How To Know if Your Tyre Has Been Leaking?


Thread Starter #1
Joined
Aug 15, 2014
Messages
1,420
Likes
531
Location
Mumbai
Hi,

what I want to know is, how do you recognise if the back tyre in your car has a slow puncture during the week?

Case in point, and a little back story. I park on the road outside my building and take the car to work daily mostly. However on Friday I had an inspection, so my Baleno remained parked. Next day I had to leave at 5.30 am to go to Aamby Valley near Lonavala. I was running late and badly sleep deprived from the previous day but had planned for this- I was to pickup my driver a few km down from my place. On the way I nearly had an accident when overtaking a bus on the left turn- my car understeered mid corner, something I hadnt experienced in the Baleno before, and I got too close to the bus for comfort. I was carrying more speed in that corner but nothing out of the ordinary and I put this down to sleep deprivation Subsequent let my driver drive. I got back into the driver seat once we reached the ghats after having got a bit more rest and some coffee (I cant sleep once the sunlight hits the eyes). The road to Amby has a lot of sharp u turns, some that would rise the car height in a couple of car lengths and I kept feeling the car understeer all the way. Mostly on the right turns but sometimes on the left turns also. The car just wouldnt hold the lane and I finally resorted to the NFS Porshe method of driving- braking and turning in advance and the accelerating up the slope, often in the opposite lane. There wasnt any traffic and I was careful obviously not to try this on blind corners. On the way back the driver confirmed the same understeer and we thought it may be the way this car handles on the ghats- it was the 1st time we had driven them in any car.
The car didnt get driven on Sunday and driving in the city on Monday morning, I noticed the car was driving really soft, something I feel when the pressure has dropped even 1 or 2 psi. So we topped it off at a local garage. One tyre reported 15psi! We know that garage has a miscalibrated gauge but figured temporary overinflation would be better than underinflation, so we checked in the evening at our regular pump. All tyres were 37psi but that one tyre was 31psi. We set all to 29psi. We drove Tuesday without any issues though we didnt really check the tyres. Now Wednesday morning the washing guy tells that one tyre is flat. I checked, it still had air but was deflated. The local puncture shop informed of side wall issue that was causing a leak and also retrieved one nail from the channels in between the threads. We are still not sure if that was accidental or someone had done it intentionally

So my question is, did this leaking tyre cause the issue we had in the ghats? I mean, I have thrown the car around corners a bit when I am in a hurry or pissed at someone but its rolled a lot to one side and never understeered. I do have TPMS but we havent used it for some time now and I am wondering whether to install it (its bar unit, not psi so I keep getting nuisance alarm due to the least count issue)

Ameyam
 

bhvm

Honoured Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2011
Messages
5,289
Likes
4,818
Location
Some Village
Whoa Buddy thats a Scary experience.
1. Yes the issues seems to be caused due to varying pressure in tyres.
2. If you have TPMS, install it. What kind is it though? Internal ones are more reliable.
3. Get a small digital pressure gague and check before leaving.
4. I keep this small tyre inflator permanantly in car, and Inflate at the slightest doubt. Can be life saving-
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...iew-windek-digital-tyre-inflator-autocut.html
 
Thread Starter #3
Joined
Aug 15, 2014
Messages
1,420
Likes
531
Location
Mumbai
To be frank, it really wasnt that scary...other that the bus part. Even then, I only realised I was too close when I looked in my OVRM and saw the headlights, and, from my experience with this car, if it looks close, there is usually a more than decent gap. The bus driver certainly didnt honk or swerve or curse, so he wasnt too perturbed. On the ghats, it kept understeering but I have a tendancy to drive within 70-80 % of the cars limits, so I was never in any real danger. Just that I noticed it wasnt holding the lane. In hindsight, I had the option to top up in the food plaza before the ghats but I know that gauge is 3psi over and so I didnt do it. I had checked my pressures just on previous Tuesday and I didnt expect to have issues so soon. I check pressure once a week


The TMPS I have is external one from Steelmate. Once I install it, its tough to remove though. Last time I installed and then tried to remove, when I tried to turn the locknut, the housing rotated with it and it was a pain to get it off. Thats was before MS replaced my rear suspension. Since the replacement, I didnt feel the need to use TMPS till now


I have a small handheld pressure gauge (Coido) but my experience is that its never accurate.


I dont really want to carry that inflator. I am not sure of the one you linked but I had an old one and it was not even capable of pushing air against my thumb. I also thought of getting a new one but I drive in the city mostly, so a pump is always near. This was one occassion I went out in over 6 months


Ameyam
 

bhvm

Honoured Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2011
Messages
5,289
Likes
4,818
Location
Some Village
I suggest get internal TPMS (like ones inside XUV rims). They're far more accurate and reliable too.
 
Thread Starter #5
Joined
Aug 15, 2014
Messages
1,420
Likes
531
Location
Mumbai
I suggest get internal TPMS (like ones inside XUV rims). They're far more accurate and reliable too.
When I bought the sensor, the reason I didnt but internal ones was because I didnt want to go through removing the tyres and then installing them again. Now that two tyres already have punctures (one I had a bit earlier in last year), it may be a good idea to get these. Would you suggest any or do I get them from Steelmate through aliexpress?

