Front Offside Tyre Needs More Air

[square1]

Most of my drives are passengerless so I'm guessing this is why the front offside tyre is the one that has always lost a discernible amount of pressure when I go to pump up my tyres, not that I'm obese of anything. I often find that the other three tyres don't need any air at all (if my Halfords home tyre inflator is to be trusted).

I would imagine that if I always had a full payload by contrast, all the tyres would deflate at roughly the same rate.

I have inspected the valve and it doesn't appear to be leaking, so I assume this is normal.

What do you find?

[Raistlin]

Do you have a slow leak ?

[Red Yaris 54]

Tyre deflation is not dependent on the load carried in your car or which corner is heaviest loaded

As said above you possibly have a slow puncture in the offending tyre.....This can be checked by virtually any high street tyre seller

As you do not seem too confident about the workings of your car, may I respectfully suggest that you look into taking a basic car maintenance course at your local night school .......This would certainly help you build confidence in your ability to understand the workings of your car

[square1]

Thanks for your advice. Unfortunately there just aren't any car maintenance courses in my area.

[Raistlin]

Didn't look too hard did you...

534 courses in Sussex so one must be near:

http://www.hotcourses.com/uk-courses/Car-Maintenance-courses-in-West-Sussex/hc2_search.adv_col_do/16180339/0/search_category/XS.1/qualification/Z,Y,Q,R,T,U,V,C/p_county_id/534/page.htm

[Cyker]

Pot holes, kerbing, road humps etc. can cause air loss on a tyre. If it was a slow puncture it would be much more noticeable, deflating to around 20-psi within a matter of days - If that's the case I'd take it to a tyre place and get it checked in a water bath or something.

If we're talking a few psi over the course of a week, it may be the rim has some imperfection, the tyre isn't seated 100% perfect or there is some contamination in the bead or valve which is allowing tiny amounts of air to escape over time.

These kind of leaks don't really show up very well in water baths because the air loss is so slow so it's hard to nail them down; Can try getting the tyre refitted or changes, or just put up with it until you need new tyres.

On a slight tangent, ever since I put the pucturesafe goop in my tyres I've had zero air loss at all, whereas previously I'd lose a few PSI over a couple of months due to the huge number of road humps and potholes my poor Yaris has to deal with.

(That said, I can't recommend the stuff unreservedly as it may cause imbalance vibrations at higher speeds, esp. motorway speeds. Bob hasn't had this with his IQ, but I get quite a nasty transient vibration above 65-ish :( )

[square1]

Didn't look too hard did you...

534 courses in Sussex so one must be near:

http://www.hotcourses.com/uk-courses/Car-Maintenance-courses-in-West-Sussex/hc2_search.adv_col_do/16180339/0/search_category/XS.1/qualification/Z,Y,Q,R,T,U,V,C/p_county_id/534/page.htm

They are either full-time or distance learning courses, which are not what I'm look for. I'll ask around though, you never know.

[square1]

Pot holes, kerbing, road humps etc. can cause air loss on a tyre. If it was a slow puncture it would be much more noticeable, deflating to around 20-psi within a matter of days - If that's the case I'd take it to a tyre place and get it checked in a water bath or something.

If we're talking a few psi over the course of a week, it may be the rim has some imperfection, the tyre isn't seated 100% perfect or there is some contamination in the bead or valve which is allowing tiny amounts of air to escape over time.

These kind of leaks don't really show up very well in water baths because the air loss is so slow so it's hard to nail them down; Can try getting the tyre refitted or changes, or just put up with it until you need new tyres.

It's probably a couple of psi a week and something I can put up with until it's time to replace them. Perhaps the previous owner bashed a kerb once.

[Cyker]

Hmm, that's a point, check the rim for damage too then! Excessive curbing can deform it slightly.

Also, how's the condition of your alloys? The stock alloys for a Mk1 were shockingly bad and very prone to corrosion. They didn't seal the backs properly so they'd start to corrode and, in my case, big chunks of the paint started flaking off!

If that gets to the rim or valve area, can also cause air loss.

[Planemo]

As has been suggested, I would put my money on a wheel rim leak. My Mitsubishi 4x4 had been faultless for years but it started to lose pressure in a front tyre - about 5psi a week. Couldn't find any nails/cuts etc. It was finally traced to a bad seal between the rim and the tyre - in the later months I had been using the vehicle to launch a jetski in sal******er using a front mounted towbar - the front wheels had often gone up to the hubs in water and the sal******er had worked it's way in. When the tyre was removed the corrosion was obvious. Live and learn!