Low tire pressure?
Posted by EuphoricAttitude13@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 15 comments
One of my tires keeps dropping to 28 psi. They're normally above 35. I've put air in it and it just drops to 28 but it's slow it never happens drastically. I did drive it all week without putting air in it and it stayed at 28, sometimes was at 29 but it never got any lower.
Is this a small leak or?
Siegepkayer67@reddit
Probably the valve stem leaking and once it hits 28 PSI it no longer has the necessary pressure to push through where it’s leaking, had this happen on Subaru but at 25 PSI not 28
JonJackjon@reddit
Same thing happened to me. There was a nail in my tire.
DifficultFrosting742@reddit
Its a small leak. Take it to a garage. They'll find it. This is common.
Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit
Go to a tire shop.
prairie-man@reddit
a very small leak that stops leaking at 28psi.
take the wheel/tire off the car, air it up to 40psi and start hunting for small air bubbles. get a bucket of soapy water and start slowly working your way around the tire, the valve stem and the bead.
Zealousideal_Put_501@reddit
Sometimes with small leaks, I’ll wet down the whole tire, and wait until most of the water evaporates. The leaking spot will normally have a cluster of little bubbles. Small leaks can be hard to trace, be sure to check inside the valve stem, where you add air, both beads, sidewalls, and sometimes even the metal wheel for damage.
SOTG_Duncan_Idaho@reddit
It's a leak. Just take it to a shop.
Even if you do see an obvious leak, unless you are prepared to patch the tire yourself, there's no point in trying to diagnose it yourself. If it's not a nail or whatever in the tire, then it's still something you are not going to be able to fix yourself such as a bad bead seal or a leaky valve stem.
MarkVII88@reddit
Well no shit it's a small, slow leak. Try inspecting the tire to see if you notice any nails or screws sticking into it. Or take it to a tire shop, have them look at it for a diagnosis. A tire doesn't lose 7psi if there's no leak somewhere.
E90BarberaRed6spdN52@reddit
So you may have a rim leak if they are aluminum wheels since corrosion can cause slow leaks. Also the valve stem can have a crack too. If the tires are old and getting dry rot they can leak when cold until they heat up, etc.
Take it in to get it checked or worst case even though I hate the crap get a can of stop leak and put about 1/3 into the tire to see if it resolves the matter.
Admiral_peck@reddit
Slime is best
experimentalengine@reddit
Probably a small leak from a nail or similar, most chain tire shops repair these for free. If it’s near/on the shoulder of the tread they won’t repair it and if they do, there’s risk that the leak will get worse than it is now, since there’s a lot of motion in the tire at that location.
Someone else mentioned using a tire sealant; don’t do that. Just get it fixed.
ThePartyLeader@reddit
my money is on bent rim.
Tasty_Two4260@reddit
Having the exact same issue with my Cadillac and a low air pressure warning. I’ve been filling with air from my compressor every couple weeks and the cycle repeats.
I need to have the tires rotated (Discount Tire) and rebalanced so when doing that will have them check for a leak - exactly as mentioned using soapy water sprayed on the tread after pumping up the pressure.
The only reason I’m not doing this myself is I’ve got their tire warranty and they’ll fix anyone’s flat for free (but not always balancing) and I don’t want to do a repair myself on a $400+ tire.
Hydraulis@reddit
It's likely just a slow leak (possibly centered on the valve). It's possible that when the pressure is reduced to a certain point, the leak seals itself, or slows enough to stop having a large effect.
vaoks00@reddit
A cheap way to figure this out is to locate potential leak points in the tread, and use a water bottle filled with dish soap. Drill a hole in the cap and use it to squirt soap water into the potential leak points. If it is a leak, you’ll see small bubbles extruding at a constant pace. This is a cheap and pretty concrete way to tell if you have a leak somewhere on your tire. Hope this helps!