Tyre sealant ripoff

[RuaridhOC]

I have an Auris Hybrid Excel, 2015; it has, by default of course, no spare tyre but a can of sealant and a compressor.   Manual says do not use sealant past expiry date. I have just found that my can of sealant is marked for expiry December 2020.  I have just had the damn thing serviced by a Toyota main dealer at vast expense, and nobody looked at that. I wouldn't mind so much, but by not bothering to tell you about it they are leaving you driving round on a potential disaster. When I raised the question, I was told that a new can of the Toyota official stuff would cost 40-odd pounds. Ouch!!!  Does anybody know whether anybody turns out an alternative at anything like a sensible price?

[TonyHSD]

Hi,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303506971578

this is all that you need and an air compressor, works much better than any sealant plus the tyre can be permanently fixed using it. , or if you prefer you can just buy a bottle of any other non genuine Toyota sealant, works the same . https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401910669482
👍🚗

[FROSTYBALLS]

Checking the tyre sealant use by date has never been part of the Toyota service schedules.

Quite a few members have bought Slime tyre repair kits  previously to replace the original sealant - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Slime-CRK0305-Smart-Tyre-Repair/dp/B003QHY000/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=slime+tyre+repair+kit+for+cars&qid=1622922444&sr=8-5

 

[furtula]

Sad that such a solution forces you to throw out the tire that could be perfectly good otherwise, but the sealant permanently ruins it.

I would opt out for compressor and the repair kit, as noted by TonyHSD.

 

[flash22]

For £40 get a space saver, better than a can of gunk, new tpms sensor and a potential clean up charge or a 2-3 hour wait for anything more than a 5mm hole

[1.8 hybrid]

get a can of tyre weld or similar and a compressor if a tyre goes down pump it up and get it repaired

you only have to use the sealant if the tyre keeps going down on a journey,

with the toyota system you have to use the sealant when you use the pump and then tyre bays dont

like repairing tyres that have the sealant in them as they have to be cleaned out before a repair can be done.

or as flash has said get a spare wheel you may have to buy a jack and wheel brace as well.

 

[Catlover]

A friend of mine carries the first alternative Tony listed in the second post. I have seen him use it and it works very well. You do have to get more involved then just pouring some sealant in, and have a pump of some sort ie plug-in compressor or the popular rechargeable Battery operated compressor.

[Gerg]

14 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303506971578

this is all that you need and an air compressor,

I have used this exact item a for a few punctures over the last few years.  On one puncture, it didn't work first time, but subsequently did with another plug inserted.  If you don't mind grubbing around to locate where the culprit is, and are able to get to a safe place to do this, then this definitely is worth knowing about.  Out of curiosity, I left one of these repairs in for about 7 months or so until the tyre was worn out.  It held up - it required no more inflation than the other three tyres.

Ultimately, I'm not sure of the legality of these types of repairs.  As a get-you-home, they can be very useful.  I don't mind driving with one in for an 'extended' period.  But I'm not sure about wife or children having one left in any longer than necessary.  I don't think the AA, or their equivalent, would fit one of these for you at the roadside, but then that's to be expected, given their responsibilities and high-profile.

My local tyre dealer (a Ford fast-fit, occasionally miserable) refused to repair the tyre after he knew one of these repairs was in it.  But then he would, wouldn't he?

I don't think this repair kit will 'go-off' over time and is cheap and small.  If I lost mine then I would definitely want another one to have to hand, just in case - there are times when a 'safety spare' has its limitations, and is a bind to have it fitted on the car!

This kit can buy you time, if used by someone who is willing to keep an eye on it...

[TonyHSD]

42 minutes ago, Gerg said:

I have used this exact item a for a few punctures over the last few years.  On one puncture, it didn't work first time, but subsequently did.  If you don't mind grubbing around to locate where the culprit is, and are able to get to a safe place to do this, then this definitely is worth knowing about.  Out of curiosity, I left one of these repairs in for about 7 months or so until the tyre was worn out.  It held up - it required no more inflation than the other three tyres.

