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Is Tyre Sealant worth using?

E

EurIng

New Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2019
Messages
9
Location
Lymington, Hants
Car
C250d AMG Premium Plus Estate
I've just noticed that my MB Tyre Sealant has expired. I hate the thought of buying a genuine MB replacement.
Questions:
1. Is it worth using tyre sealant with a puncture? Fortunately I've never had to use this stuff, but can it cause more harm than good to the tyre and valve?
2. Does it work??
3. Are there any third party products out there that I could use instead?

Any advice gratefully received - thanks in advance.
 
In most cases they're only intended as a temporary fix to get you off the roadside until it can be repaired properly. Assuming it works.

Which leads onto the fact that most tyre places hate the stuff, it's a complete PITA to clean up to effect that proper repair.
 
Tyre shops hate it!!
What it does to TPMS sensors is anyone's guess...
 
It might seal a minor puncture, although as said, it's likely that the tyre shop you take it to for repair won't like it. Any serious kind of puncture and it's likely to be a waste of time.
I had a puncture last year and tried my sealant (which according to the date had expired) but then discovered that the tyre was burst on the inner sidewall, well beyond any repair. The recovery driver who came to take me home reckoned he'd never seen one that worked - although you could say that might be because he never has to recover the ones that have used it successfully.
When the car was in for a service a while later at a Mercedes dealer, they offered to replace the sealant, IIRC for around £70. I declined their offer, but I wasn't sure if the lack of a new can of sealant would be an MOT issue. Turned out not to be, but I saw a can of sealant in Lidl after that and bought it for less than £5. Hopefully never have to use it!
 
fifermerc said:
It might seal a minor puncture, although as said, it's likely that the tyre shop you take it to for repair won't like it. Any serious kind of puncture and it's likely to be a waste of time.
I had a puncture last year and tried my sealant (which according to the date had expired) but then discovered that the tyre was burst on the inner sidewall, well beyond any repair. The recovery driver who came to take me home reckoned he'd never seen one that worked - although you could say that might be because he never has to recover the ones that have used it successfully.
When the car was in for a service a while later at a Mercedes dealer, they offered to replace the sealant, IIRC for around £70. I declined their offer, but I wasn't sure if the lack of a new can of sealant would be an MOT issue. Turned out not to be, but I saw a can of sealant in Lidl after that and bought it for less than £5. Hopefully never have to use it!
Click to expand...
I had same scenario. Tyre Foam came out faster than it went it.

Completely useless
 
I always have the strips (the ones like thin rope covered in sticky rubber glue) in the boot. I've used more of them on other peoples cars than my own...I also always carry a cheap 12v pump to re-inflate. Although they are recommended as a temporary repair they are very sturdy. I repaired one of my Jeep tyres as I got a puncture that day I picked it up!!....to be honest I forgot about it and only noticed when the tyre guy pointed it out when replacing the worn out tyre a couple of years later!! He said he could not have repaired in anyway as it was too close to the edge...something that does not matter with the rope repairs....as long as its in the tread and not the sidewall you are good to go. All the repairs I've done have been at the side of the road with the wheel still on the car. Recommended.
This guy makes a bit of a meal of it but you get the idea....the strips I use a brown and don't need the rubber cement added.

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Last edited:
Most tyre shops will not repair it if you have used the sealant, so its a new tyre. Do as ALFAitalia says. I have them in my cars.
 
EurIng said:
I've just noticed that my MB Tyre Sealant has expired. I hate the thought of buying a genuine MB replacement.
Questions:
1. Is it worth using tyre sealant with a puncture? Fortunately I've never had to use this stuff, but can it cause more harm than good to the tyre and valve?
2. Does it work??
3. Are there any third party products out there that I could use instead?

Any advice gratefully received - thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Like most things just because its out of date does not mean it wont work... my cynical side says its a money making exercise for MB...I expect mine is out of date too in my 18 year old Car.
My son had no chance of using the tyre sealant supplied in his Clio sport when he had a puncture....:wallbash:
he did try to drive to a motorway exit for safety... without a spare wheel and only sealant he ended up being rescued by the AA!John iPhone 060.JPGJohn iPhone 061.JPGJohn iPhone 062.JPG :rolleyes:

Amazingly the wheel was undamaged... and lived with a new tyre without problem for a year or two!
 
My car came with runflats, when I replaced them with non runflats I found plenty of places selling the compressor + foam kits for about £25- £35. Whether it's worth using them depends on the size of the puncture and how desparate you are to get going again.
 
