Hello Lou,
My wife and I drove from Toronto to the Laurentians last winter. Before we left home, I inflated the winter tires to the recommended pressure. The morning after we arrived I noticed one of the tires was flat. I inflated it with an air compressor and by the next morning it was flat again. I repeated the inflation with the same result by the next morning. Both nights were extremely cold. I inflated the tire on the third day and the pressure held all that day and the following night. The next day it was still good and I drove the 20 kilometres in to the nearest Toyota dealer to have the tire checked.
They did all their standard testing and could find nothing wrong with the tire. This was done at no charge to us. The service person said it could have been a stone in the rim causing the problem. Have you experienced this type of issue with stones causing tire leaks? – John F.
Every so often a stone gets wedged in between the rim lip and the tire. But it is a rare occurrence and even more rare that it manages to free itself on its own. Usually when this happens it is a larger stone that has been forced in there by an impact from a pothole. Almost always the stone causes a noticeable leak that audibly hisses and can easily be detectable by the driver. So, while the answer to your question is technically a yes, I highly doubt a small stone is the culprit.
The more likely answer is that the leak was caused by a sticking Schrader valve located in the tire stem. If I had to guess, I would say that when you initially inflated the tire before your road trip a small piece of debris became trapped and prevented the valve from returning to its fully closed position. A subsequent small leak occurred and persisted even after reinflating the tire several times. After multiple inflations that tiny spec of debris finally moved out of position and the valve finally closed fully.
If it happens again, remove the plastic cap and spay the valve with a small amount of soapy water. Any leak will be immediately revealed.
Lou Trottier is owner-operator of All About Imports in Mississauga. Have a question about maintenance and repair? E-mail globedrive@globeandmail.com, placing “Lou’s Garage” in the subject line.
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