# Flat tire that doesn't leak? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** honda\ **Created:** [April 4, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933 "2023-04-04T14:21:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 11:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/22 "2023-04-05T23:59:41Z")
> [@DougieL](#): > > I do recall the other day cutting a corner a little close, and hitting a curb on that side. Could that depressurize a tire? Yes. Whether that’s the cause of this particular flat tire, no idea. YOu’d think if the tire went flat by hitting the curb, you’d have noticed that right away. ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/23 "2023-04-06T00:07:32Z")
You initiated the calibration procedure, it will occur as you drive. The calibration can take up to 20 minutes of driving. ---
**Author:** ![DougieL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b19c9b/32.png) [@DougieL](https://community.cartalk.com/u/DougieL)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 3:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/24 "2023-04-06T15:49:43Z")
OK, but the alarm indicator, saying that tires need attention, goes off right away. You’d think that indicator would be reset AFTER the calibration is done. ---
**Author:** ![DougieL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b19c9b/32.png) [@DougieL](https://community.cartalk.com/u/DougieL)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 3:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/25 "2023-04-06T15:54:21Z")
I only drove a couple of miles after hitting the curb, so no, I wold not necessarily have noticed it. But how does that happen, when hitting a curb entirely depressurizes a tire, but doesn’t damage it? I did not hit it fast. Maybe 10mph as I was turning right. Right rear was deflated. I’ve hit curbs before, like that, and it’s never happened. ---
**Author:** ![eddo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/eddo/32/2594_2.png) [@eddo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/eddo)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/26 "2023-04-06T15:57:45Z")
> [@DougieL](#): > > BTW, the tire is still holding pressure. Weird. are you verifying with a tire pressure gauge? or just by visual inspection? if just using visual, you could still be losing air and not know it. ---
**Author:** ![DougieL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b19c9b/32.png) [@DougieL](https://community.cartalk.com/u/DougieL)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/27 "2023-04-06T17:16:46Z")
Tire gauge. I don’t judge whether a tire is holding pressure (e.g. 30psi vs 25psi) by visual inspection. It is holding pressure within a couple of psi, which is the visual accuracy of the gauge. I could have said that it just wasn’t flat, but I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/28 "2023-04-06T23:05:43Z")
> [@DougieL](#): > > But how does that happen, when hitting a curb entirely depressurizes a tire, but doesn’t damage it?.. 10mph as I was turning right. Right rear was deflated. I’ve hit curbs before, like that, and it’s never happened. I’ve never had that happen myself, but I diy’er install my own tires on my own rims, & by that experience it seems like if the tire got wedged against the curb, a bead unseating could happen even when parking, & would immediately deflate the tire. This seems unlikely in your case since the flat tire event took quite a while after the curb strike. ---
**Author:** ![DougieL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b19c9b/32.png) [@DougieL](https://community.cartalk.com/u/DougieL)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 2:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/29 "2023-04-07T14:11:23Z")
No, that’s not the case. We only drove a few miles between the curb strike and seeing that the tire was flat. So the curb strike COULD have been the cause. And yes, in principle, I can see how a curb strike could unseat the bead and deflate the tire. But people strike curbs ALL THE TIME, and I’ve never heard of a tire deflating as a result. If curb strikes deflated tires, you’d have everyone running around with flat tires! There is something kinda sketchy about this. ---
**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/30 "2023-04-07T14:58:51Z")
Curb strike can deflate a tire depending on how your hit it, most wheels also hit the curb keeping the curb from popping the bead, or the tire just pushes off of it, but a curb an deflate your tire, again it all depends on the point of contact… I’ve also seen many automatic car washes catch the tire just right and blow it out… lol ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 3:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/31 "2023-04-07T15:08:33Z")
> [@DougieL](#): > > people strike curbs ALL THE TIME I’m not sure about the accuracy of that statement. In 50+ years of driving, I have _scraped_ a tire on the curb a few times, but I have never “hit” a curb. I doubt that I am the only driver who can state this. ---
**Author:** ![DougieL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b19c9b/32.png) [@DougieL](https://community.cartalk.com/u/DougieL)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 2:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/32 "2023-04-08T14:36:08Z")
Yes, it must be pretty particular about how you hit a curb in order to unseat a tire. I probably drove over a few inches of the corner of a curb. BTW, in driving around I regularly see people clip curb corners when turning. Busses do it a whole lot. ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/33 "2023-04-08T15:28:53Z")
