My sister's got a '95 Saturn, and the tires all seem to have slow leaks.

Dad bought her two new tires last summer, hoping to solve the problem, but it only slowed the leak down a bit, didn't solve it.

My guess is actually that it's a rim issue...factory aluminum wheels.

When my sister is around, it's no big deal...she just puts air in the tire once a week or so, and all is good. She's off at school, though, and if it sits for several weeks, the tires get so low you can't drive the car.

Anybody got any simple, cheap, and quick suggestions on how to improve this?

*BTW...it's a decent car for what it is. Unfortunately, what it is, is a maintenance intensive old economy car.

I can only think of a can of fix-a-flat in the tires. But hardly seems like a long term solution.

I'd have to agree...probably a rim issue. Might have her try some of that tire slime. The real slime...the green stuff that's $10 a bottle, only stuff I've used that ever works for any period of time...but that's just a bandaid. Dunno if it work, or even slow the leak down...but next time she airs up...have her fill the tires with nitrogen...it's a bigger molecule, so if air is just seeping out and there are no 'holes' maybe it'll reduce the leak. Can't hurt...should be less than $5 to do...some places even do it for free.

My recommendation isn't a "simple" fix, breaking it down and putting a tube in...

you could also get her one of those 5 gallon portable air tanks so she can keep them topped off and still drive the car

Don't use the slime or sludge to fill the tire. That stuff is acidic and will eventually ruin the tire. Just ask a tire shop how many they see that devour the inside of the tire. Bradlus Atticus is right - tube it or new wheels.

Ryan

I'll skip the slime, especially if it's potentially damaging to the rims. Tried it in a lawn-tractor tire one time...royal PITA to squeeze all that stuff into the rim, and then when it didn't work, royal PITA to clean the stuff out when I tubed it.

Yeah, I know tubes, or new rims, would be the right way to fix it...but I'm not really interested in breaking down all four myself to tube 'em (I HATE tire work, with a passion), and in my opinion this car is pretty well past the point where you fix everything right. Still a good car, but it's maintenance/attention intensive all over, and as long as you need to dump oil in it ever 500 miles, having to add air to the tires every week or two just doesn't seem worth the cost (time/money) to repair.

Thanks!

*She does have a 12v compressor I gave her to keep in the trunk...it probably won't last too long if she uses it every time, but it could save her a headache in a pinch.

They might have pinholes in the rims or it could be the valve stems. Id have the tire shop ya bought the tires from break em down and check em.

I'll second the valve stems...never overlook the smallest issue.

Yeah...I didn't even think of valve stems...The stems on my old tires on the Bronco were 'dry rotted' and and you could kinda see some cracking...it let out just enough air to where I'd drop from 55psi to 35psi in a month.

Thats whats wrong with the tires on my lawn mower at moms but I havent had time to go out there and get em fixed yet.

flareside_thunder said:

I'll second the valve stems...never overlook the smallest issue.

Click to expand...

We didn't...I just forgot to mention it. New valve stems improved but did not solve the problem.

I vote for Chinese valve stems.

Yup. Yet another gift from our Asian friends.

There was a massive recall on Chinese valve stems that do exactly this. Tom and Ray were talking about it on CarTalk a while back.

If she gets the valve stems replaced again with good quality ones it may be fine.