Submerging tyre under water to find a leak

[trueblue4455]

I think there's a super slow leak of tyre pressure in one of my wheels. I've taken it to some reputable local garages and they've not been able to resolve/find the issue and I end up with a big bill with no change in situation. It doesn't appear as though the leak is from the tyre, so I'm thinking it could be at the valve or maybe a damaged rim.

I'm thinking if I can take off the wheel at home, submerge it in a big bucket of water with some weights added to keep it down. Then maybe I can see bubbles released even if it is a tiny and very infrequent. I can then arm myself with a video of the evidence and take it back to the garage where I had already paid to have work done with no result. They'll then hopefully be able to rectify and resolve the issue without any further cost.

A couple of questions:
1. Is it okay to submerge a wheel under water? (I assume it would cause water to leak into the tyre due to the pressure right?)
2. Approx how much weight would I need to weigh it down under water? I believe it's a 19" alloy wheel with 245/45/19 tyres for what it's worth.

[Bagzie88]

Erm..... The answer to number 1 is yes.

The answer to number 2 is however much weight it needs so that it doesn't float i guess... it's not going to be anything ridiculously heavy , I'm not even convinced it would need any weight to make it sink..... it's not that much air.

[Tom8]

trueblue4455 said:

I think there's a super slow leak of tyre pressure in one of my wheels. I've taken it to some reputable local garages and they've not been able to resolve/find the issue and I end up with a big bill with no change in situation. It doesn't appear as though the leak is from the tyre, so I'm thinking it could be at the valve or maybe a damaged rim.

I'm thinking if I can take off the wheel at home, submerge it in a big bucket of water with some weights added to keep it down. Then maybe I can see bubbles released even if it is a tiny and very infrequent. I can then arm myself with a video of the evidence and take it back to the garage where I had already paid to have work done with no result. They'll then hopefully be able to rectify and resolve the issue without any further cost.

A couple of questions:
1. Is it okay to submerge a wheel under water? (I assume it would cause water to leak into the tyre due to the pressure right?)
2. Approx how much weight would I need to weigh it down under water? I believe it's a 19" alloy wheel with 245/45/19 tyres for what it's worth.

If it is on the front lock the steering and just poor water on it. Pump it up to high pressure and look for leak. If it is on the back take the wheel off. You will see bubbles.

[boyse7en]

I did this to find a slow leak from the rim of an alloy.

I used a wheelbarrow half full with water, as you'll struggle to find a bucket/container big enough to submerge a whole wheel. The water only needs to be about 6in deep as you can put the wheel upright and just spin it round doing a bit at a time. Turn it, let the water settle for a few seconds, check for bubbles, repeat until you've gone all the way round.

[mikey_b]

Wheelbarrow as already suggested, or put a few inches of water in the bath. It'll be pretty obvious.

[spitfire-ian]

trueblue4455 said:

I think there's a super slow leak of tyre pressure in one of my wheels. I've taken it to some reputable local garages and they've not been able to resolve/find the issue and I end up with a big bill with no change in situation. It doesn't appear as though the leak is from the tyre, so I'm thinking it could be at the valve or maybe a damaged rim.

I'm thinking if I can take off the wheel at home, submerge it in a big bucket of water with some weights added to keep it down. Then maybe I can see bubbles released even if it is a tiny and very infrequent. I can then arm myself with a video of the evidence and take it back to the garage where I had already paid to have work done with no result. They'll then hopefully be able to rectify and resolve the issue without any further cost.

A couple of questions:
1. Is it okay to submerge a wheel under water? (I assume it would cause water to leak into the tyre due to the pressure right?)
2. Approx how much weight would I need to weigh it down under water? I believe it's a 19" alloy wheel with 245/45/19 tyres for what it's worth.

Your local tyre place will probably have one of these exactly for that purpose.

[Scootersp]

if you add some washing up liquid you can usually find it by laying the well flat and just having some water in the groove between the rim and tyre? Obviously takes a bit longer to do both sides.

[Ussrcossack]

Why don't you take it to an unreputable tyre place rather than a garage

[Lo-Fi]

fk me.

[zalrak]

I think I learnt how to do this when I was about 7 years old when fixing a puncture on one of these:



Principles remain the same with bigger wheels of course...

[RSTurboPaul]

AIUI some alloy wheels go a bit porous over time and tyre valves sometimes leak, both of which can make loss of air tricky to pin down if there is no obvious puncture.

[vw_99]

A spray bottle with water and some washing up liquid in it and spray around tyre/rim

[E-bmw]

trueblue4455 said:

I think there's a super slow leak of tyre pressure in one of my wheels. I've taken it to some reputable local garages and they've not been able to resolve/find the issue and I end up with a big bill with no change in situation.

Ok, so how big was this big bill & what did they do for it?

trueblue4455 said:

It doesn't appear as though the leak is from the tyre, so I'm thinking it could be at the valve or maybe a damaged rim.

Are you saying they didn't check the valve or rim, but just the tyre?

[rhamnousia5]

Lo-Fi said:

fk me.

That was my thought too. How can anyone wonder whether it’s OK to get a tyre / wheel wet? The things that are on the bottom of a car and drive for thousands of miles through rain and puddles.

[GreenV8S]

trueblue4455 said:

I think there's a super slow leak of tyre pressure in one of my wheels.

Why do you think that? (In other words, exactly what symptoms do you see that makes you think there's a problem?)

[Sheepshanks]

Take it to Costco and have them fill it with nitrogen and it may not leak.

[HiddenUser]

[dhutch]

Some garages, including the recently closed down Birkenhead branch of National tres, have a half moon bath for that exact job.

- They had a cunning system of putting it under a leak in the roof, which kept it nicely topped up. Watch you feet!


But yeah, they didnt use it. Just a pump up sprayer with some water and a bit of fairy out of the brew room.

[ARHarh]

Surely any tyre shop will be able to do this. Even a totally incompetent tyre fitter will have learnt this on day one. If they can't find a leak in their big tank then go somewhere else, check they have fitted the wheel on the right way round before driving off though

If another garage can't find the leak consider other possible causes e.g. some letting a couple of psi out each night.

[paul_c123]

OP may be too embarrassed to come back to this thread but I'm going to stick my neck out: its the valve. 90% of the time its the valve.