Tire/Wheel not holding Air - advice needed

[Nataliator]

Hi guys, Long winded story...

I just had all 4 of my wheels refinished by Wheels America, Inc and just got to putting them on for the summer. I have the 95 m3 DS1's with michelin pilot sport 225/45/17 on them if that matters.

Last summer, I got a flat on one of the tires because the wheel was bent on the outer edge, and I hit a bump which caused it to flatten. When I got home I put air back in the tire and it held.. So fast forward to this spring when I went to have the wheels refinished, and I had the tires remounted, and they held constant pressure for the 2 months that they were not yet on the car. But now yesterday, the first day I had them on, I go to leave the house at 1 AM, after driving 50+ miles during the day with no problems, and the same tire that went flat on me a year before is flat again.

Now the first time it went flat I was on the highway, so naturally it took some time to slow down/keep control from about 65 mph, and I did chew up the sidewalls a bit..but like I said it held air (or so I thought) and I thought i got away clean. At this point, I was able to pinpoint the leak in my tire to the outer edge of the wheel where the rubber is supposed to seat, I used some dish soap and found multiple spots where air is leaking from there. I put in 35 psi when I went to bed last night and had 25 psi in it this morning, 6 hours later.

So the question is - did I permanently screw up the tire the first time it went flat, and it was just holding pressure while it was off the car because it was unloaded, and now I did worse? Or is it possible that wheel place didn't do a good job straightening the wheels (which is why it would be leaking from between the wheel and tire) Sorry for the longwindedness!

Cliffs:
Got a flat a year ago due to bent wheel, chewed up sidewall but tire still held air
Refinished wheel and put on same semi-chewed tire
Tire held pressure for 2 months before being bolted onto car
Tire made it 50+ miles on day 1 of being put on car, then went flat at 1 AM
Tire now leaks between wheel and tire at rate of 10 psi/6 hours.

Probably the tire? Or could it be the wheel? Any way to test besides the obvious getting a new rubber?

Thanks wheel gurus
:D

[GunnerNell]

I don't think you're going to know which is the problem (wheel or tire) until you dismount the tire and have a look at both. You know where the problem is, so mark that spot, and then have a careful look when you can see it all well -- the inside of the wheel as well as the inside and the outside of the bead and sidewall. To be honest, if it were my car and I planned on driving it more than 15 mph, I'd replace the tire and hope.

[xlDooM]

I had the same problem on nearly new rims (4 months) once. Tire repair guy sanded the rim edge a bit, put the tire back on and haven't had a problem since. I paid 15 bucks or so. I'd give it a try. But I'm just guessing, it really should have come back fine from the refinish.

[E30saurusRex]

fill it up and hold it underwater and see where the air comes from

[xlDooM]

fill it up and hold it underwater and see where the air comes from

That's a lot easier to do on a bicycle tire :stickoutt He used dish soap to find the leaks, which is the official ghetto procedure.

[Nataliator]

:stickoutt He used dish soap to find the leaks, which is the official ghetto procedure.

Haha I thought the official ghetto procedure was using your own spit....:eek:

Anyhow - I already found where the air is coming from - multiple points on the outside edge of the wheel. I don't know if the tire isn't seated right, the wheel didn't get refinished properly, or the tire is just fubared. I order a new tire :( and am headed to the shop today to get it put on, and I am going to have the guys at the shop inspect for me and tell me what they think of the tire/wheel...if the wheel is still bent or not right ill take it back to the wheel shop, and then I will even have a spare 17" tire I guess. I will report back with results! Thanks guys

[crandandall]

My money is on a bad tire. When you drive on a flat, it really screws the sidewalls up inside. If it was leaking through the sidewall before, it could've sat around just enough to get a bit of dry rot and spring a new leak since the sidewall was weakened already.

[elements018]

use a water bucket or spray soap to find the leak, if its where the tire seals on the bead, try some bead sealer

[Nataliator]

use a water bucket or spray soap to find the leak, if its where the tire seals on the bead, try some bead sealer


thats exactly where it is leaking from. Not the sidewall itself, but from the bead. When I filled the gap between the wheel and tire with soap I saw bubbles coming from in there right between where the bead is. I suspect that having driven on the flat, however short it was, has hurt the sidewall which has in turn hurt the bead on the tire, causing a bad seal.

This is the ideal case - Im having to spend good money today on a new rubber and if the guys at the tire shop suspect my wheel is messed up I am going to be very unhappy with the wheel refinishers.