From: xenolith@optusnet.com.au   
      
   On 26/7/2022 3:18 pm, The Real Bev wrote:   
   > On 7/24/22 11:30 PM, Xeno wrote:   
   >> On 25/7/2022 2:59 pm, The Real Bev wrote:   
   >>> On 7/24/22 8:09 PM, Xeno wrote:   
   >>>> On 25/7/2022 10:59 am, The Real Bev wrote:   
   >>>>> On 7/24/22 5:45 PM, Paul in Houston TX wrote:   
   >>>>>> The Real Bev wrote:   
   >>>>>>> 2013 Corolla S with the original wheels, tires and pressure   
   >>>>>>> sensors. There are only 33K miles on the tires and the tread is   
   >>>>>>> just fine.Ever since I've had it (2016) a single tire loses air   
   >>>>>>> very slowly -- it used to go from 32 (or 35, I'm not real picky)   
   >>>>>>> down to maybe 24, and the light would come on.  A month or so   
   >>>>>>> later the same thing happened.  Time between lights is now   
   >>>>>>> between one and two weeks.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Dealer said he couldn't see a problem.  (I have no actual proof   
   >>>>>>> that he actually looked.)  I have a nice plug-in tire pump (the   
   >>>>>>> $35 one from Harbor Freight;  the cheaper one burned up rather   
   >>>>>>> quickly when I tried to pump all four tires) so there's no real   
   >>>>>>> problem, and I'm unwilling to load the tire up with slime, but   
   >>>>>>> I'd really like to know WTF is happening.  Sooner or later I'm   
   >>>>>>> going to need new tires and it would be nice to know if I need a   
   >>>>>>> new pressure sensor too.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> BTW, I really like the tires (Goodyear Eagle RS-A) -- excellent   
   >>>>>>> cornering on the road I take to go skiing.  People really need to   
   >>>>>>> be ashamed when they get passed by a granny in a 9-YO Corolla!   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> If the manual tire gauge agrees with the pressure sensor then the   
   >>>>>> pressure sensor is ok.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> The red light just says I NEED AIR.  The gauge on the pump and on   
   >>>>> my nifty little talking digital one are never the same -- I've   
   >>>>> NEVER seen two gauges the same, in fact.  For one reason, you lose   
   >>>>> a little air each time you check.  I wonder if the sensor device   
   >>>>> itself has a tiny leak.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Some of the tires have plastic caps, some not. I had a cap on this   
   >>>>> one originally, but I lost it a while back.  No difference.  I keep   
   >>>>> meaning to buy some of the metal ones with the core tool, but I   
   >>>>> forget.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>> You did not say if it is always the Same tire -   
   >>>>>> will assume so.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Yes.  The others hold air for months with or without cap.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>> Every time I had that problem there has been a nail or screw in the   
   >>>>>> tread.  The left rear of my Kia had that problem for last two   
   >>>>>> years and   
   >>>>>> I finally upped the air pressure to 40+ and soaped it.  Found the   
   >>>>>> screw   
   >>>>>> and removed it with needle nose pliers and then plugged it.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> I'm sure that if the dealer (amazingly enough, and against   
   >>>>> everything I knew about buying used cars for the last 50 years, I   
   >>>>> bought the car from the dealer, and it was the first one I drove   
   >>>>> when I decided on a 2- or 3-YO Corolla -- I couldn't see a reason   
   >>>>> to NOT buy this one!) would have found something obvious if he'd   
   >>>>> bothered to look.  They used to do a free rotation with the   
   >>>>> discounted oil change, so there's really no reason he shouldn't   
   >>>>> have given it a visual inspection;  I didn't expect them to take it   
   >>>>> off the rim.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>   
   >>>> A *visual inspection in-situ* will not find a slow leak. All that is   
   >>>> doing is a scan for the obvious, like a *visible nail*. To do a proper   
   >>>> inspection for a slow leak, you really need to remove the wheel and do   
   >>>> an immersion test. A pressure leak that loses ~10psi over a week will   
   >>>> show as a bubble every now and then during the test. When I was a wee   
   >>>> apprentice, we had a water vat purely for the purpose of leak testing   
   >>>> tyres. The practice works.   
   >>>   
   >>> Works fine for motorcycle and bicycle tubes. Car tires, not so much.   
   >>> Easier to just pump the damn thing every couple of weeks.  Know   
   >>> anything about the effects of Slime on pressure sensors?   
   >>>   
   >>>> FWIW, your tyres are getting to the point where I would call them *time   
   >>>> expired* or, as they say, past their *use by date*.   
   >>>   
   >>> So I've been told, but I've never had tires "expire" from anything not   
   >>   
   >> Cruise down the freeway on a very hot day at 70mph+ and your mileage may   
   >> vary.   
   >>   
   >>> involving tread, puncture or -- and this I regard as criminal --   
   >>> sidewall bubbles in the defective and obsolete tires the Cadillac (or   
   >>> maybe it was Ford, it was quite a while ago) dealer sold to my mom at   
   >>> a premium price and refused to replace, turning the problem over to   
   >>> Bridgestone.  My Ducati's tires held air for at least 20 years in spite   
   >>   
   >> It's not about holding air.   
   >   
   > I'd say that's a bare minimum :-)   
      
   Yeah but tyres do that as a matter of course. It's their job.   
   >   
   >>> of visible crackling on the sidewalls.  Probably more because I don't   
   >>> know when the previous owner bought them.   
   >>   
   >> Visible cracking isn't the issue so much as the depth of the cracking.   
   >> Signs of cracking, and the tyre lightening in colour, are signs that the   
   >> tyre is *aging* and losing the chemicals that keep the rubber supple and   
   >> protected from ozone attack. Tyres that are cracking are showing visible   
   >> evidence that the rubber is hardening so grip will be negatively   
   >> affected.   
   >   
   > No visible cracking or color change.  That's kind of amazing, given the   
   > SoCal air quality.   
      
   It is indeed. The ozone at ground level is what does a lot of the   
   damage, then there's the heat, the sun does the rest.   
   Do you keep it garaged when not in use? That will help preserve it -   
   including the tyres.   
   >   
   >>>> I have never had the   
   >>>> issue of tyres time expired, they are typically worn out in 3 to 5   
   >>>> years. I'd clock up 33 k miles in 2 years, maximum 3, so I've never   
   >>>> seen   
   >>>> a tyre on any of my cars over 5 years old.   
   >>>   
   >>> They don't get much wear at 3K miles/year.   
   >>>   
   >> My wife's car does 5k miles per year. It is currently at 30 k miles and   
   >> is 6 years old. When it reaches 10 years old, the tyres will be replaced   
   >> as a set *regardless* of how worn the tread is. FWIW, I don't even run   
   >> tyres down to the minimum *legal* tread depth since I'm not a fan of   
   >> aqualplaning.   
   >   
   > I've got a year to go, then.  I'm amazed that the Corolla still feels   
   > 'new'.   
   >   
   Hey, it's a Toyota, did you expect different?   
      
   --   
   Xeno   
      
      
   Nothing astonishes Noddy so much as common sense and plain dealing.   
          (with apologies to Ralph Waldo Emerson)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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