12 replies to this topic

[mcbowen]

I have a rover mini 1992, the tyres on the mini go flat (about 5 PSI) it takes about a week after being pumped up too 25 PSI all the tyres are fairly new only a few months old. Is there any reason for this? thanks James

[Gremlin]

Have you got alloys, how were they put on to the wheels, have you looked round the tyre for nails/screws?

Edit: Spelling

Edited by Gremlin, 15 January 2014 - 04:53 PM.

[mcbowen]

Yes have alloys, not too sure what you mean by how where they put on I took them to a local garage to be fitted, i'm pretty sure its nothing to do with nails as the old tyres used to go flat pretty often aswell, was hoping that the new tyres would fix the problem.

[RyanBebo]

Might have damaged valves, take them to the garage that fitted them and get them to check them for you. 

[rodandtom]

Check the inside edges of the rims. If there are indentations or rough edges then you sometimes will get a bad seal and hence let air out

 

Rod

[mcbowen]

Ok thanks for the advice will take it to the garage and see what they say. James

[1984mini25]

Take a wheel off (the one that seams to go flat the fastest) lay it down so its flat and then pour a some water with a few drops of washing up liquid mixed around the bead of the tyre and the rim and the valve. You'll soon see if the wheel is leaking when you get loads of bubbles, either in just ones spot or all he way round. 2 fixes, both requiring the tyres to be removed, is to either use a rubbery sealant between the tyre and the rim to seal it. Or the proper longer lasting way is to remove any lose of flaky paint and corrosion on the bead of the rim and then repaint.

[Gremlin]

The reason I asked where they were put on, (I realise now I should have said how) is that if they were put on down me mate Jim's house because he's got some big tyre levers, you may have damaged the rim or tyre

[AVV IT]

My solution is usually to take each wheel off and dunk it in some water to find the leak, (in a similar way that you would to find a puncture on a bicycle inner tube). A childs paddling pool is ideal for this (as is a small child for that matter  ). I did actually use the bath once for this instead, but the missus went absolutely nuts!!

 

 

What often happens (especially with old alloys) is that the rim corrodes under the tyre bead, meaning that the tyre doesn't seal against the rim properly and you get slow leaks like this. If this is the case and you get air bubbles coming from around the edge of the rim when using the "wheel dunking method "above, then you really have little choice but to have the tyre removed and sort the problem. A full refurb is the ideal solution, but if the rim is otherwise in good condition, I have in the past removed the offending corrosion, and then repainted just the outer side of the rim (i.e. the bit under the tyre) with smoothrite or similar and then refitted the tyre.

 

Below is a minilite that was leaking under the tyre bead. It looked to be in pretty good condition from the outside, but with the tyre removed you can see the corrosion underneath, and why it was leaking.

 

[timmy850]

I was having a similar problem after I swapped the inner tubes for valves. The valve holes in the wheels were slightly bigger than standard and they put in standard sized valves originally. I could wiggle the valve around and it would leak around the edges. They put in a larger valve and it's fine now

[jaydee]

Probably tyres need replacing or rims need a refurb, check as per AVVIT post.

And tyre pressure should never be below 28 psi on your mini, better to inflate to 30-32 psi for road use.

[HUBBA.HUBBA]

A lot of the time its the valve. Put a but of spit on the valve and see if it bubbles or use leak detecting fluid

[adampat84]

After all these posts the most sensible option:

Take the wheel off rotate 180○, put back on!

Its only flat at the bottom!

:)