[daryl]

I have just got my new rims from my dealer to replace my stolen ones. On the way to the dealer(10 miles) to have it checked out for alingment/balance the runflat sensor went off. The dealer checked out the car and said the sensor went off because one tire was low. He told me that tires were in balance and did not need any weights. They filled the tire, reset the sensor, and sent me on my way. The next day we loaded up our car to go on vacation and 2 hours into the trip the light went off. I called the dealer and he said it could be heat or something. He gave us instructions on how to reset the sensor and asked us to look for a low tire. They looked ok, so we just kept going. The traffic open up and we started to go about 60 mph and the car had a slight shimmy. I thought that my tires are out of balance and they probably really do need weights. The next morning I went to check the tires and one was clearly flat. I then went to the store and got a tire gage. When I checked the tire it had 0 psi. After filling the tire I have found it to loose about 10 psi a day. I road on this tire about 100 miles going about 60 mph. I have no idea what the psi in the tire was for this 100 miles. All I know is that in the morning it had 0 psi. I do not know where the leek is, the tire has no visible damage. If it is just a bad mount by the dealer or a bad valve stem do I need a new tire? Is it ok to use a runflat after you have put 100 miles on it with out air?

sorry for the long?
-daryl

[sjbartnik]

I'm not sure the answer to your question. The shimmy was probably from the tire being flat, and that would explain why the tire warning light kept coming on -- the tire warning system monitors the ABS sensors and if it senses differences in rotational speed of a wheel in relation to the other wheels, it triggers the light. It doesn't monitor actual tire pressure.

The best way to find a leak is to pump the tire up with air and cover it with soapy water. The leak will show as bubbles.

Just FYI on run-flats, because of the stiffer sidewalls required for run-flat capability, a low tire may not appear low. When checking a tire, you cannot rely on eyeballing it. You have to use a pressure gauge.

As to whether it's safe to continue using your tire, that I don't know.

[zwoman]

I've had nails in tires before and can usually get them repaired for about $10 - much cheaper than replacing a $150 run-flat tire. Soooo...does anyone know if you can do these simple patches on run-flats?

[daryl]

150! my dealer just charged me $350

-daryl

[scm6079]

Quote:

Originally posted by zwoman
I've had nails in tires before and can usually get them repaired for about $10 - much cheaper than replacing a $150 run-flat tire. Soooo...does anyone know if you can do these simple patches on run-flats?

Nope... you can not patch runflats. :-(

[acetonic]

Actually you can patch runflats just like normal tires, as long as the puncture is in the tread and not in the sidewall. Runflats are not like the self sealing tires. Those are filled with some tarry goop that sometimes actually works but normally just makes the tire impossible to repair.

I recently had a flat in my 16" Dunlop SP3000 runflat. It was a wood screw in the sidewall and unfortunately not repairable. It cost me $180 to have it replaced at the dealer. I would have gotten it elswhere if anyone in North America could get that tire.