Valve tool - what are all the bits for??

[Bill]

Possibly a daft question but I have bought a valve tool to replace a couple of cores, and I can't work out what the various bits do.

Obviously there's the bit for removing the core, but opposite that there's a threaded female bit that'll fit over the whole valve. I guess that's for seating a new valve.

But then there's the two ends of the cross pieces, both threaded and one pointed. What are they for?

[Coilspring]

The only useful part of that is to remove or refit the core.

Is this on a car tyre? How do you intend to remove the valve and install a new 1?

[littleredrooster]

The male and female threaded parts are a sort-of die-nut and a tap to clean up lightly damaged threads. Or, to abbreviate that, a gimmick.

Not sure about the pointy bit.

[Bill]

It's a mower. The valve is clagged up with puncture goo and I was hoping a new core would sort it...

So now I'm removing the wheel so I can replace the valve.

[GreenV8S]

Is that sticky-out part that looks like it is pretending to be a tap, designed to chase out the threads that the core screws into?

[Mignon]

The pointy end is fairly redundant. It's meant for poking out anything stuck inside the valve stem where the valve core goes but there's never going to be anything like that in there if you've just removed the old core. Maybe if you left a valve with the core out and dirt got in it this pointy end might be marginally useful. The other small external thread is the tap for rethreading the core thread if it's damaged but again highly unlikely anything could be wrong with it and if so it's probably time to fit a whole new valve anyway. The largest end has an internal threaded die for cleaning the thread the valve cap screws onto. The only part you'll ever use is the one to unscrew the core. Valve threads are brass and don't rust so it's vanishingly unlikely they'll need rethreading and if one has stripped then replace the whole valve. So basically gimmicks except the core tool part and those are easier to use on a longer screwdriver type handle.

[E-bmw]

Mignon said:

The pointy end is fairly redundant. It's meant for poking out anything stuck inside the valve stem where the valve core goes

Not quite, it is left-hand threaded & is to be used like an "easy-out" if the "keyway" of the valve core that the normal removal tool end uses is broken off.

[Mignon]

E-bmw said:

Not quite, it is left-hand threaded & is to be used like an "easy-out" if the "keyway" of the valve core that the normal removal tool end uses is broken off.

Fairy nuff. Thanks for that info.

[HustleRussell]

Tyre valves seem to be really st quality nowadays, I've fitted valves and had them come back three years later with significant cracking, I've also seen a 4 / 5 year old valve perish and crack to the point that the tyre deflated.

What I'm getting at is that the rubber part is the bit that ages worst. Wouldn't be replacing cores considering what a whole valve costs.

[ampor]

We used to use the female threaded portion to hold the valve stem of tubes after patching the tube and reassembling the tire. Otherwise the valve stem would fall into the innards of the tire.