. Pay particular attention to rim edges and around the valve stems.

You can also check  Ozzy'z theory by squirting some in the valve cores. If that turns out to be the problem; tighten the valve cores.........and give the ball back.    Grin
 

At that time [1909] the chief engineer was almost always the chief test pilot as well. That had the fortunate result of eliminating poor engineering early in aviation.          Igor Sikorsky

I intend to live forever....so far, so good.         Steven Wright

You know....you can just rip up a to-do list.
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Reply #5 - Jul 29th, 2011 at 5:56pm

machineman9   Offline
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Nantwich, England

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With great power comes great responsibility  Grin

I'll give it a go, thank you.
 

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