Hoping some of the more knowledgeable car folks can help diagnose a recurring issue I'm having with my car. My rear passenger tire consistently loses pressure, every 10-14 days the low pressure light comes on. It is always the rear passenger tire, all other tires are fine. At first I thought it was the tire, but had them looked at and no leaks found. Then I had the tires rotated, and the rear passenger tire still consistently loses pressure. Wondering if this could be an issue with the wheel itself? Car is coming up on its warranty so obviously I plan on letting the dealer know before it goes over, but any points in the right direction are appreciated!
OT: Tire/wheel consistently losing pressure
- Thread starter NittanyLionNation
- Start date
Not a car guy, but I'm thinking it's that damn sensor thing that monitors the pressure. It's happened to me twice now. They have to replace that valve. If I remember correctly, it's $200-$250.
Did you actually check the pressure with a tire gauge? Was it really low?
Are you sure they rotated the tires? I always label mine with wax pencil before taking it in.
That said, since you're getting a low pressure warning via the TPMS after the tires were allegedly rotated, the problem has to be with the TPMS itself.
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I had chrome wheels and the surface of them against the tires became corroded or pitted or whatever you'd call it to the point where the seal wasn't perfect, so they'd lose enough air that i had to put some in every month. Tried to have them resurfaced to correct, but were already too far deteriorated.
Could it be an issue with the TPMS?. have you tried resetting it? Your owners msnual will tell you how.
The TPMS sensors are inside the wheel, so if the sensor is faulty the low pressure indication will change location when that tire is rotated. Indirect TPMS sensors largely use the system that controls ABS, so if there is a problem with that you'd likely see some sort of indicator of an ABS fault. On a direct system there could be a fault with the software In either case, an experienced mechanic should be able to diagnose and fix the problem.
Item three is the only reasonable answer considering what you have told us. No way different tires leak based upon where they are in the car.
My suspicion is that the seal between the tire and the rim is bad. perhaps some dirt or crud got in there and is causing the seal between the time and rim to be slightly off. I'd have the rim and tire taken off, get a brush and thoroughly clean the rim and time where they seal. Then remount the tire and see if that works.
Lol. So let's take stock of the problem.
The tires were rotated (with rims as someone hilariously pointed out) and the problem STILL lies at the same spot of the car....rear passenger.
So then someone suggests the sensor?? Lol. How exactly did the tire and rim move but the sensor stayed put?
A). They didn't rotate your tires.
B) now that you know that didn't happen, it certainly could be the sensor.
C) better guess is that it isn't seated properly if no stem leak around the TPMS or puncture is found. Steel wheels with hubcaps? If so, a bit less likely.
Alloy or other wheels get a bit of corrosion....perhaps you live near the ocean or NYS where every ounce of salt known to mankind is spread on the roads? Bet on needing to remount and clean the seat areas. Maybe use sealer. Your tire guy SHOULD know what to do.
The tires were rotated (with rims as someone hilariously pointed out) and the problem STILL lies at the same spot of the car....rear passenger.
So then someone suggests the sensor?? Lol. How exactly did the tire and rim move but the sensor stayed put?
A). They didn't rotate your tires.
B) now that you know that didn't happen, it certainly could be the sensor.
C) better guess is that it isn't seated properly if no stem leak around the TPMS or puncture is found. Steel wheels with hubcaps? If so, a bit less likely.
Alloy or other wheels get a bit of corrosion....perhaps you live near the ocean or NYS where every ounce of salt known to mankind is spread on the roads? Bet on needing to remount and clean the seat areas. Maybe use sealer. Your tire guy SHOULD know what to do.
Simple.....don't always have the fattest person in your car pool sit behind you!
He said the problem persist at the same location after rotation. Different tire and wheel.
Why, no - he did most definitely not say that... merely said it the issue was always on the
"REAR TIRE" ... that being said, the shop could have boned him by claiming they rotated them, or, rotated them incorrectly (rotations are swapping front/back either by foward cross, rearward cross, or X pattern )...
It's not a TPMS issue as it's merely the messenger...
Chances are he has alloys... if he has steelies with wheelcovers - i once had a scenario where Subaru's horrible cheap wheelcovers, crudely fashioned from plastic, cut into my valve-stem
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Read the post again. Rear passenger tire still losing air AFTER rotation. Regardless, it strongly suggests the tire is still in the same place.
A few things to add to what has already been covered.
