From: bashley101@gmail.com   
      
   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 :-)   
      
   >> 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.   
      
   >>> 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'.   
      
   --    
   Cheers, Bev   
      "Some people are alive only because it is illegal to kill them."   
                                                         -- Lionel   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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