Donny Carlson
04-04-2005, 06:19 PM
Last week I came out from work and as I approached my Marauder I noticed a 1" round object up against my right rear tire, at the edge of the sidewall. It had been a windy day, so I was hoping it was a piece of styrafoam or a tree bloom stuck to the tire. No such luck. It was a piece of round plastic, like the white nylon discs you stick on the bottom of a wooden chair leg to keep it from marking up your hard floors. The tire was not leaking and had normal pressure, but against my better judgement, I pulled the disc off the tire. It had about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of a spike in the middle (I was hoping it was just a staple) and as soon as it came out, the tire started hissing air. You could feel the stream of air come out of the hole with your fingertip. An "oh crap" moment. There's a Big 10 Tire nearby, so I jump in the car and head over there. On the way, my tire pressire monitor shows the right rear deflating 1 PSI a minute -- it hits the warning level at 26 psi and starts flashing. Well, the ******* over at Big 10 said it was too close to closing time and he already had too much work and sent me away, so I decide I better find an open spot under a parking lot lamp to change to the spare. When I get out to change the tire.... no hissing. I take a presure reading... 23 psi. So, I drive over to the USPS contract station, air up the tire to 42 psi, figure I can drive it home in time to change it in the driveway.
My tire pressure monitor reads 42 psi all the way home. When I get home, I look the entire tire over with a flashlight, even move the car to rotate the tire through it's entire circumference. Not only is it not hissing, but I can't find the puncture hole even though before you could see it and feel the air streaming out.
The next morning the tire reads 41 psi - normal for a cooled off tire - and holds pressure all day. That after noon when I go home, it's still 41 psi. It stays that way all the next day.
Then on Friday, it dropped 8 psi overnight to 33 psi. I holds this pressure all day.
Saturday morning when I drive off to work, the TP monitor starts flashing, showing 24 psi in the tire. I stop, fill it up to 41 psi, and go to work. That after noon, it had dropped 10 psi, to 31. I fill it up again to 41 psi.
Sunday noon, I go check on it and the tire has only 17 psi. Time to stop fooling with it and take it to the tire shop. I tell the tech the story about the plastic disk, the hissing, etc. He fixes the tire. Later he tells me he put it in the tank and.... never found a leak on the sidewall. He did repair a nail he found in the tread that was leaking. He said he even checked it in the tank after he fixed the tread puncture.... no leak on the sidewall.
And it's holding pressure.
So, WTF happened on the sidewall? It seal itself?
My tire pressure monitor reads 42 psi all the way home. When I get home, I look the entire tire over with a flashlight, even move the car to rotate the tire through it's entire circumference. Not only is it not hissing, but I can't find the puncture hole even though before you could see it and feel the air streaming out.
The next morning the tire reads 41 psi - normal for a cooled off tire - and holds pressure all day. That after noon when I go home, it's still 41 psi. It stays that way all the next day.
Then on Friday, it dropped 8 psi overnight to 33 psi. I holds this pressure all day.
Saturday morning when I drive off to work, the TP monitor starts flashing, showing 24 psi in the tire. I stop, fill it up to 41 psi, and go to work. That after noon, it had dropped 10 psi, to 31. I fill it up again to 41 psi.
Sunday noon, I go check on it and the tire has only 17 psi. Time to stop fooling with it and take it to the tire shop. I tell the tech the story about the plastic disk, the hissing, etc. He fixes the tire. Later he tells me he put it in the tank and.... never found a leak on the sidewall. He did repair a nail he found in the tread that was leaking. He said he even checked it in the tank after he fixed the tread puncture.... no leak on the sidewall.
And it's holding pressure.
So, WTF happened on the sidewall? It seal itself?