Ultimately, I'm not sure of the legality of these types of repairs.  As a get-you-home, they can be very useful.  I don't mind driving with one in for an 'extended' period.  But I'm not sure about wife or children having one left in any longer than necessary.  I don't think the AA, or their equivalent, would fit one of these for you at the roadside, but then that's to be expected, given their responsibilities and high-profile.

My local tyre dealer (a Ford fast-fit, occasionally miserable) refused to repair the tyre after he knew one of these repairs was in it.  But then he would, wouldn't he?

I don't think this repair kit will 'go-off' over time and is cheap and small.  If I lost mine then I would definitely want another one to have to hand, just in case - there are times when a 'safety spare' has its limitations, and is a bind to have it fitted on the car!

This kit can buy you time, if used by someone who is willing to keep an eye on it...

Hi, 

I have been using these repair kits for many years, once had done correctly it’s a lifetime repair although tyre repair shops will say otherwise and will offer proper repair, legally not sure however I had pass many mot test without any problems. Here is my latest example, second day after new tyres were fitted last year I found a nail in, horrible place, done with that kit and no issues ever since. 30K + motorway miles. My dad has in his car for over 4 years without issues too, but he doesn’t drive much. I will take some new pictures and share how looks after a year drive.👍

[TonyHSD]

Here is the picture of the repair after an year of daily use. 

[Catlover]

I ordered one of those kits like Tony used, off eBay, you get loads of tyre repair stuff for around £8.50, for that you get nine “strings” of fill thread, so I opted out for kit with three strings for less then £4. I can’t remember when I last had a puncture, hope the run last many years.

[MagicBoy]

Mine's got a space saver. Guessing they added it back in at the facelift due to customer feedback?

[Andrew B.]

On 6/5/2021 at 9:45 PM, flash22 said:

For £40 get a space saver, better than a can of gunk, new tpms sensor and a potential clean up charge or a 2-3 hour wait for anything more than a 5mm hole

I second this recommendation, gunk and compressor only successfully rectifies a small percentile and ruins the tyre.  Having the facelift model I have the spare and feel secure that if I get a flat, I can change it quickly.

[Mooly]

I must admit I have one of these kits with the 'sticky strings' you force into the hole although I never used it for real (yet). Officially these are only suitable for off road use and must not be used on public roads (certainly in the UK). The internet is full of videos showing these being applied and some showing the view from inside a tyre. One also shows the string being coated in rubber cement first which I have never seen mentioned before.

This video is interesting and shows the other side of the coin as it were... why you should not use these things. I wonder what the insurance implications would be if a defect repaired with one of these later failed catastrophically.   

https://youtu.be/mdTAalpkSLM

[DaddyBaddy]

Fortunately my Auris came with a space saver spare wheel, which is a somewhat of a rarity nowadays having looked at many new cars over the past year  

If you get a full on blow out or have your sidewall slashed / split, a can of slime and a compressor won’t be much use. 

Also, the cigarette lighter sockets in the Auris can be prone to popping fuses if overloaded (by a compressor say) then you really are up the creek!

Spare wheels are worth their weight in gold. 

[RuaridhOC]

Thank you everybody.  Nobody mentions Holts' Tyreweld - seems quite cheap & simple as a get-you-home solution for those who aren't likely to be very vigorous at the roadside. Also available on Amazon etc. So what's what's wrong with it?

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, RuaridhOC said:

Thank you everybody.  Nobody mentions Holts' Tyreweld - seems quite cheap & simple as a get-you-home solution for those who aren't likely to be very vigorous at the roadside. Also available on Amazon etc. So what's what's wrong with it?

