Fixing a flat in Minnesota

I have a slow leak in a tire that gets worse in the subarctic climate in which I live. Three electric inflators have failed to work, probably also because of the cold. The tire is too flat to drive on, and tire pumps seem to have gone the way of the model T. Short of buying an oil-less air compressor or having the car towed, is there any good way of inflating it?

Don’t you have a spare tire ? If not and you have the fixit flat stuff you could use that . What about a friend who would take it to a tire shop for you ?

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The fixaflat won’t work and will just mess things up. No spare? Then you need to safely jack up and support the vehicle and find a way to get the wheel to a shop - someone who can address it while you wait if need be. Good luck and please let us know how it goes.

A spare can probably be found fairly inexpensively at a wrecking yard.

Talk about eliminating all possibilities. It takes air pressure to blow a tire up and that comes from compressors. They do freeze up in the winter though so bring it inside. Not the little Walmart variety though, but at least a small nail gun type compressor.

Or simply call AAA or your motor club service and they will come out and either change the tire or blow it up. likely though you have a leak at the rim due to rust on the wheel. Take it to a tire shop then and they will clean the wheel and reseal it.

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It’s worked for me on tubeless tires several times.

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Been there, done that. I’m feeling your pain. Fed-Ex it to me The wheel/tire, not the whole car). I’ll pump that baby right up and send it right back as soon as I get off the golf course! It’s 82* F outside here and 80* F inside (doors open, I’ve got a breeze going through).
CSA
:palm_tree: :sunglasses::palm_tree:

Did it do the job permanently, or just enough to get out of a jam? I was thinking that here in Minnesota in winter the low temperature, and the likelihood of rust around the bead, and who knows what’s wrong with the tire, would combine to make fixaflat an unlikely remedy. Saying it won’t work is, I admit, an overstatement.

I did use it one summer in Montana. It got me to a tire shop, where the guy was not happy about that stuff in there, and he couldn’t find a leak. Somewhere down the road the tire was low again. I had another shop have a look and they fixed it.

Better yet, he/she/it/er/them can just swing by and take one of my compressors. I’ve got three which is one too many. I’d rather give it away than take it to the pawn shop for $5. It’s pretty blue too.

I use a hand pump. It’s worked below 0°. Maybe Slime? I haven’t had good luck with it on bicycle tires.

Remove the wheel from the vehicle and use another vehicle to take the tire to your home or a local shop where the repair/inflation job can be done in relative warmth. If that’s simply impossible you’ll have to warm the tire by building an enclosure that you can warm enough to thaw the tire out somehow.

Both.

I used it once to stop a leak that I never did find, I used it to get to a gas station (at night, so it was closed) so I could install a plug, and I used it to follow up later with a proper patch repair.

I recommend staying away from the flammable formulas, but perhaps in a cold climate, those might be the only ones that work.

The biggest problem in cold weather is getting a good seal on the tire valve with those small compressors. Sometimes, the valve core freezes up from moisture in the air already in the tire. The key is to warm things up. A hair dryer might help a lot.

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The car is in my garage, with the tire in question too close to the wall to change manually. I have ordered some flat fixer to try that. Otherwise, I’ll have to have it towed out of the garage.

My FIL has one of these- https://www.harborfreight.com/5-gallon-portable-air-tank-65594.html?cid=paid_google|||65594&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&mkwid=s|pcrid|404400961420|pkw||pmt||pdv|c|slid||product|65594|&pgrid=88898175111&ptaid=pla-297490932225&pcid=8437979929&intent=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItZTLkeeF5wIVjI3ICh1V-QzREAQYAiABEgJT7_D_BwE

He goes to the gas station or local air station to fill it up and stores it in his shed. Fills car tires, lawn tractors, snow blowers etc. Much cheaper than a compressor but not as convenient either.

in garage? dry pavement? back it out. 10ft wont kill tire. now jack it up. bring it in house. let it warm up. than proceed

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Or just back it out, take the wheel off, and get the thing fixed properly. Warming it up won’t fix the leak, and fix-a-flat should only be used on a temporary basis, and with the understanding that there’s a definite possibility that you will royally hack off the guy who has to fix it because now he has to deal with all the goo.

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a tire sitting on kitchen floor is easier to pump up. then throw it on car and drive to shop.

Of all the rooms in a house, you choose the kitchen floor to pump up a tire?
:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
Reminds of a buddy when we were younger- decided to rebuild the motor from his Harley in the kitchen. Had the bike on a crate off to the side, motor on the floor and was cleaning carb parts on the table…GF left him short time after. She disagreed with the motor needing to be rebuilt :wink:

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Why can’t you drive or push it out of the garage to get to the wheel and mount a spare?

You can either pump it up and roll it out before it deflates, or just roll it out while it’s flat, although that would take more force.

As long as you only take it out of the garage, it shouldn’t damage the rim.

A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do! :grimacing:
:palm_tree: :sunglasses: :palm_tree:

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