Crazy tire pressure problem!

[killain]

I know this sounds wacky, but my 2003 AE has a situation with the tire pressure. On all but one tire the pressure is constant. But the right front tire loses about fifteen to twenty pounds of air each 62 days and the monitor comes on on the DIC. I took it to the local chevy dealership, and I have to admit, the tech did everything. First he broke free the tire from the rim, moved it around and reinflated it up to 80 pounds, no leak, the he deflated it to 15 PSI, no leak. Then he pumped it back to 32 PSI and checked around the stem and No leak! So why is it that only one tire loses air and the other three hold air? There's no damage to the wheel and the pressure monitor isn't leaking? No puntures in the runflat tire and the bead is clean and smooth? I'm out of ideas, Any one have an idea?:confused

 

[Tuna]

Lots of things can cause this - one of them I experienced was finding a 'needle' in the tire. It did not show any signs of leaking but it obviously leaked while the car was moving.

Took me a year to find it. Impossible to see without a magnifying glass. Once repaired, it never leaked again.

Keep looking, there's got to be a reason.

 

[hoosier]

air loss

Did the teck check the valve core? Or around the valve stem where it goes through the tire?
Also did they soap up the wheel itself to see if its the wheel itself .
I had a slow leak in a wheel that was the wheel,when molded had a sand hole and did not leak at first,but later on leaked out of the backside no where near the bead.
Hope this gives you some place to look.

Barry

 

[killain]

Well I just called the dealership and they said bring it in on Tuesday. Under the warranty the wheels are a covered item and that they'll also see if the pressure sensor is bad, IE: it's reading low pressure when it not really out of air? So we'll see. Wish me luck, I don't do well with the dealership lately!

 

[LLC5]

You need to know if the pressure was really low, was it ever checked with a pressure gauge? If it was, then use soapy water in a spray bottle and spray it everywhere with the valve stem cap off, it will bubble at the leak. If that is not difinitive, then putting the complete wheel and tire assembly into a tank of water and looking for bubbles will work. Most dealers don't have the "dunk tank", you may need to find a tire store that has one.

 

[gmjunkie]

I know this sounds wacky, but my 2003 AE has a situation with the tire pressure. On all but one tire the pressure is constant. But the right front tire loses about fifteen to twenty pounds of air each 62 days and the monitor comes on on the DIC. I took it to the local chevy dealership, and I have to admit, the tech did everything. First he broke free the tire from the rim, moved it around and reinflated it up to 80 pounds, no leak, the he deflated it to 15 PSI, no leak. Then he pumped it back to 32 PSI and checked around the stem and No leak! So why is it that only one tire loses air and the other three hold air? There's no damage to the wheel and the pressure monitor isn't leaking? No puntures in the runflat tire and the bead is clean and smooth? I'm out of ideas, Any one have an idea?:confused

I had the Lt Rear Original Run Crap do that, it took me a 1 1/2 years to figure it out!!!Bad Tire!! It would not leak,and then it would Leak!!!You could Blow it up and leave it off the car for a week and it would not leak 1/2 lb,you could put it on the car and park it and it would not leak for a month and then go for a drive and park it and it would be Flat in 24 hr's!! I had it checked about 25-30 times in a year!!! Finely after 1 1/2 years of dragging the air hose out and filling it up I Flashed on something, the valve stem was always in the 2-4 O'clock position with weight of the car when the tire went down!! Never did find where the tire was leaking,But a New set of Kumho ASX All-Season tires and I rarely have had to put any air in them in 25,000+ miles and 3 years last Christmas!!

 

[killain]

Point well taken, I kind of thought about this, but I don't know how to prove or not prove it? But you sure know how frustrating it is to have to screw with this one tire over and over and over.........

 

[killain]

You need to know if the pressure was really low, was it ever checked with a pressure gauge? If it was, then use soapy water in a spray bottle and spray it everywhere with the valve stem cap off, it will bubble at the leak. If that is not difinitive, then putting the complete wheel and tire assembly into a tank of water and looking for bubbles will work. Most dealers don't have the "dunk tank", you may need to find a tire store that has one.

Thank you, I'll have to ask if this is going to be done. I have told the service advisor that I'm not bringing the car in so they can charge me for a tech's hour of labor and me go home only to have the damn "low press RF" signal come on again for the hundredth time.

 

[napacruzerC5]

clip on wheel weights

Had same problem with right rear for awhile until I had the clip-on wheel weights removed and replaced with stick on weights. It was leaking right at the wheel weight. Don't remember if the OEM wheel weights were clip-on or stick on but when I replaced the run flats with the GY GS-D3 the installer put on clip-ons.