Puncture

obi604

Herself got a puncture yesterday about 20 mins away from me. I got in the car and brought my 12v pump with me.

On the drive in, I rang AA and they said it would be 90 minutes to get someone to me, so not great.

Got to the car and tyre was indeed very flat. so pumped it up to about 30 PSI which took a few mins and found a garage about 1k away and brought it here and he fixed the puncture. Twas a handy fix where he just sticks in the screwdriver type thing in the tyre with the bit of rubber on it. 10 euro so grand. He did jack up the car and inflated tyre a bit more to find the hole again and then did the 'scredriver' fix.

The hole was easy to find as I could hear the air escaping so was easy to locate

My question after all this: for issues like this, rather than bringing it to a garage or waiting on AA, do people fix these on the fly themselves with some type of screwdriver repair kit like the person used in the garage. It was literally a 1 minute fix.

Or does car need to be jacked up in order to do the fix?

User1998

You can just use one of these without jacking the car up:

https://ige.ie/puncture-repair-kit-2843?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-7S1iN-yhgMVbJRQBh3vuADbEAQYASABEgLF6fD_BwE

artanevilla

Yeah it's handy to do at the side of the road, but there are some caveats to using one of those kits, has to be a certain type of puncture and has to be a certain distance away from the sideway etc.

You could do it with the wheel on the ground but jacking it up is easier. Particularly as you may have to rotate the wheel to find the puncture.

Long story short, those kits are cheap and easy to use, handy to have one in the boot.

obi604

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122197479#Comment_122197479

ype, thats the 'screwdriver' kit im on about :)

Hellrazer

I keep one in the car all the time - Much easier than jacking a car up and changing the wheel.

Just have to be careful where the puncture is - too close to side wall is a no-no.

1.5 - 2 inches from the side wall is probably the closest Id go with the needle kit although I have done one right on the edge - car had no spare and none of that stupid gunk left in the bottle so I had to try it. Worked out ok but i swapped the tyre once I had the chance.

obi604

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122197924#Comment_122197924

thanks, this is the thing - my car has neither a jack nor a spare wheel, but sounds like doing this type of repair without a jack is ok

Hellrazer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122198147#Comment_122198147

No matter what way the car stops Murphys Law states that the puncture will always be at the very bottom of the tyre 😁

I usually just roll the car forward or backwards till the puncture is easy to repair - dont need a jack.

obi604

It’s not my week!!!
herself got anther puncture today in another tyre - (1week after last puncture) This time there was a screw in the tyre, she just rang the AA and they sorted it.

This time the screw was in the back right tyre.
Can the puncture repair kits be used on a rear tyre without jacking up the car?

obi604

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122218240#Comment_122218240

to add to this, just found the paperwork in the car from the AA mechanic, I can see he plugged the hole with one of the puncture repair kits etc, like they do in the tyre places etc

on the paperwork, he has added " attend tyre shop asap'

Spoke to wife and AA mechanic told her that the fix he did was only temporary and that it should be brought to a tyre shop to fix it from the inside of the tyre……seems a bit strange. was a standard screw in tyre, not in sidewall etc

Hellrazer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122223150#Comment_122223150

The correct procedure is to plug the tyre from the inside usually with a mushroom plug. In some countries the needle and thread type repairs arent allowed to be used. When we worked on Garda Cars we werent allowed to plug them - it had to be a mushroom or tyre replacement.

In saying that Ive never had one fail or cause further damage in 30 years in the trade.

Its all down to location of the puncture and the ability to use them correctly.

You are supposed to thread the needle evenly on both sides with the rubber thread, push the tool (needle) fully into the tyre and then twist it a few times and then pull it back through to the outside making sure that the "plug" (the twisted thread) seals the hole completely. Then you cut it off about 1 cm above the threads of the tyre.

Leaving that 1 cm is important as the weight and movement of the car make it seal better and flatten against the rest of the threads.

