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[cmyk]

I'm having a hard time figuring out an issue that should be pretty simple.

I have been nursing a slow leak in one of my tires for a couple weeks. Every 2-3 days I need to add a few lbs of air. Initially I figured that I must have hit a pothole and damaged the wheel (bent or cracked), so I took it to 2 different shops -- they both inspected the wheel and said that there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. They have also pressure-tested it and shown me that it holds air just fine. Yesterday I noticed that there was what looked to be a bubble on the sidewall of the tire on that wheel, so I thought maybe the problem was with the tire. I bought a new tire yesterday (and again had the shop check the wheel just in case, again saying everything was fine).

This morning the tire was almost completely flat.

This is driving me crazy. I've now had the wheel checked for bends or cracks three times by two shops, and I have a brand new tire on that wheel. Any help?

[Rmk392]

check the valve stem itself ..sometimes the needle thing in it can become loose/broken. It has happened to be and caused a slow leak

take off the valve cap and put some water into the valve stem. see if any air bubbles come up

[cmyk]

Originally Posted by Rmk392

check the valve stem itself ..sometimes the needle thing in it can become loose/broken. It has happened to be and caused a slow leak

take off the valve cap and put some water into the valve stem. see if any air bubbles come up

Thanks. I guess I assumed that when the shop checked the wheel that they would have checked this, too, but maybe not. I'll take it in today and have them look at it again

[cmyk]

Just sprayed some soapy water around the tire/wheel and you're right, it was the valve stem. Thanks That was driving me nuts. I flipped my sh!t this morning when I came out to see my brand new $300 tire totally flat.

[Rmk392]

good to know you found the issue ..replacing that needle part of valve stem is an easy fix

[cmyk]

Well, it is leaking around the base of the valve stem. I ran by my tire shop and showed it to them; they said that they can't replace it because it's connected to the TPMS and I'd need to go to the stealership. That doesn't sound right, but who knows.

[cmyk]

Ended up fixing it myself. The shop didn't want to touch it because they didn't want the liability of messing with the TPMS so I stopped by the dealership, bought a new valve stem, had the shop pull the tire off and I replaced it at the shop myself. Got a few odd looks being a pale white girl working on a tire at a ghetto tire shop, but whatever, it's fixed now LOL

[Yvette]

Originally Posted by cmyk

Ended up fixing it myself. The shop didn't want to touch it because they didn't want the liability of messing with the TPMS so I stopped by the dealership, bought a new valve stem, had the shop pull the tire off and I replaced it at the shop myself. Got a few odd looks being a pale white girl working on a tire at a ghetto tire shop, but whatever, it's fixed now LOL

lol haha glad you fixed it
gotta love the help from the forum members

[robc1976]

Originally Posted by cmyk

Just sprayed some soapy water around the tire/wheel and you're right, it was the valve stem. Thanks That was driving me nuts. I flipped my sh!t this morning when I came out to see my brand new $300 tire totally flat.

That happened to me...go to BMW and get 4 new valve stems...they attach to the TPMS sensor. I was pissed to, I know the feeling.

EDIT: just noticed you fixed it.