Ameyam
 
Joined
Aug 18, 2015
Messages
1,183
Likes
805
Location
Bangalore
@Ameyam below is the check list

1. How many years old car
2. Is tread wear normal on all tyres?
3. Have you done tyre rotation recently.
4. latest wheel balancing report(Unusual weight usage by suspected tyre)
5. Did you or your driver hit potholes.
6. Steel or alloy rims?
Check tyre pressure of the suspected tyre once three days if tyre pressure is going down by 3 to 5 psi follow below troubleshooting

1. Check rim uniformity, this is most important (This is the most suspected issuse in new cars)
2. Check Tyre thoroughly.

If possible install same type of tyre on the rim and check.

Internal TPMS are not advisable. You buy Accurate brand manual guage and any double cylinder pump keep it in car along with MGP tubeless puncture kit.

-suryaputhra
 
Last edited:
Thread Starter #8
Joined
Aug 15, 2014
Messages
1,420
Likes
531
Location
Mumbai
1 year old 17000km car
Threadwear normal. I have a light foot generally
Tyres rotated at 15000km. One of the tyres previously had a puncture but it was not this one
Wheels balanced. In fact the tyre guy himself told me balancing was not required to be checked
We hit pot holes all the time. Mumbai roads are recently mostly pot holes[lol] But nothing out of the ordinary
Alloy rims
SinceWednesday we checked pressures both days. No drop. Even on regular basis we check pressure once a week

Since i already have the steelmate external TPMS, i installed that this evening. There is no sense in not using it since i already have had it for more than 6 months. Funny thing is, my tyre should have been 29psi when i installed them and the system reported 1.7bar which is 26psi. So we went back and removed the sensors. But when we put in air, it showed 29psi at the pump. To get around any minor leakes whilst installing the sensors, we put in 30psi and the ride immediately became much more stiff. Still, the system continues to report 1.7~1.8 bar. Odd!

Ameyam
 
Last edited:
Thread Starter #9
Joined
Aug 15, 2014
Messages
1,420
Likes
531
Location
Mumbai
Hi,

we installed the TPMS with 29psi as noted above. However, immediately after installation, it reported 1.7bar (24.6psi) on all tyres. There wasnt much leakage whilst installing either and we had checked with soapy water for leaks. The reading went up to 1.8bar (26.1psi) within a few meters of driving.
Then I didnt drive the car over the long weekend. When we took the car out to work today, it gave an alarm with 1.6bar. But as I drove, it went up from 1.7bar and then 1.8bar within the 1st couple of km. That means pressure went from 23.2psi to 26.1psi. Is that even possible? If I am not mistaken, its 1psi per 10 Deg C rise in temperature.

Question is two fold
1) On the Baleno, we always topped up air in a warm car i.e. after having driven it 10-15 km because I always felt putting in air in cold meant the pressure rises as it get warm and this makes the ride stiffer. Still, should that make so much of a difference?
2) Can tyre pressure (and hence temperature) really go up by 3 psi just by driving the car? Or is this an sensor issue

Ameyam
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 18, 2015
Messages
1,183
Likes
805
Location
Bangalore
Hi,

we installed the TPMS with 29psi as noted above. However, immediately after installation, it reported 1.7bar (24.6psi) on all tyres. There wasnt much leakage whilst installing either and we had checked with soapy water for leaks. The reading went up to 1.8bar (26.1psi) within a few meters of driving.
Then I didnt drive the car over the long weekend. When we took the car out to work today, it gave an alarm with 1.6bar. But as I drove, it went up from 1.7bar and then 1.8bar within the 1st couple of km. That means pressure went from 23.2psi to 26.1psi. Is that even possible? If I am not mistaken, its 1psi per 10 Deg C rise in temperature.

Question is two fold
1) On the Baleno, we always topped up air in a warm car i.e. after having driven it 10-15 km because I always felt putting in air in cold meant the pressure rises as it get warm and this makes the ride stiffer. Still, should that make so much of a difference?
2) Can tyre pressure (and hence temperature) really go up by 3 psi just by driving the car? Or is this an sensor issue

Ameyam
First thing I do not believe in TPMS so I don't suggest or use them. Instead I use reliable pressure guage and top up once in a week.

Second and most important tyres should be topped up when cold. Its normal for a tyre pressure increase by up to 3 PSI when the tyre is about 40 to 50 degree centigrade hot.

-suryaputhra
 
Thread Starter #11
Joined
Aug 15, 2014
Messages
1,420
Likes
531
Location
Mumbai
I took the car to a tyre shop I know well and had them check the tyre in question. Since the other shop had already installed a puncture kit on the thread and side wall, he couldnt tell if there really had been an issue but he confirmed tyre was fine now. He also did a superficial check of the other tyres and informed they were also ok. He topped off air but I neglected to ask him what pressure he had put in. The ride did feel a little stiffer than in the morning though

Regarding the TPMS, he informed that the readings were most likely an issue with the TPMS itself. Since its in bar units, 1.9bar corresponds to 29psi, 1.8 to 26psi, 1.6 to 23 psi. The least count of the unit being 0.1 bar, the 2 or 3 decimal variation was causing nuisance alarms. They checked my existing pressure and confirmed it was +/- 1 psi as expected

I do need TPMS (in psi units) but will buy that later. Its just to get around my (bad) habit of not checking my tyres before getting going in the morning (I am usually so short of time that I just get in and go) and so that it could generate an alarm in case of a blowout on a long drive

As a side thought and some other owners may confirm, Apollo Alnac 4G dont seem to be really as good as Bridgestones for our conditions. He suggested to run the tyres for as long as possible and then look at replacing at end of Life

Ameyam
 

Top Bottom