Ive seen lads cut them in line with the threads and the plugs pops back inside the tyre making it leak again.

kirving

Normally, the plug is absolutely fine. The rubber compound is designed to cure and chemically bond itself to the rest of the tyre - so it should last the life of the tyre if done properly.

The AA are covering themselves in case:

1. It wasn't done correctly at night on the side of the road
2. Part of the screw/nail which caused the puncture is still stuck inside the tyre or
3. The tyre was actually driven on when underinflated for an extended period which can damage the tyre internally.

The Continental Op

Just looking at these again now as I've been meaning to get one for ages any comments if these would be any better than the simple strips?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/GRAND-PITSTOP-Tubeless-Puncture-Motorcycle/dp/B075NBRN2R/

Hellrazer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122224020#Comment_122224020

It looks a lot more awkward to use than the threaded ones.

Especially at the side of the road on a wet Decembers night :)

Would be worth having one in the tool box though as the repair looks better from the view of the inside of the tyre. Just looks like theres a lot of steps which could go wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQWSzM5-Vwk

obi604

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122218240#Comment_122218240

any comments on this one?

With front tyre you can kind of turn the wheel out to give better access. But this can’t be done with rear tyre.

BlakeS94

Doable but more difficult, you could move the car untill the part needing repair was facing the back of the car and down a bit, giving as much room as possible.

You need good pressure to clean out the hole though it would be hard to do that at such an awkward position

obi604

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122225582#Comment_122225582

Yeah, you would essentially be doing it from the ground and sideways with very little space. so could be tricky enough

mickdw

Can sometimes be tricky to find the puncture with tyre on car.

I just got a new car with no spare or jack or pump or anything. Totally relying on pirelli seal inside tyres that I have no faith in so will be adding wheel and tool kit.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122225736#Comment_122225736

My problem with the seal inside the tyre is that you don't know how many punctures you have. Assuming the compound seals correctly you could have a couple of nails stuck in the tread and not know they are there.

On the other hand on garden machinery I use slime all the time and it works pefectly. Six blackthorn punctures in one new ride on tractor tyre fixed in no time and no problems in 24 months since. Probably a whole load more punctures from blackthorn?

User1998

Slightly off topic but whats the story with filling your tyre full of that slime/goo after a puncture? Are you supposed to replace the tyre after its been filled with slime? Me personally I just fill the tyre to 45 PSI and drive straight to the tyre shop with no slime.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122226611#Comment_122226611

That slime stuff certainly works. It shouldn't be a problem for the garage but the tyre will have to come off so they can wash the slime out. So if you had a puncture that a sticky strip might solve its now a bigger problem but at least you can have a better repair done from the inside.

greasepalm

Did many plugs decades ago and as long as hole was round you could plug it , slice in a tyre would not be sealed.

We always lifted wheel off ground to get the right angle to use those laces.

Always carry a small jack in car as its small and portable and chock wheels if needed.

Puncture seal in tyre was told by tyre shop are not repairable as they possible needed a clean area for patch.

Yes you add more pressure to tyre to drive to repair shop.

If you had space in the car for a air pump you could air it up and drive to repair shop.

If sidewall is gone its a new tyre needed.

mickdw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122226039#Comment_122226039

Yes we previously have pirelli seal inside back in 2016 on a new car from factory.

They cracked terribly and after 40k km over 2.5 years, completely separated the thread from the side wall with a second one looking ready to go the same way.

Pirelli replaced them free but didn't inspire confidence.

blackbox

I originally bought the sticky strips to fix a puncture in the sidewall of a lawnmower tyre (no danger of a high speed blow-out!).

I find them great for repairing any punctures caused by nails or screws.

I wouldn't use one for a person who doesn't look after their car. The worst thing that will happen is that it will slowly lose pressure, but if you have a moron who doesn't check their tyres they might drive at low pressure and overheat the tyre to point of failure. What will be blamed - the repair plug, of course.

That's why the AA cover themselves by saying go to a tyre centre.