Ducato, slow leak and it’s not the valve or tyre. (1 Viewer)

[Andy MacD]

I’ve had a very slow leak for a couple of years now.

I normally keep the pressure at 5 bar at the back and at this level I have to top up every couple of weeks. Once the ambient temp increases making the pressure go nearer 5.5 bar when running then the loss is more by the time it gets back to cold, enough to have to top up ever 3 or 4 days.

Over the last couple of months I’ve had the van at both a garage and tyre specialist and I’m getting nowhere so reaching out to see if anyone has had a similar issue with their Ducato wheels and what they did to solve.

Between the garage and tyre specialist they have tried replacing the Fiat metal valve with a combination metal/rubber valve and also a full metal valve, both high pressure. The garage also fitted a new tyre.

I’ve still got the leak so to me it must be the alloy wheel. I could try a tyre sealant but can that be left in long term, or can the wheel itself be re sealed?

I’m going back to the tyre specialist this week so if you’ve had this issue how did you resolve it?

Thanks.

 

[Al n Val]

if it’s not the tyre or the valve then it’s pointing to the bead needs cleaning, you can apply sealer to the bead as well before refitting the tyre on the rim

Or it’s the rim itself, maybe an hairline crack

 

[Jabstatt]

Have you checked for corrosion of the alloy wheel where the tyre beds?

It’s a pain but tends to begin at five years plus, worse on tyres that sit.

Tony

 

[Lazyboy]

You could try putting a tube in and see if that cures the leak, If so it would point to the wheel (rim)

 

[Gingernuts]

Get the rim powder coated, it worked for me on my last car, Skoda octavia estate!

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[Nirvanauk]

Alloys are well known for leaking at the rim. Take it ti your local tyre fitter and ask him to clean the rim. He’ll sort it.

 

[Pausim]

When mine did this the leak was from the thread where the high pressure valve is screwed into the wheel, not through the valve and not from the tyre.

 

[Mike123]

If it’s a steel wheel, mine went and the seal had cracked on the wheel, non repairable and new wheel bought.

Tyre place should be able to check for you (or take wheel off and check)


Local tyre place said it’s quite common.

 

[Zigisla]

I had similar issues.
Mobile tyre fitter removed tyre, ground down rim, abraded tyre wall, fitted sealant to tyre and rim. All is good.
Baffled as what cured it we don’t know but it worked. Another issue could have been the tyre pal cap. This was removed at the same time for me to refit at a later date to see if tyre deflates, but haven’t as now can’t be bothered.

 

[Landy Andy]

Remove wheel and submerge it. Look for bubbles

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[Andy MacD]

Done all the investigation work already. Tyre specialist said they ground down some corrosion m re sealed etc.

Interesting comment re valve thread.

I’ll see what tyre specialists say when I go back this week.

Thanks for contributions.

 

[Andy MacD]

Tyre fitter help his hand up and said he’d been a bit cautious of damaging the allow wheel when fitting the two part valve and not tightened it up enough. He’s tightened it up more so we’ll know in a few days if it’s job done.

 

[Coolcats]

if it’s not the tyre or the valve then it’s pointing to the bead needs cleaning, you can apply sealer to the bead as well before refitting the tyre on the rim

Or it’s the rim itself, maybe an hairline crack

I had a rim on a VW T5 that leaked it was a crack in the alloy

 

[Brains]

We had a rust pin hole on a steel wheel between the inner and outer rim.
It was fixed on a temporary basis with bathroom sealant.
The long term solution was a new wheel.

 

[Pausim]

Tyre fitter help his hand up and said he’d been a bit cautious of damaging the allow wheel when fitting the two part valve and not tightened it up enough. He’s tightened it up more so we’ll know in a few days if it’s job done.

That is what I had.

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[David and Sally]

On my Ford Kuga it was some roughness where the valve seated inside the tyre - on the rim. A clean up was all that was needed.