My wife drives a 1997 Saturn with aluminum rims. Every time it gets cold, her tires lose air! All the tires are brand new, yet just the other day 2 of them only had 15lbs. of air in them? An old mechanic of mine told me that happens with alunimum rims, but I have never heard of this. Any suggestions?
2006-12-07 04:21:50 · 14 answers · asked by Steve 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
i own a repair shop,and its possible they didn't put new valve stems in the rims when they installed the new tires,old stems will do this,,other than that i haven't heard of any rims causing this to happen before,,unless they were damaged in some way,,id have them checked for leaks around the rim,,it could be that they didn't get them back on good,some times the wont seal up good,,but this is due to the mounting of them,,id have them re-checked,,good luck,i hope this help,s.,,have a good x-mas.
2006-12-07 04:38:36 · answer #1 · answered by dodge man 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not sure about the alunimum rims but I know that with the change of air temperatures tires increase an decrease in size. I live in the midwest and have to constantly add air due to the cold weather temperatures.
Hope this helps either way Happy Holidays
2006-12-07 12:27:03 · answer #2 · answered by dude50662 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this happens with all tires. The air-pressure in your tires is affected by two external conditions; temperture and elevation.
If you fill up your tires in California and drive to Montana where their is less outside air-pressure due to elevation, your tires will have an increased psi in them. Likewise if you fill you in Montana and drive to California you would have less pressure because their is more pressure acting on the tires. This difference is usually only a couple pounds though.
Temperture has a greater affect on the psi of tires. When it is cold, the molecules in gas slow down and can be compressed more. Think of liquid oxygen for example. It's is essentially super-cold oxygen gas that is so cold it has turned into a liquid. When you cool a liquid you can compress it more. So when the temperture outside drops then the pressure in the tires would go down. When it heats up outside the opposite happens.
Thirdly a little bit of air leakage occurs in all wheels. This is why you should check your tires every 3 months or anytime after driving more than 250 miles consistantly.
2006-12-07 12:31:34 · answer #3 · answered by theusaloveitorleaveit 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
aluminum rims are noted for losing air when they get a few years on them as dirt and corossion builds under the tire bead and they leak slowly, have your tire shop break the tire down off the rim and sand the surface where the tire seals and clean it real good and remount the tire and you should be good to go.
2006-12-07 13:11:45 · answer #4 · answered by mister ss 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i drive a 96 saturn with the same problem and yes its because of teh aluminum rims. the problem is that the rims were not properly cleaned on tehnedges where the tire seals to the edge. aluminum rims are known for this problem. who ever installed teh tires should take them off and reinstall them for free after they properly clean them with a wire brush or scotch brite pad.
2006-12-07 12:25:22 · answer #5 · answered by Steven Colbert 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Change her rims because its true! Go get her tires replaced if u can! Funny how it works huh!! Same happened to me! Take it into a tire place and have them look at it and re-rotate the tires for u! Good luck!
2006-12-07 12:30:02 · answer #6 · answered by smile114 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
either a valvestem problem or the old fact that aluminum rims are very pourous and will allow air to escape....bead sealer might help but also alot of crap builds up on the inside of those wheels and needs to be cleand off
2006-12-07 14:13:32 · answer #7 · answered by mopar_guru83 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
that happens to all tires when it's cold the loose air and when it gets hot the gain air. which is alot of blow outs happen during the summer. just make sure you check the pressure on your tires before going out. Be safe.
2006-12-07 12:26:52 · answer #8 · answered by chedderapples 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If it only happens to that one tire, there is possible damage to the rim itself. If it is happening to all the tires, defective rims
2006-12-07 12:23:54 · answer #9 · answered by tim g 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cold air contracts. Hot air expands. It's all science man, rims don't matter. If you want them to be at 40 PSI at all times, wait until its freezing out and inflate them to 44PSI
2006-12-07 12:24:44 · answer #10 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