The car is a 97 ES300, and it seems like every 3-6 months, all 4 tires would get really flat. I bring the car to Steelcase Tires, and they do a "grind & seal" on all four OEM rims to remove the oxidation (usually on the inside of each rim), and remount the tires. This seems to do the trick, but every few months, it seems like the same thing has to be redone.
I was under the impression that alloy rims aren't as vulnerable to oxidation or corrosion? Can anyone clarify?
Should I
1) send all 4 rims to Carcones to get them refinished?
2) buy a new or used set of aftermarket set rims & tires?
3) continue driving with OEM rims, and doing grind&seals every so often? Grind & Seals cost about $10 per wheel, so that's $40 each time, plus the hassle of going to the shop and waiting, etc.
Thinking of getting another 3 years out of the car, as it is in good condition and running smoothly.
stock IS rims have a + 50 offset.....are you sure somebody isn't letting the air out of your tires??.....it seems odd that all four rims would have the same problem with leaking air.....
Well the guys at Steelcase say that it's an oxidation problem. On another forum, someone pointed out that the more times a tire is remounted, the weaker it will "hold" to the rim, which many cause air to leak. Or the vasaline that they apply between the rim & tire may dry out, and that could also cause the air to leak again...
oxidation is just a blemish that occurs on the aluminum...it should have nothing to do with the rim being able to seal and hold air.....i could believe the shop if it were just one rim having the problem...but for all four rims being bad...what are the odds of that...try switching rims and see if the problem occurs still....let us know what happens....where do you park the car normally??....on the driveway or in garage??....
I wouldn't have let them grind the wheel down. The wheel, even the inside is coated with a clear coat to protect the metal. Now it's gone.
First off how old are your tires? Old rubber doesn't seal as well.
Secondly how about your valve stems have they ever been replaced?
Do they apply bead sealant when mounting the tire?
Lastly, how often to you check your tire pressure? Once a week is recommended but at least once a month.
Finally aluminum does rust, although unlike iron the rust will not fall off and expose more fresh metal. So unless you're painting your aluminum rim just leave the rust there, or you'll just do more damage.
The tires are about 2 years old I believe. I think a new set of tires is needed before heading into winter.
I don't know if the valve stems have been replaced. (this is my mom's car)
What is bead sealant? When mounting the tire, they swab the inner circumference of the tire with some substance, but i'm not exactly sure what that is.
We are checking tire pressure every few days now, because once all the tires show signs of going flat at the same time, then after i refill it with air, it'll deflate again within a few days...
I guess I will wait a few days to see if it is still deflating at the same rate. I'm hesitant on replacing just the tires, because if it really is a problem with the rims, then i'll be limited to getting 15" rims again, while getting a used set of rims&tires as a package seems to be the cheaper alternative.
Thanks for your help guys...I'll post more updates later on...
check the valves. that could be your problem right there. at some places, to let the air out, they use a driver to unscrew the "shrayder valve"... (that's how it's pronounced, but im sure that's not how it's spelled). the job of that valve is the hold the air in and allow air to come in but not come out. If that's loose, that could be your problem. and i also agree with what the previous posts suggest about old tires. After so many times of breaking the beads on the tires, it's hard for them to seal up again. that can also be your problem.
To be it seems like a bad tire shop! one at the most and i've never heard of "grind & seal" on rims, the outer blemish may crack the clearcoat (but its costmetic than functional). to me it seems like bad valve stems and bad shop!
To be it seems like a bad tire shop! one at the most and i've never heard of "grind & seal" on rims, the outer blemish may crack the clearcoat (but its costmetic than functional). to me it seems like bad valve stems and bad shop!
perhaps it may be the shop...i will go back on saturday to ask them about their work...
i've talked to 3 other tire shops today, and they're all familiar with grind & seals. however, they all said that a grind & seal should be good for about a year, and the oxidation shouldn't come back so fast. therefore, they think that shop may not have done the grind & seal correct. again, i will bring this up with the tire shop that i did it at, and we'll see...
Do you expose your wheels to a lot of road salt? If so, how often do you wash it off? If you see a lot of white powder on your rims you could have salt corrosion and that will mess with your seal.
You say it's your mom's car -did you take it out for a drifting session with your buddies? That'll kill the belts in the tires and lead to tread seperation... and air loss.
If you really want to find out where the leak is then dismount each wheel and put them in a sink filled with water, then watch where the bubbles originate from.
Holes in all four tires, though rare, are not impossible. I had a van with slow leaks in 3 out of the 4 tires and when I got them repaired there was evidence of broken-off nails inside each tire.
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Do you expose your wheels to a lot of road salt? If so, how often do you wash it off? If you see a lot of white powder on your rims you could have salt corrosion and that will mess with your seal.
You say it's your mom's car -did you take it out for a drifting session with your buddies? That'll kill the belts in the tires and lead to tread seperation... and air loss.
If you really want to find out where the leak is then dismount each wheel and put them in a sink filled with water, then watch where the bubbles originate from.
Holes in all four tires, though rare, are not impossible. I had a van with slow leaks in 3 out of the 4 tires and when I got them repaired there was evidence of broken-off nails inside each tire.
Since we live in Toronto, we are exposed to road salt for about 1/3 of the year. I try to wash the car about every 2 weeks, but still the salt shouldn't have that big of an impact...
I don't drift the ES300. It's FWD anyways
Actually I hardly ever drive it, because I have a TL Type-S.
RESOLUTION:
Brought the car back to Steelcase, and they took of the wheels and sprayed it with water to check for bubbles. Sure enough, there were bubbles coming from right beside the wheel-weights that they mounted when they did the wheel balancing. There was also some oxidation still, so they did another grind & seal, then installed weights that did not hook on the side of the rim. They did this for 2 wheels, and checked the rears but they didn't seem to be leaking so its ok. New valves were also installed. Since it was their fault for installing a bad weight, they did all the work free of charge.
Actually, they also gave me a great price on a pair of 17" tires that I had to get for my TL, which was mounted today also.
If all goes well, hopefully the corrosion won't come back for at least another 9-12 months. Grind & seals only cost about $40cad for all 4 tires anyways, so this is something I can live with (rather than spending $$$ for new rims & tires). Besides, we're thinking of upgrading to an ES330 in 2 years, so this will do for now.
Thanks to everyone for all their suggestions and input. I've posted this problem on a few other forums, and this thread has had the most replies - you guys are awesome!
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4 tires flat...problem with rims?
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