Can a tire go flat just because?

[M.alex]

One of my tires went completely flat. Filled it up, checked for leaks, found none. I left it in the corner for a week and when I came back psi hadn't dropped at all. Mounted it on the vehicle to put weight on it, came back 3 weeks later, psi hadn't dropped at all.

I thought maybe the valve stem might be bad but it's fairly old (~8yrs old) and if I use it several times with my gauge it doesn't do anything weird like stick open.

Da faq

[Mitsu3000gt]

Every time I've seen this it's because of a bad seal between the tire & rim, often due to road crap like salt. If it's a summer car then I don't know, but take the tire off the rim and scrub it clean if it isn't.

[Thaco]

could be some shitheads deflating it for fun, but it could also be nail or other leak that is mostly sealed expect when pressure is put at a very specific point on the tire.

[carson blocks]

There can be a ton of reasons, including old corroded porous aluminum rims, bad schrader valve, or the reasons Mitsu/Thaco pointed out. A tire shop with a dunk tank should be able to track the leak pretty quickly for you.

[EK 2.0]

Originally posted by Thaco
could be some shitheads deflating it for fun

My bet is this...you know how cats feel about the 5 foot wonder...

[G-ZUS]

Originally posted by EK 2.0


My bet is this...you know how cats feel about the 5 foot wonder...

[M.alex]

i've dunked it in water and there were no air bubbles.

not exposed to the elements and no vandals (stored in my barn)

i've driven it and parked it in different positions to put different pressure points on the tire and no change in psi

so I don't know, it's a mystery.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[tirebob]

You might actually have a nail or something buried so deep in a tread block that you can't see it. It can act like a plug and not leak at all, but park on it in just the right spot and it puts a little pressure on the spot and slightly leverages the nail allowing the air to creep by while it is sitting. You took it off, put air in it and put it back on in a different spot so now the tire is no longer leaking. If you have the time, get the tire pulled of and sweep the inside to see if anything is poking through.

A tire definitely does not lose air for no reason. Figuring out that reason is the challenge...

[djmr2]

Hello...


I had the same problem with 2 of my Pirelli Sottozero RunFlats for winter. They would seemingly go flat for no reason. However they would not lose pressure if left alone or even half a year later after storage. Brought them in to be checked (pumped up the pressure and put underwater) and still couldn't find the leak.

Turns out the tires are known to leak due to temperature changes in our case, it was an underground parking and then out into the cold during winter. Few cases even lost all pressure after a quick drive!

Pirelli warrantied them and got 2 new tires. Those ones have been fine all winter. I would check if there are any recalls or notices on the specific tires.

Good luck!

[lilmira]

I have one tire that's been leaking about a pound a day. Couldn't find any sign of puncture. I have been topping it up like every 3 days. I think it's the seal. Gotta stop by tirebomb sometime.

[Thaco]

Originally posted by tirebob
You might actually have a nail or something buried so deep in a tread block that you can't see it. It can act like a plug and not leak at all, but park on it in just the right spot and it puts a little pressure on the spot and slightly leverages the nail allowing the air to creep by while it is sitting. You took it off, put air in it and put it back on in a different spot so now the tire is no longer leaking. If you have the time, get the tire pulled of and sweep the inside to see if anything is poking through.

A tire definitely does not lose air for no reason. Figuring out that reason is the challenge...

thats what i said... gotta be something, just depends on where the pressure is when you park.

[zieg]

Had a car that would do this whenever it got cold. Warm days, no problem. Those few cold nights in the fall before I put the winters on, random flat tires the next morning.

[rx7_turbo2]

Originally posted by carson blocks
schrader valve

This is my bet.

I had the exact same issue. Tires held pressure fine but required a top up due to dropping ambient temperatures. Couple days later noticed one tire was looking low, went back to top it up and when removing the nozzle from the valve I heard air leaking out from the valve, pushed the valve in a few times with my key and it sealed up. Never had an issue after that. I figured the sealing surface of the valve had some debris on it? Eventually I replaced the valve.

[01RedDX]

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