All tires losing air overnight -- what's up?

[FastCarFan]

A woman I work with has as 2002 Olds Intrigue. She said her husband has to add air to ALL 4 tires every morning. I asked her how much air they lose & she said 1 tire loses about 10 lbs a day.

She took the car to a local tire store & she was told that she needed new wheels. They said the wheels were corroded & no longer hold air well.

She has the factory aluminum wheels.

She is taking it to another tire store for a second opinion. She does not want to buy wheels because she plans to trade in the car soon.

It would be one thing if 1 wheel would not hold air. Maybe she hit a pothole or a curb. But all 4? The car is not that old & only has 66,000 miles on it. It is in great condition.

Any idea what could be causing the problem? Bad (i.e., rotted) valve steps? Could it be the wheels? Has anyone heard of a problem with Oldsmobile wheels?

Thanks!

[KFC911]

Where are they leaking? A tire leak that loses 10 lbs per day should be easy to detect if submerged (or sprayed) with water.

[id10t]

She piss off any local teenagers (or "grown" men?) lately?

[Tim Hancock]

Old corroding aluminum wheels often do leak. Thankfully all my aluminum wheels are of good quality and are not corroded where the tire bead contacts them. I seem to remember back in the day, that a good fix was to take them down, clean them well then slobber a bunch of paint on the corroded pitted surfaces.

[fingpilot]

The corrosion on the tire bead lifts the tire off of the rim. It leaks.

Wire wheel the beads, then some sort of corrosion-inhibiting paint is all you can do. Some monkey snot as it goes back together might slow down the eventual re-corrosion.

[fuelie600]

Check the schrader valves to see if they are tight. Some POS tire stores will leave them loose to sell more tires & service. Just like A/C shops to sell A/C service....

b*stards!

[azasadny]

I had leaks like that in my Firestone tires on my '98 Ford Explorer that were recalled. It was the tires, after they were replaced by the dealer with Goodyears, I never lost air again.

[tabs]

Well at least they havn't caught me at it yet...

[on2wheels52]

My wife's Lexus has that problem, factory chrome/aluminum wheels. Problem started on its fourth set of tires. The cure has been to dismount and wire wheel the corrosion off the bead seat area. All four have needed attention, one twice. My tire guy has seen the same on a few other similar constructed wheels. I probably won't check that option box the next time.
Jim

[bell]

my pos nissan p/u loses about 10lbs a day on the 2 front wheels.....heavy corrosion where the bead is....tried grinding and massive amounts of bead sealer to no avail.

[FastCarFan]

Thanks guys. Maybe it is caused by corroded wheels after all.

I am surprised, though, that GM did not put better wheels on the car. I used to work for GM &, in spite of the quality issues many people think the company has, I know that GM conducts some quite rigorous durability testing on major components. I visited the GM Proving Grounds on several occasions & the durability testing is very impressive.

Maybe she needs to fill up the tires & trade it in!

Thanks again.

[mattdavis11]

That's a new one to me. The passenger side tire on this one had dirt and rocks wedged in/near the bead and held air for 4 months.




I cleaned the debris out and threw it on this one. It still holds air.

Check the schrader valves first.

[CRH911S]

From a safety standpoint I'd take the worst tire off the rim and inspect the inner liner for cracks and/or other irregularities and the condition of the rubber surrounding the beads...even if the culprit is the wheel. For peace of mind.