Slow leak source?

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Quattro Pete

Quattro Pete

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I'm loosing about 4 PSI per 3 weeks in one of the tires - 225/45/17 ContiProContact on an OEM mercedes rim (17x7.5). The tire is nearly new. I inspected the tread - no sign of any nails or punctures. No air escaping through the valve stem. No sign of rim or tire damage anywhere. What else could be causing this?
 
How old are the rims? After enough years here it is not uncommon for corrosion to appear in the bead area of the rim - you can grind it down and treat, but in the end they will leak again. I had to replace a 20 year old set of rims on the Cherokee for this reason. I've got one on the '97 explorer starting to do the same.
 
If nothing is in it, then must be a bead leak. Nothing allittle cleaning up and black bead sealer can't fix.
 
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Get out your dish soap + water and spray bottle and spray the tire till the stuff bubbles


He's losing far too little air for that to ever work...

Slime it?
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
He's losing far too little air for that to ever work...

That's kind of what I was thinking, too.
 
You could overfill the tire (50 psi?) to magnify the leak.

For slow rim leaks, you sometimes have to wait 15-30 mins after spraying with soap water to let the foam develop, which indicates the leaks.
 
Did Walmart mount them? I had a similar issue on aftermarket wheels a few years ago. Walmart used the incorrect style of weights on the wheel, and this caused very slow leaks around the bead. Either way, I'm guessing it's a bead leak (as already mentioned above).
 
Slime is great if you never want that tire/wheel to be in balance. Take it somewhere and let them check it out.
 
I'd start by checking the valve stem.

If its not that.. its most likely some sort of bead leak as was mentioned.
 
I had a leak just like that. Except that I saw what caused it. I had just bought a new set of tires. I drove to the department store. I ran over a pin. Like the ones that snag your finger when you are unpackaging a dress shirt. Got home and noticed the pin in the tire. It actually penetrated it! I didn't think something that flimsy could get into a steel belted radial. I pulled it out thinking it certainly hadn't gone all the way in. That tire lost 1-2 psi a week more than any of the other tires. Since I had marked the entry point of the pin, I knew where the leak was. The tire shop couldn't find it until I went out into the shop to point out exactly where I wanted the patch placed. They sprayed some soapy water on that spot and kept it wet for about 2-3 minutes until they saw the first bubble.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
I'd start by checking the valve stem.

If its not that.. its most likely some sort of bead leak as was mentioned.


This worked for me the last time. The stem wrench movement was barely discernible, but the tire stopped leaking.
 
Adjusting/tightening the stem was the first thing I tried. I also put soapy water on it and didn't see any action.
 
Originally Posted By: dwilsonjr74
well don't wait for the leak to get worse. get it fixed.

Just came back from the dealer. Their response: "can't reproduce the problem."

Hence, they've done nothing. I think that unfortunately I will have to wait until it does get worse to the point where it actually becomes noticeable.

My other option would be to take it to some tire place and have them dismount and remount the tire, making sure it's not leaking at the bead.
 
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