Bloody puncture after puncture!!!

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Tayterash

Active Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2016
Messages
95
Location
Republic of Mancunia
Car
ML350 (Mavis) Slk R171 (Rupert)
Anyone else get loads of punctures? Every week one of the Slk’s or the ML needs a slow puncture repairing. Nothing in the tyres, they just go down. Is this common with Mercedes alloys?
As far as I’m aware the lads clean the wheels before refiting the tyres. Doin me head in.
 
Take a wheel off, stick it in a bath full of water and see where its leaking from. Quite often a no damage leak is in the valve
 
I had a similar problem on my daughter's Audi TT because the seal between the wheel rim and the tyre bead had failed. When a new tyre is fitted, the rim of the wheel should be wire brushed and smeared with tyre soap. Over time, this can dry out and the seal fail allowing air to escape. It maybe needs the tyre taken off, re-brushed and soaped and the tyre refitted.

Alternatively the alloy wheel may be porous due to a fault in the casting, or have a crack due to damage caused by potholes, speed bumps etc. I had a cracked alloy on my Jaguar XKR welded by a wheel specialist - the crack was on the inside rim so not visible until the wheel was taken off for a new tyre to be fitted.

I've had Mercedes E Class estates for 25 years and never had a problem with Mercedes alloy wheels
 
Not so much punctures but one of mine seems to be going slowly down, over weeks well according to the Mercedes me app it is, and then funny enough last night on the way to the supermarket it pinged up on the dash a different tyre was now going down. :rolleyes:
 
Take a wheel off, stick it in a bath full of water and see where its leaking from. Quite often a no damage leak is in the valve
To save making a mess of the bath....
A dob of spit on the end of the valves shows if it is leaking or not. Wheel laid flat on the ground and water poured from a watering can around where the tyre meets the rim identifies leaks there.
 
When they leak from the rim after cleaning they normally put a black like substance glue stuff round the edge of the rim to seal it.
 
I’ve seen them cleaning the rims and putting some magic goop on. No luck. Get one Slk done, next week the other, then the ML start flashing pressure is down. I’ve going to these lads for about 35 years and they do my motorbikes as well. Always been sound. The suggestion the goop goes off makes sense.
Our Maude taking Rupert there again this morning and if it happens again I’m getting all off and professionally refurbished.
 
When they leak from the rim after cleaning they normally put a black like substance glue stuff round the edge of the rim to seal it.
They really need to be removed and the rim corrosion cleaned. If the tyre is marked relative to the wheel at least rebalancing can be avoided by remounting the tyre in its previous position. The corrosion that occurs is one more drawback of using aluminium alloy for wheels.
 
If not a puncture then possibly one of 3 things
  1. leaky valve
  2. tyre not sealing on rim
  3. really old tyres can exceptionally leak

In both of first cases bit of washing up liquid (+ water) in a spray bottle. Mist all the way around until layer of water on the tyre and rim point and see if see any bubbles. Same with the valve and seat of valve. Your challenge will be on the inner side of wheel (you may have to take it off the car).

An old leaky tyre is rare and hard to establish. Hardly ever happens with modern tyres.

Bead sealer is used by some fitters but I think it a cop out. People sometimes confuse it with Tyre Soap to help/lubricate mounting of tyre.
(Generally, bead sealer is black whilst tyre soap is white).
 
Every E-Class I've ever had has had leaky alloys.
(three W210s and one W211)
In every case the rim seal was the problem.
Old alloys are something of a curse, I find.
Every one I've cured by getting the wheels refinished.
It makes them look good too.
 
Have you been using different tyre places. If not take it somewhere else a small independent tyre place will be better
 
I find if you go to have a tyre changed,, that some fitters wont clean off the crap > old rubber < thats left on the alloy wheel unless you ask them to do so ..It is somthing that needs to be done every time they remove the tyres. . Make sure its not a wire mop they use , this is ok for steel wheels but no good for alloy wheels because it removes the paint and thats the reason alloys corrode inside .. And any corrosion white powdery dust on the inside of the alloy rim needs to be removed and re painted ..if this is not done ,then the tyre will go down over time ..
 
I’m cursed. She took it to the menders yesterday. Valve on one front and a screw in the other new 2 weeks ago front one.
Walking round it before and theirs another bastard screw in a back one. I don’t know where the hell she goes in it, Aldi’s and the daughters a reckon. Good job there’s a few shops near the fitters she can mooch around.
I need a drink.
 
Tayterash Not fair to you my friend ..I live out in the sticks and last time i had a puncture it was way back in 2008 .Do you live by any nasty people . Try going another way to the stores and not to close to the tyre shops..
 
Courtesy of Viz


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My daughter is one for this, me I hardly ever get a puncture (touch wood) but she seems to get 3 a year for some reason, does my head in as I'm tasked with sorting it.
 
I had a spate of nails when there were a couple of construction sites nearby. They just were not cleaning up properly. The other cause of very slow deflation I have had quite often is hair line cracks in the inner rim of the alloy wheels CLS 219 19" amgs are notorious for this no matter how careful you are.
 
I had a spate of nails when there were a couple of construction sites nearby. They just were not cleaning up properly. The other cause of very slow deflation I have had quite often is hair line cracks in the inner rim of the alloy wheels CLS 219 19" amgs are notorious for this no matter how careful you are.
You are right about construction work, our driveway was littered with screws after we had some building work done, also if I see skips at the side of the road all always give them a wide berth if possible, due to potential crap on the road around them. it’s surprising how much more careful you are with larger wheels and expensive tires!
 

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