Tires losing air

I got a new tires for my 2001 dodge stratus with 85,000 on it. I have had to fill the air a few times and took it back. They said the rim needed to be cleaned and resealed again, why did they not do this the first time when the new tires were put on? Well they charged me $45 for all 4 which I knew was a pretty good deal so instead of arguing I just did it. Well same problem and now they are saying I have to replace the rims. I would not have thought much about it until he said “all dodges and chryslers need rims replaced at that mileage” So instead of buying rims I made appointment for next week so I could research this.

I grew up at a repair shop so I thought that was a fishy statement and thought they could have skipped out on these basic services to make more commissions. The only times I have seen rims that needed to be replaced was with dents and such and I have a few scratches but nothing more than that. I stopped into a few shops and they are saying they don’t need to be replaced just put on right.



Has anyone ever heard of rims on dodge and chrysler vehicles needing to replaced around 80,000 miles?

Also wanted to add that this was a major chain and not a local shop.
Thanks for any input.

You need a second opinion. Go someplace else. They should be able to find the leak. I “might” believe it if one tire had an issue, but to have all of them having a problem is troubling. My first thought is valve stems, but enen there, hard to believe they all failed at the same time. I bet on installation error.

If the wheels are of alloy construction, rather than steel, it IS possible for them to lose air as a result of becoming porous. This issue does not seem to be confined to any one make of car, and is a known issue with some alloy wheels.

Are these alloy wheels?

The “All Dodges and Chryslers” story is bogus, as you know.

It is possible, however, for alloy wheels to leak. I have this problem on one of my cars. It’s very annoying, but I’ve learned to live with it.

However, if you didn’t have this problem before you got new tires, it’s unlikely that the wheels are leaking. And if your car has steel wheels, they are NOT leaking.

It’s also true that tires lose pressure as the air temperature decreases, so tires mounted indoors, where the air temperature is 65-70 degrees, will lose pressure if the car is parked outside in winter. But I don’t think that’s your problem.

I think your problem is “major chain and not a local shop.” Major chains depend on volume to make money. The get you in and they send you out, as quickly as possible. Convenient, aren’t they? But they lose money if they have to do anything “extra” to your car, such as remount the tires, so they tell you lies to make you go away.

Local shops, on the other hand, thrive on customer service and repeat business. They want you to be happy, and they will usually do whatever it takes to make sure you are happy with your purchase.

Dodge and Chrysler vehicles do NOT need to have their wheels replaced at 80K miles. This is the biggest load of BS I’ve heard in some time. How do they think they can get away with something so outrageous? Go back and DEMAND they do the job correctly. You paid for new tires, they shouldn’t be a problem.

Yes they are alloy wheels.
I am going to demand that they fix it right.
Thanks to all of you for your valuable input!

I am having the same problem with one wheel on my 1999 Olds Aurora, and read recently something in Popular Mechanics about this problem with alloy wheels. I didn’t believe it could be true. I don’t know what I’ll do eventually, but for now I’ve bought a compressor that runs from my lighter connection that will inflate a tire quickly, and I just watch the tire and reinflate it every few days.

Like others have said, if you didn’t have this problem before the tire change, it is EXTREMELY unlikely that all four wheels suddenly developed leaks, same for valve stems. Some possibilities are: they damaged the rims (unlikely they damaged all, though); the tires are from a defective batch (what brand/model are they?); and the ‘it’s getting colder’ option.

Pump the tires up to 40psi or so and spray the valve stems with soapy water. I bet that’s where you will find the leaks…On alloy wheels, salt gets into the machined hole and corrodes it and the stems will no longer seal. This problem CAN be repaired…

How quickly do the tires lose air?

They took advantage of you. Unless you have two piece wheels on your car there is no need to reseal the wheels. They either reused the valve stems or ripped the beading on the tire (Part of the tire you can’t see while it is attached to the wheel). Have an honest shop look at the tire to see if they ripped the bead or reused the old valve stems. If they ripped the bead replace the tires at the honest shop and have the first shop refund your money - if they refuse, take them to court because they’ve had the tires off the wheels twice and refused to notice the ripped bead. If it turns out that they reused the valve stems and you weren’t charged for them at the first shop just replace them and learn from the experience.
I think the honest shop will find a ripped bead.

In addition to the issue of alloy wheels, the OP should inspect his tire valves to see if they are Dill brand valves. Unfortunately, that formerly respected company decided to have valves manufactured in China, and as we have come to expect, these Chinese-made products are cheaply made and are frequently defective.

Just as surely as your child could be killed or made very ill by comtaminated Chinese milk products or by lead-infused Chinese-made toys, and just as surely as your dog could be killed by contaminated Chinese-made dog food, car owners could suffer serious consequences from the failure of cheap Chinese-made tire valves.

If you go to http://www.tirevalverecall.net/ you can view images of the defective valves and read information on how to have them replaced, gratis.

“Demand” is not the right way to approach this.

  1. A leaky alloy rim is hard to diagnose. The leaks are slow and simply dunking the tires isn’t long enough timewise to find that particular problem. For this reason many tire shops have difficulty finding the leaks - not to mention that the shop wants to get you in and out as quickly as possible.

  2. Fixing porous alloy rims involves either sealing the existing rims - a time consuming process - or replacing the rims - and expensive process. So which do you want: Pay for their time or pay for the rims?

The son works at an auto service center where he has the task of getting alloy wheels to stop leaking. And this is what he does.

First the sealing bead of the wheel must be cleaned of all oxidation. Then the bead is inspected for pitting, which is the #1 reason for alloy wheels to leak because of the moisture in air. If any pitting found, these pits then are filled with an aluminum based epoxy compound. This is then sanded to restore a smooth sealing bead. He then fills the tire nitrogen. Since nitrogen contains no moisture this prevents further pitting of the sealing bead of the wheel. If he finds that the alloy casting itself has become porious again because of oxidation due to moisture, he applies a special rubberized sealer to the inside of the wheel.

After servicing hundreds of alloy wheels for this problem because of the damage due to moisture, he’s now a firm believer in filling the tires with nitrogen if they’re mounted on alloy wheels

Tester

i"ve had alloy rims on my Lincoln for years.with new tires or whatever tires the same problem? my mechanic took off the tires and steel brushed the rims to death and put extra sealant on the tires. o.k.for a while, than this one leaks the other one leaks i find the leaks by putting liquid soap all around the rim and after awhile there are the bubbles. my mechanic hates alloys. if it"s a slow leak it will take a little time for the bubbles to appear. i just put up with it and put in air on occasion. do not ride to long before you put air in — the tires will wear?

I have a 1999 Pontiac Grand Pre with aluminum alloy wheels. We have been traveling a good deal of the time in our RV and the Pontiac sits in the garage. I replaced the original Good(for a few)years at 35,000 miles and now am at 78,000 with the replacement Michelons. A few months ago, I began to experience the same problem: two or three tires would lose several pounds of pressure. I had the tire dealer reset the first problem tire for $20 and it seems to be holding up. But the other three are now losing air. Sure seems like that alloy problem. I bought those green-red glow valve stem covers at Wal-Mart and they help me monitor the air loss and respond. I think the best answer for me is to get a compressor and keep the tires up to snuff here at the house. It’s a shame that GM did not anticipate this problem. But the wheels sure are pretty.