Tire mystery

[txdon]

Our car has a sensor that tells us when the tire pressure is low. So today the little light came on and I check all the tires and the drivers rear tire was 10 pounds less.

I took it off, sprayed some soap on the tire and found 11 very small leaks randomly around the surface that touches the road.

Discount tire replaced the Pirelle tire but neither of us had any idea what cause the tiny leaks. There was nothing unusual inside the tire.

The car is parked in an open, gravel floor, country garage.

Any ideas?????

I think the cats did it but my wife is not buying that.

 

[kenmac]

11 very small nails

 

[Western]

That is strange Don? Maybe this heat caused something that was already weak to develop quicker??

Could you tell if they where holes ,or maybe cracks. I guess is doesn't matter, but cracks would seem to be defective tire.

I had a "love hate" relationship with the tire sensors on the vette. With the "run-flats and what they cost, I was always on alert!!

 

[Gary51]

Quite possible that the steal belts in the tire were starting to seperate. They will start leaking like that a little and very quickly will blow and throw the tread off.

 

[MossRoad]

You run over a porky pine lately?

:confused3:

 

[txdon]

The ones I could see looked like tiny cracks. The tires have about 30K miles on them. The temperature has been very hot here this summer.

Gary51 - I think you might be right, it must have something to do with the steel belts starting to fail, I just never heard of it before.

Those air pressure sensors have now saved me 5 times from changing a flat on the road. They are a must if you live on a gravel road.

 

[Bigfoot62]

You run over a porky pine lately?

:confused3:

That's funny! :laughing:

 

[jinman]

You run over a porky pine lately?

:confused3:

They were driving behind a circus truck when they lost their magician's bed of nails?

 

[dmccarty]

They were driving behind a circus truck when they lost their magician's bed of nails?

A contractor or a jack a.. dumped a bunch of nails on one of the major roads in our town a few years ago. The wifey had a couple of flats that required new tires. The repair place we use was getting quite a few flat tires.

My first thought regarding a bunch of little holes was running over a board with quite a few stables.

Later,
Dan

 

[tallyho8]

The same thing happened to one of my golf cart tires. It is an agricultural tire I have on back for traction.

It leaks very slow but when I check it with bubbles, there are about 6 very, very small leaks. I don't plug them because it would make the holes much larger and it takes about two weeks for it to get low enough to air up again.

These tires have big lugs like a tractor tire and the leaks are in the smooth sections between lugs. It seems impossible that I could have run over something like a small staple since the knobs keep the smooth part an inch off the ground.

I think it is something like a balloon that loses air over a couple of days but has no holes in it.

 

[dynasim]

I don't know for sure, but it sounds like someone used the wrong material or forgot one of the layers in its manufacture. I am a bit suprised this sort of thing doesn't happen often, as tires are very complex, and every layer has a very important role.

I've heard that tires are essentially man-made(not machine), and men make mistakes(or so my wife tells me!).


Chris

 

[JDgreen227]

My 2004 Saturn has an OEM right front tire that is driving me NUTS, it loses about 3 psi a day, and dunking it in a water tank several times has never revealed the leak. Replaced the valve stem, no leak there in the first place but it still leaks new stem and all.

 

[The Haymaker]

NZ Police run over their own road spikes - YouTube

May want ask where the wife has been getting the groceries....

 

[JDgreen227]

Any chance the tire was made with some flaws in the steel tread belt that left exposed wires that abraded the rubber from the inside? Some years back I read a book that described the issue with the Ford Explorers/Firestones (Tragic Indifference?) and it was quite an eye opener when I read about the multiple causes of tire problems and failure.

 

[Bird]

I've had that same problem with a little front tire on a riding lawnmower; just figured I had probably over inflated and stretched it, but I don't know that was what caused it. Never had that problem on a car, truck, or tractor.

 

[zzvyb6]

Its no mystery. Your Pirellis are probably single ply sidewall (Go look on the tire for the sidewall and tread ply count. Perhaps because of low inflation pressure, the breakers at the edge of the sidewall where it meets the tread belts have worn through or delaminated. Probably because of heat.

Your tire pressure sensors may be only telling you there is one tire mispressured to the other 3, not that it shows the absolute pressure of each tire and the one is out of spec.

You have aftermarket tires: built to different specs than an OEM tire. That's why Pirellis are not found on a lot of brand new cars. The single sidewall gives a nice cushy ride, low weight and low cost, though. But not worth the trouble for my particular tire needs.

 

[txdon]

Its no mystery. Your Pirellis are probably single ply sidewall (Go look on the tire for the sidewall and tread ply count. Perhaps because of low inflation pressure, the breakers at the edge of the sidewall where it meets the tread belts have worn through or delaminated. Probably because of heat.

Your tire pressure sensors may be only telling you there is one tire mispressured to the other 3, not that it shows the absolute pressure of each tire and the one is out of spec.

You have aftermarket tires: built to different specs than an OEM tire. That's why Pirellis are not found on a lot of brand new cars. The single sidewall gives a nice cushy ride, low weight and low cost, though. But not worth the trouble for my particular tire needs.

I checked the air in all the tires and they were all at 35psi except the low one which was 24psi.

You're right, the sidewalls are 1 ply polyester. The treaded area where it was leaking is 4 ply - 2 steel, 2 polyester. The two sets of tires that were on there before only lasted 15K each and had multiple flats from the gravel roads. The Pirellis have lasted twice as long and this is the first problem. The Pirellis are a lot stiffer tire than was on the car and they were not that inexpensive at $106 each. I lost 10 mpg when I changed to the heavier stiffer Pirelli tires. What tire would you use on a car for gravel road use?

 

[Western]

Don, I have had great luck with the better Micheline's on my trucks, not sure about a car though.

 

[Bird]

There are so many brands of tires now that I'm not sure how you'd determine which is best. Personally, I haven't even considered anything but Michelin and B.F. Goodrich for a lot of years.

 

[tallyho8]

I lost 10 mpg when I changed to the heavier stiffer Pirelli tires.

WOW! This is hard to believe. Are you sure you have checked mileage correctly?

If I could find a tire that would give me 10 MPG better mileage I would be sure to buy it even if it costs $100 more.