alloy wheels and slow punctures

[rooster63]

Following on from an earlier post regarding leaking steel cored valves it would appear at the moment it was only 1 tyre with a slow puncture, the others seem OK and as stated in earlier post the tyre company cleaned up the inside of the suspect wheel and so far so good. Coincidently whilst sorting out a few jobs on the van the window cleaner called, he is always very interested in what is going on with the van (I think he would like one himself but the wife isn't keen) so I was telling him about the saga with the tyres/wheels and he said he had exactly the same problem with alloy wheels on his car and had to have them acid cleaned etc and has had no problem since. Might have to go down that route sometime but it will be a bit annoying if it is only 1 wheel as that will look as good as new compared with the other 3.

[breakaleg]

Hi Rooster63,

Had the same problem a few years back on my car with alloy wheels, after a new tyre had been fitted, they took the tyre off, sanded the rim and refitted the tyre, never had a problem with it again.

Pete

[Derek Uzzell]

rooster63 - 2022-02-08 10:38 AM

 

...Coincidently whilst sorting out a few jobs on the van the window cleaner called, he is always very interested in what is going on with the van (I think he would like one himself but the wife isn't keen) so I was telling him about the saga with the tyres/wheels and he said he had exactly the same problem with alloy wheels on his car and had to have them acid cleaned etc and has had no problem since. Might have to go down that route sometime but it will be a bit annoying if it is only 1 wheel as that will look as good as new compared with the other 3.

 

'Acid cleaning' is unlikely to cure the types of air-leaks normally experienced with alloy wheels.

 

This question was asked online

 

How can you remove corrosion on aluminum wheels, especially on the inside, so that a slow wheel leak will go away? What chemicals to use to remove inner wheel corrosion?

 

and the following advice - that I agree with - was provided by Davina Smith (Cross Dressing since puberty)

 

I really don't think you are going to stop a slow leak that way. When you say “slow leak” , I am going to assume it is not a leak in the tire.

 

Wheels leak a lot around the valve stem, even new ones with sensors! Wheel porosity is so very rare but it does happen. Best to be cleaned well from the inside with the tire removed. Then a good coat of epoxy that flows will seal that kind of leak.

 

But the most common is what I am guessing you have. The tire/wheel assembly leaks around the bead where the tire meets the rim. This is pretty common from corrosion. Again, I don't think you can seal it without removing the tire.

 

Then you have the option of buffing the wheel down smooth and if you want, they make a tire bead sealer compound that is like super thick tar. I have used it on old rusty steel wheels with great success.

 

A lot of those leaks occur after you hammer in the wheel weight when balancing. No good fix without removing the tire. If you ever had to change a tire with stop-leak in it, well, you only do that once.

 

https://www.quora.com/How-can-you-remove-corrosion-on-aluminum-wheels-especially-on-the-inside-so-that-a-slow-wheel-leak-will-go-away-What-chemicals-to-use-to-remove-inner-wheel-corrosion