Had you unseated the bead, you would not have been able to inflate the tire without lifting the vehicle. Breaking the bead on a curb is a very unusual occurrence, one in a million chance. ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/34 "2023-04-08T19:14:51Z")
My money is on a very small nail or screw . . . it might even be under a small pebble lodged in the treads Sometimes that isn’t even enough I’ve had several cases where the nail isn’t even visible until dismounting the tire and you can see it from the inside A thorough visible inspection is often worth its weight in gold ---
**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/35 "2023-04-08T19:47:10Z")
> [@db4690](#): > > A thorough visible inspection is often worth its weight in gold running a rag around inside the tire can find them when eyes can’t sometimes also… ---
**Author:** ![shanonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@shanonia](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shanonia)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 11:09pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/36 "2023-04-08T23:09:04Z")
On bicycle tires we would sometimes use a cotton ball. ---
**Author:** ![DougieL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b19c9b/32.png) [@DougieL](https://community.cartalk.com/u/DougieL)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2023, 10:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/37 "2023-04-09T22:40:14Z")
Not sure what you all are getting at. The tire is holding pressure solidly. Ain’t no nail or pebble. When it lost pressure, it did so pretty quickly. Refilling was trivial. So if the bead wasn’t unseated, and there isn’t a puncture, well, we’ll just blame it on black magic. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 11:46am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/38 "2023-04-10T11:46:29Z")
> [@DougieL](#): > > The tire is holding pressure solidly… we’ll just blame it on black magic. … or, as I suggested earlier, this could be a case of a prankster having deflated your tire. ---
**Author:** ![DougieL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b19c9b/32.png) [@DougieL](https://community.cartalk.com/u/DougieL)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 3:32pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/39 "2023-04-10T15:32:27Z")
There are lots of pranks one can play that would actually be creative or even amusing. This isn’t one. Pranksters around here are lots more clever than this. I think black magic is more likely. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/40 "2023-04-10T17:36:21Z")
I’m sure this is old and I’m not going to read all the responses, but I’ll just add some of my tire experiences over the years. Has a trailer tire that would go from 60 psi to 30 in about six months. Ignored it until I did a full inspection. A very small nail embedded and the nail was sealing the hole. Tire on my olds would lose a few pounds over time. Finally dunked it in a tank and watched. About every minute a small bubble came out of the valve. Of course rust on the wheels preventing a good seal. Then the usual screws and nails that were easy to find. And a lawn mower tire punctured by a large thorn. But if a tire is losing air, there is a leak. Just physics. Oh yeah, I don’t recall which Acura now, but the tpms would go blank any time a couple people were in the back seat. Dealer offered to drive it around with a big guy in the back. Just declined and traded. ---
**Author:** ![sheridanpaul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@sheridanpaul](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sheridanpaul)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 6:44pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933/41 "2023-04-11T18:44:32Z")
Personally, I installed the “Car Talk Special Black Tape” over the tire pressure light on the dashboard (only $29.95 on their website…). Works great, but have to renew the tape every several years as it dries out from sunlight, heat. 2007 Toyota Prius, I understand this tire pressure system was a first time for Toyota, never worked correctly from Day One–only vehicle I ever bought new! Gave up on it when I read that this early generation or pressure monitors could be confused by something as simple as driving over in-street electricity transformers, as found in some big cities. That aligned with my experience going to NYC often enough back then and therefore adopted the habit of checking tire pressure on boths cars, every two weeks, by the calendar. Eight on-road tires, almost always one (or more) needs additional air. Rural roads, often dirt and pot-holey after a bad winter. $20 air pump, 15 minutes of checking, pumping and rechecking, I feel safe for 14 days… Having them indoors in a garage does make it easier! Black tape still on dashboard, lessens the anxiety. [Previous page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933.md?page=1) [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/flat-tire-that-doesnt-leak/189933.md?page=3)