Ok, I have a positive experience with that stuff and still have a can for emergency, however many people are saying that this thing will cause damage to valves especially if the car has tyre pressure monitoring system, I only used on few occasions on older cars which were not equipped with that extra and never had an issue. Both time I used were because I couldn’t find the hole or nail to repair with my infamous kit from previous posts, I successfully repaired slow puncture due to the small damage in the wheel. If your car has no TPMS you can use one of these cans without any worries. If it’s a nail in better to use like my kit , my puncture repair still holds after 30k miles, and over 12 months and I am sure will do till the end of the life of that tyre. 

[RuaridhOC]

Thanks TonyHSD for sharing your very useful experience

[TonyHSD]

40 minutes ago, RuaridhOC said:

Thanks TonyHSD for sharing your very useful experience

You are welcome  👍

[Roy124]

Another occasion to use tyre weld is the slow leak.  I think mag alloy wheels can have a slow leak.  I used the tyre weld on one leaky wheel with an instant fix and no problems. 

I had plenty left too and it was still active 20 years later though I only checked as I discarded it.

 

 

[Biomecanoid]

On 6/11/2021 at 9:22 PM, DaddyBaddy said:

Fortunately my Auris came with a space saver spare wheel, which is a somewhat of a rarity nowadays having looked at many new cars over the past year  

If you get a full on blow out or have your sidewall slashed / split, a can of slime and a compressor won’t be much use. 

Also, the cigarette lighter sockets in the Auris can be prone to popping fuses if overloaded (by a compressor say) then you really are up the creek!

Spare wheels are worth their weight in gold. 

The air compressor should be connected directly to the Battery bypassing all electrical circuits. 

[Cyker]

I trialled some stuff called PunctureSafe on my old Mk1 D4D years ago - At the time I was having some awful bad luck with punctures - The stuff just gets squirted into the tyre and stays in it, and automatically seals punctures as they happen.

Actually worked really well; Never had a single deflation problem while I was using it, and as a bonus the slow loss of air due to the garbage alloys Toyota used on the Mk1 was completely gone; Previously I had to check and top-off the tyres by a few PSI every month or so.

The only reason I stopped using it was because at motorway speeds, it created a really nasty imbalance like a wheel weight had fallen off or something, and it also increased the rolling resistance noticeably, esp. when coasting.

I'd like to try some tyres with built-in puncture sealant, e.g. the Continental's ContiSeal, but they're expensive and really hard to source in normal tyre sizes for some reason.

Nothing beats a spare tyre tho'!

[mrpj]

On 6/6/2021 at 6:59 PM, TonyHSD said:

Here is the picture of the repair after an year of daily use. 

The location of that "repair" looks borderline for the allowed repairable area Tony?

I use this handy gauge to check -  https://www.etyres.co.uk/repairable-area-gauge

For some reason that link doesn't work but is accessible on their website.

A spaceaver and kit inclusion was a deal breaker when I bought my Yaris. At the time it came with a compressor and goo.

 

 

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, mrpj said:

The location of that "repair" looks borderline for the allowed repairable area Tony?

I use this handy gauge to check -  https://www.etyres.co.uk/repairable-area-gauge

For some reason that link doesn't work but is accessible on their website.

A spaceaver and kit inclusion was a deal breaker when I bought my Yaris. At the time it came with a compressor and goo.

 

 

Hi, you are right and thank you for sharing that information. I thought about but since is fixed it hasn’t caused any defects or shape change of the tyre therefore I believe it’s safe and ok to use. Perhaps because it’s on the top of the square thread that is usually stronger structure., if it was between the protector in the canal would have not been possible to repair. 

Regards 
 

[RuaridhOC]

Thank you for all your thoughts; about Holts' Tyreweld, I bit the bullet and bought a can off Amazon for less than a quarter of what Toyota want to rush you for their own-brand gunk - and it inflates the tyre for you at the same time, so less chance of blowing a fuse with a compressor.

And the label says: "Safe for use with tyre-pressure monitoring systems", which is encouraging.  Admittedly, it also says you should pop into your friendly local tyre-repair shop as soon as you can, but that just makes sense to me anyway.

Cheers