My daughter in law got a nail in her tire, and a flat. I just found out that
the way it was “fixed” was to spray some goop inside–without removing the nail!!
It has been holding air for several weeks.
Noting that I would never do this to hold off the deluge of know-it-all postings,
I am unfamiliar with using goop. The question is, since it seems to be holding,
whether it should be taken in to have the nail pulled and a plug put in, or
leave well enough alone. ??
I’d get a proper repair done. The present fix could fail at any time.
I vote to fix it correctly before it starts to leak again.
Yank the nail and plug the hole. Or a better repair involves patching from the inside but the goop may have made that impossible!
The goop is water based (latex) and if left in will rot the tire and cause massive corrosion to the rim. The tire not only has to be patched from the inside, it also must be allowed time to completely dry. This is one time I’d recommend filling the tire with nitrogen after the repair as the nitrogen is dry and will absorb any remaining moisture.
I haven’t used goop on auto tires but have many times on bicycle tires. More often than plugging leaks it didn’t and it fouled the adhesive of the patch; I had to discard the tube.
It’s easy to plug an auto tire with inexpensive patches. They’ve held well for years (though not forever) for me. If plugs for auto tires work the way plugs for bicycle tires do, goop will foul the adhesive, it won’t stick. I might try it but be prepared for it to fail immediately. A real repair, which would include cleaning out the tire, is probably the best solution.
If the tire has been inflated with that canned stuff (e.g., Fix-a-flat) it has flammable gas in it. Be sure to warn the tire-person.
You can patch a tire that has had goop in it. You may not be able to patch a bicycle tube because you can’t get inside the tube and clean it out like you can a tire.
A local tire distributor displays all manner of problems caused by various stop leak products for tires and tire pressure monitors seem to be particularly sensitive to such products. I carry aerosol cans of puncture seal to use if needed in an emergency but it would only be used if/when there were no other reasonable alternative. And once back home I would get the tire properly repaired and pay the significant charge for cleaning the tire and rim and replacing the monitor if needed. I strongly suggest that @melott gets the tire professionally repaired before getting too far from home.
That method is pretty effective at stopping small leaks, but if the sealant gets spread unevenly inside the tire it can result in an unbalanced tire. The other problem is it might have an adverse effect on the tire pressure sensor. If I had a car w/no tire pressure sensors and no vibration felt after the goop method, I’d just leave it that way until the next time I had to separate the tire from the rim.
If you don’t clean it out first? That was my point. To clean it out requires unmounting, which requires special tools. The person who has those tools wouldn’t ask this question; the person who would probably won’t buy them for 1 or a few applications.
If it were me I’d have that stuff cleaned out, the nail pulled, and a boot installed properly. Then I’d evaluate whether the tires should be replaced a little ahead of time. I discovered a nail on late Friday night and my wife needed to leave early Saturday out of state. I was at the tire shop 15 minutes before they opened and they actually had the nail pulled and a boot installed in 15 minutes. It cost me $20 and I was on my way. I just absolutely don’t understand messing around with tires like people are doing.