Leaking magnesium wheel
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From: SE Pennsylvania
St. Jude Donor '03 thru '26
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Leaking magnesium wheel
I have a 50th edition vette with five spoke magesium wheels. My front right wheel loses about 5 to 7 pounds of air every five or six days. What should I do to try and correct this problem. Any advice is appreciated.
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1) Isolate the air leak (will require removing the wheel from the Vette, increasing the pressure to ~50 lbs., immersing it in water)
2) Once the area of the leak is determined - repair same.
As noted in another post above - unless there is a 'nail' it is possible that the valve stem 'nut' may be loose - HOWEVER, tightening it may cause more issues since the 'o' ring may be deteriorated, or injured due to past over tightening. You may need to replace the 'o' ring.
2) Once the area of the leak is determined - repair same.
As noted in another post above - unless there is a 'nail' it is possible that the valve stem 'nut' may be loose - HOWEVER, tightening it may cause more issues since the 'o' ring may be deteriorated, or injured due to past over tightening. You may need to replace the 'o' ring.
Pro
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 731
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From: Ivins, Utah
You need to immediately remove ALL 4 of your Mag. wheels and send them to me, where I will send you 4 wagon wheels in return.
Obviously your problem is the fact that your wheels are made of Magnesium, so you MUST get rid of them as soon as possible.
No, seriously, I’m sure your problem has nothing to do with the material the wheels are made of, most likely it’s just a nail or a valve stem.
Good luck, and let me know when you ship your wheels to me.
Obviously your problem is the fact that your wheels are made of Magnesium, so you MUST get rid of them as soon as possible.
No, seriously, I’m sure your problem has nothing to do with the material the wheels are made of, most likely it’s just a nail or a valve stem.
Good luck, and let me know when you ship your wheels to me.
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1) Isolate the air leak (will require removing the wheel from the Vette, increasing the pressure to ~50 lbs., immersing it in water)
2) Once the area of the leak is determined - repair same.
As noted in another post above - unless there is a 'nail' it is possible that the valve stem 'nut' may be loose - HOWEVER, tightening it may cause more issues since the 'o' ring may be deteriorated, or injured due to past over tightening. You may need to replace the 'o' ring.
2) Once the area of the leak is determined - repair same.
As noted in another post above - unless there is a 'nail' it is possible that the valve stem 'nut' may be loose - HOWEVER, tightening it may cause more issues since the 'o' ring may be deteriorated, or injured due to past over tightening. You may need to replace the 'o' ring.
That should take care of it
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From: Retired but working
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1) Isolate the air leak (will require removing the wheel from the Vette, increasing the pressure to ~50 lbs., immersing it in water)
2) Once the area of the leak is determined - repair same.
As noted in another post above - unless there is a 'nail' it is possible that the valve stem 'nut' may be loose - HOWEVER, tightening it may cause more issues since the 'o' ring may be deteriorated, or injured due to past over tightening. You may need to replace the 'o' ring.
2) Once the area of the leak is determined - repair same.
As noted in another post above - unless there is a 'nail' it is possible that the valve stem 'nut' may be loose - HOWEVER, tightening it may cause more issues since the 'o' ring may be deteriorated, or injured due to past over tightening. You may need to replace the 'o' ring.
I had the same problem a few years ago on a right front. Had a hairline crack that you could not see at all. Took a water bath and found that I had this crack right at the bead. I had to replace the wheel. It was funny because it wasn't from external damage, curb or thelike, it just cracked. You might just have to have the tire taken off and remounted on the rim.
Good Luck.
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From: SE Pennsylvania
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I had to the chevy dealership this morning, and they removed it, pumped it up to 80 PSI but still no sign of a leak. They told me to wait another six or seven days till the air pressure monitor comes on, and to bring it in then. I don't know! Maybe it will show them something. But there's no nail in the tire and no sign that there every was a nail punture and it's not leaking from around the tire bead, so I'm stumped.
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I had a very slow leak around the bead and would loose the air when the car sat for a few days. When driving the car the air pressure was more or less the same but I would loose less air over a longer period of time.
When you drive the car the bead may seal itself as the pressure increase or heats up
When you drive the car the bead may seal itself as the pressure increase or heats up
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Aug 1999
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From: SE Pennsylvania
St. Jude Donor '03 thru '26
Oldtimer
I had a very slow leak around the bead and would loose the air when the car sat for a few days. When driving the car the air pressure was more or less the same but I would loose less air over a longer period of time.
When you drive the car the bead may seal itself as the pressure increase or heats up
When you drive the car the bead may seal itself as the pressure increase or heats up
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: The 7th layer of hell - Western Washington
fill a spray bottle with soapy water and spray down the entire tire/wheel - look for bubbles. you can't do anything about the leak until you know exactly where it's coming from. do this first at high pressure (50 psi) and if you don't see anything drop the pressure down to 15 psi or so. some bead leaks leak faster at lower pressure than they do at high pressure cause there is less force pressing the tire against the wheel...
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The TPS nut could need tightening or maybe it has a bad o-ring. Or the tire could be leaking around the bead. Might want to take it to a tire shop and see if they can narrow down where the leak is coming from.