Usually a bad tire pressure sensor will have the exclamation point in parenthesis flashing, not just on solid in the instrument cluster. Unless you were given road hazard or purchased it, your tires won't be covered under factory warranty, tpms however should be. It's possible they actually did rotate your tires, and set the tires to the correct psi. Which means it's possible the tire just hasn't leaked down yet if it hasn't been 10-14 days, it should now be your right front tire. It's very possible you have picked up some new debris in the right rear and have a new leak in a different tire that is now in the old position that was leaking. I've managed to put debris in 2 different tires 3 consecutive days.
Most likely they didn't actually rotate the tires but there are other possibilities.
Usually a bad tire pressure sensor will have the exclamation point in parenthesis flashing, not just on solid in the instrument cluster. Unless you were given road hazard or purchased it, your tires won't be covered under factory warranty, tpms however should be. It's possible they actually did rotate your tires, and set the tires to the correct psi. Which means it's possible the tire just hasn't leaked down yet if it hasn't been 10-14 days, it should now be your right front tire. It's very possible you have picked up some new debris in the right rear and have a new leak in a different tire that is now in the old position that was leaking. I've managed to put debris in 2 different tires 3 consecutive days.
Most likely they didn't actually rotate the tires but there are other possibilities.
I would bet they didn't rotate the tire and you still have the same one there that is probable leaking around the rim. I had this on one of my cars and I put a can of Fix a flat in the tire and that solved the problem. You need to tell the people at the garage you added fix a flat when they work on the car otherwise they get a nasty surprise when they break the bead.
First thing you want to do is Check the tire pressure manually...the day you get your car back while it is working perfectly and after 10 to 14 days and compare. Drive about 2 miles before you check so the temps are the same when checking manually.
if all of the above don't resolve the problem, try this...
I had one or two tires that lost 10 psi pressure in a week for nearly 6 months period. My mechanic friend finally said he would clean and polish the “bead portion” on the rims. I Haven’t had the leaking problem since the spring.
Following a mechanics reply to a question concerning leaking tires:
“Where do you live? All rims can be subject to corrosion, dirt, debris, road salt etc. which can get to the point where the tire bead doesn't seat and seal properly on the rims. Mostly this can be resolved by taking the tire off the rim, cleaning and polishing the part of the rim that seats with the tire bead and remounting the tire. It should not get to the point where you have to replace the rims.
There are web sites that sell used and refurbished allow wheels at a huge discount over getting new wheels from a car dealer. If you feel your rims are totally shot, look for replacements on the web.”
I had a similar deal with my late wife's vehicle. In her case, we had a rather large curb into the driveway of our house and she would approach it too fast then hit the brake before turning which would cause the weight of the car to lean forward as the vehicle was making contact with the curb. Because of that, I constantly had to put air in the right front tire. Even after replacing the right front tie rod on multiple vehicles that she drove into that driveway, I could not get it into her head to slow down more before approaching the curb. Since your issue is with a back tire, do you often back into a spot with a curb where that tire is the first one to make contact with it?
I have another vehicle of my own that had a similar problem with a rear tire needing air at least once a week that I could not find a leak in. I just shot a can of fix a flat in it and it sealed wherever the slow leak was. It was worth $10 not to deal with airing it up once a week.
We had a similar problem. The tire shop was good about it. The installed new valves/stems and one was defective so we got the next one free. Still one tire was consistently low and they attributed it to the Aluminum wheels which according to them have an issue with sealing and need resealed occasionally with a possible solution of buying steel wheels and eliminating the problem. They also notes that Buick's seem to have this problem, with Aluminum wheels. Many people like me are buying 15 inch wheels to increase the sidewall height and soften the ride. The solves two problems as it is becoming more difficult to purchase a softer riding cars as the European style of sporting car suspension is overtaking the market. I can't take a "bounce down the road suspension" with so many herniated discs and arthritis, etc.
Hope you find a solution to your problem, it is not fun to constantly see a low pressure warning or a low tire visually before opening your car door in the morning.
WE ARE......
To answer a couple of repeated questions - I do know that the tires have definitely been rotated, since one tire had gotten a large nail/screw stuck and the hole was too large to patch so I got two new tires. The two new tires are different brands than the front original tires, so it is easy to know they were definitely rotated.
Were they rotated front-rear or rear-rear? Does you tire monitoring system tell you which specific tire and did the problem move with the tire?
Get a tire pressure gauge and record the PSI of each tire and write it down. When you see the light come on, do the same.
Did you ever put fix-a-flat or slime in any of the tires? I have no idea, but maybe that could screw up a tire monitor?
If you have alloy wheels, sometimes you need to grind them if they are corroded. Had it done with 2 of my Hondas. Worked.
