Tire Not Sealing

I. Am. Frustrated.

I bought my 2000 WS6 in the Spring of '07. The previous owner had installed aftermarket chrome rims, and come Fall, the car needed new tires. In turn, I had four new Michelin tires put on. Since they were installed, the tires have developed a slow leak every other month(ish), and the guys at NTB tell me it is because the chrome rims are flaking. I have had the car in there six times now, and this morning, the tire pressure was low again!

I had no issues prior to the new tires. Is this a legitimate issue? If it is valid, is there any way to fix it without buying new rims? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks guys!

:giveup:

have you taken it elsewhere? I don't think that the flaking could result in that big of an issue....i bet the mounted the tire improperly

take it somewhere else

that is possible alot of chrome wheels factory and aftermarket wheels will build gunk/corrosion and or flake inside the lip.have them pull the tire off take a little a air buffer and sand the inside lip off real good,and put some bead sealer on the wheel afterwards,it will stop.

Well usually unless the rims are old will they flake on the lips. But if that is the case (If you can, you should post some pics.) then yeah I would just sand it off like craig02ta said and put it back on, check for a rim leak and if its still loosing air then I would put bead sealer on it...otherwise I would keep the sealer off. The only problems I've had with flaking so far are on the inside diameter, where I had to peel some off. (You could hear it scrapping against the brake caliper.)

Thanks guys! I appreciate the feedback.

well.... i work at a shop and speaking from experience. rims build up gunk on on the inside, where the tire beads, every time you change tires. if the guys are lazy and incompetent they wont clean it off and the tires might leak slowly. take it somewhere else, and have the tire re-mounted. they should either sand it or lightly run across is with a wire brush. hope this helps.

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Originally Posted by Insert

well.... i work at a shop and speaking from experience. rims build up gunk on on the inside, where the tire beads, every time you change tires. if the guys are lazy and incompetent they wont clean it off and the tires might leak slowly. take it somewhere else, and have the tire re-mounted. they should either sand it or lightly run across is with a wire brush. hope this helps.

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This is also true...I would hope they'd of atleast checked though and see if it needed to be cleaned. We have a wire brush, and we have wire sponges too. I mostly use the wire sponges when I work on tires, but it doesn't matter.

Also check for a crack on the inside of the rim, I hit a pothole in my other Firebird and didn't know my rim had cracked until I got a flat tire. I had to get the rim welded.

I know on my chrome rims and where I live in NJ, chrome flaking on the rim or the valve stem is a real big issue. The last time I brought mine in they grinded away a good bit of crap then place "bead seal" all along the inner part of the rim. Everyone in thier profession is going to be an anal perfectionist but there is thruth to what thier telling you.

check the wheels for any deformity.
what size wheels and tires, btw ?

Just to put in my 2c. This is ENTIRELY a *COMMON* issue. The chrome will flake off around where the bead seats on the rim. With all the corrosion and all of that, air will get through. You can test this by spraying some soapy water like glass cleaner on the edges of the rim/tire. You should see some air bubbles. Works best if the wheel is horizontal. Sometimes you can barely see it leak, so it'll leak and go flat over the course of a week.

Best way to fix it is to use a wire wheel grinder thing and take the chrome off the bad spots. We use some stuff called BEAD SEALER and put it in those spots as well, then put the tire back on. It works.

well, i was just cruising tech service bulletins from gm at my work the other day. and i stumbled across one where gm says that leaks from 4th gen stock f body wheels are very common. slow leaks, coming right out of factory. they say throw some extra sealant on the bead and you should be fine.