ALFAitalia said:
I always have the strips (the ones like thin rope covered in sticky rubber glue) in the boot. I've used more of them on other peoples cars than my own...I also always carry a cheap 12v pump to re-inflate. Although they are recommended as a temporary repair they are very sturdy. I repaired one of my Jeep tyres as I got a puncture that day I picked it up!!....to be honest I forgot about it and only noticed when the tyre guy pointed it out when replacing the worn out tyre a couple of years later!! He said he could not have repaired in anyway as it was too close to the edge...something that does not matter with the rope repairs....as long as its in the tread and not the sidewall you are good to go. All the repairs I've done have been at the side of the road with the wheel still on the car. Recommended.
This guy makes a bit of a meal of it but you get the idea....the strips I use a brown and don't need the rubber cement added.

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Click to expand...

I've used these too.... many times to good effect.. I also had 'Slime' ( Slime Bike Tube Puncture Repair Sealant - 237 ml | Halfords UK ) installed on a lot of my motorbike and car tyres, and successfully removed screws without the tyre going down.. I would say the slime only works on a small nail or screw hole once removed... a hole larger than that will not seal... the garages as others have said hate the tyre sealant.... I but once I used too much slime in some low profile tyres and they caused so much imbalance in the tyre I had to go to a garage and have all the tyres removed and washed out.... Honda use a sealant called 'Ultraseal ' and offers it to customers at Motorcycle shops its like 'slime' and used it on several motorbikes I owned with no ill effects..... No Spare is a pain... but these days I would opt for a puncture repair kit like the brown plugs show in ALFAitalia's post.....I personally think this is the best option because there is a physical rubber plug... but not really practical to use on a motorway hard shoulder... but nor is swapping a wheel.... foam is lesser of the evils in an emergency. (when it works) failing that... the AA will plug a tyre for you!
 
Yesterday setting off for a 5 hr drive home, one of the TPMs immediately showed 0 bars and indeed the tyre was flat even though I'm a 20mph zone I hadn't noticed.

My 2017 S350d had not had a conventional puncture before (though a pothole had killed two tyres a few years back): my options were to use the official gunk in the boot or limp on the flat to a garage or get roadside help. The tyres are nearly new and good quality. I had not realised that using gunk could mean tyre specialists will turn the work down.

I used the gunk, about 1/2 a container and the pressure when I got into the car was just 85psi instead of the usual 240. The first place I went to on Google maps had closed down! Right, phone ahead next time.

Second place said it was lunch time and there were 4-5 cars ahead of me. When I turned up and they found out I'd used gunk, the guy said he'd have to ask the boss. Perhaps because I must have seemed desperate and that I'd only just put the gunk in, that it turned out they did the job, mended the puncture (a screw in the tread which had fallen out) and cleaned up the wheel - which was covered in excess gunk that had appeared from the container when removing from the valve.

Another lesson I learned: when the TPM warns of pressure loss as it did the day before (from 240 down to 190) don't think it's just a small error that will go away - it is likely a slow puncture and needs immediate attention. If I'd have dealt with it the day before, inconvenient as it would have been, I'd have saved money, time and stress. Now I need to find more gunk and I'll get the rope strips as well. No chance of putting a spare on the boot - the rear rims are bigger than the front 🫣
 
If you read PSI as KPa it makes complete sense. My car dash readout is in KPa as it the label on the filler flap. It’s easy to type the wrong unit as for years we have talked of tyre pressure in PSI.
A couple of weeks ago I went to inflate my tyres to the full load setting, the rears are 250KPa for light load but 330KPa for a full load. Got out my Michelin branded electric pump and tried to preset the pressure to 330. The pump refused to work. After a bit of detective work I noticed that the pump had gone. From its KPa setting to PSI, changed the units to the correct one and all was fine. Had the pump had the capacity to reach 330PSI I am sure that the resulting explosion of the tyre would be dramatic.
 
330 KPa is about 36PSI or roughly 3.3 Bar. A tyre inflate to 10X it’s normal pressure would be interesting to use if it had not already exploded.
 
Blobsta said:
I keep some of those puncture repair strips in the car and then just use the pump. I've repaired a couple of bike ones successfully whist touring in Europe with them

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip! Just bought on Amazon with a replacement for the sealant I just used on a puncture. With two DIY options, I'll rest easier.
 
I too have a similar kit in one car. Thinking of buying a couple more so there's one in each car, but I'm not sure SWMBO will use one!

NJSS
 
I used to carry a motorcycle tyre repair kit with me , it was Made by Metzeler . It consisted (from memory) of a few tapered light coloured rubber plugs , a small round rasp file , insert tool , tube of adhesive and a razor blade to cut the excess plug off. It also came with 2 small CO2 cartridges (I carried 4) . It must have been with me for absolutely years and tens of thousands of miles, but when I needed it on a rear superbike tubeless tyre puncture It worked perfectly !

Got me home. Fitted a new tyre after that , that was not an issue , I was lucky if I got 3K miles out of a rear tyre such was my ...erm enthusiasm for performance.....happy days.
 
I also have the tyre strips kit in the car along with the Mercedes compressor, hopefully that along with breakdown cover will get me sorted. No space in my SL for a spare wheel......
 
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