Appreciate that this could be a vague question if you cannot see it but I have a very small screw that has gone into my front tyre. Its enough to keep dropping the pressure down to 13 or 14 in PSI but is this likely to result in needing a brand new tyre or can these things be fixed? (Not like the old days where an inner tube could be patched up!!)

Only got the new set of tyres recently so be gutted to have to buy a new one!

this happened to me not long after got my new tyres. if the screw has not damaged the sidewall then I think it can be repaired ok. just take it down your local tyre place. about £6 I think

Thanks. My car is in with Lexus Twickenham for its 40k service and they just called to say it is in the side wall and need a new tyre costing £150. When I left the car with them this morning, the screw was completely in the centre of the tyre tread (strange how these things move!!)

This can be fixed without even removing the type from the rim. Any place that sells tyres should be able to it. They will simply remove the screw and then push in a piece of something black which resembles liquorice. This then seals the hole.

Underr new rules most tyre companies will not repair tyres with screws/nails etc if they are within 1/3 of the tread width near the edge. They agree that they are technically repairable but becuase the chance of failure is higher as you get nearer the edge they now generally will not do it.

JMRussel is correct with the distance of the tread width from the edge. If the puncture is in the sidewall, forget it, as the object that has pierced the tyre would have damaged the radial structure

Gavin G. If you have seen someone repair a puncture without removing a tyre then the bloke did not know what he was doing. If it has been done on your car I suggest you get the tyre repaired correctly.

What should happen with a puncture repair is:

* Remove tyre
* Grind down area surrounding hole to a flat surface
* Insert patch. The patch is a circular piece of rubber with a long tail
attached underneath - resembling a long rubber drawing pin
* Insert the long piece of rubber through the whole from the inside of the tyre
and pull through to the outside
* Glue down the circular piece to the inside of the tyre and roll over to seal
* Cut off any remaining rubber that has come through to the outside of the tyre
* Revalve and refit the tyre prior to balancing again

This is the only safe way to repair a tyre.

Hope this info is of use

Regards,

Mark

I may be wrong here, but i heard somewhere that Z rated tyres shouldn't be repaired for saftey reasons.

I'm sure someone on here will be able to clarify this....

I had same thing in my old IS. Got it fixed for £6. Lasted another 20k miles.

It is not recommended to do more than one repair to a Z rated tyre due to speed rating and construction. However, how many of us drive at 186 mph??

[quote name='Gavin G' date='Aug 16 2004, 03:55 PM']This can be fixed without even removing the type from the rim. Any place that sells tyres should be able to it. They will simply remove the screw and then push in a piece of something black which resembles liquorice. This then seals the hole.[/quote]
i know what u r talking about - its similar to some of the motorbike repair kits that u can get, they sell them in germany, but it is only meant as an emergency use item ie get u home.

if u have had this done i would get a proper repair ASAP

fluff,

I've had this done loads of times on previous cars and it was fine. It lasted until the tyre wore out.

I can't see how it could be dangerous as the size of the puncture hole is tiny in the first place if it was caused by a screw, nail etc. I think the worst that could happen is a slow puncture

whatever you do don't buy your tyres from lexus - they cost a bomb. They even recomend going elsewhere

2 mths ago same thing happened to me. A screw in the rear tyre, took it to ATS repaired the puncture in minutes; cost £5. Keith the guy who runs the garage said that most garages wouldn’t fix the tyre if it's to close to the wall or they just want to make a quick buck and tell you the tyre is too high spec and you need to shell out ££££ on a new tyre that you don't really need as it can easily be repair as Mark said. I’ve had now problems with my repair.

I had to replace my tyre last week dur to a woodscrew that liked my rubber more than a bit of MDF, I got a replacement tyre, same as Lexus supply for 65 quid all fitted etc. Thought that was pretty good for price!

The place I get my tyres from, who is very competitive on price, gives a 12 month warranty on all tyres and if you have a non-repairable puncture you get a new tyre and just pay for the percentage of tyre used on the old tyre. It was good news for me a couple of months ago when I had a screw in mine!

Thanks everyone for your advice.

I'd have never bought the tyre from Lexus as they wanted £150 for a tyre which I recently paid £110 for.

Anyway, took it too Chiltern Tyres in Hazlemere where I bought the tyres originally and they did the exact same procedure as Snipey mentioned above and all for £12 which in hindsight, sounds a bit more than what others have mentioned but well worth every penny instead of the £110 for a replacement. The screw was dead centre of the tyre so no problems being too close to the side wall.

I asked about safety and they said its as safe as the original tyre and the repair will last the life of the tyre. Back to happy motoring!

So I take it Lexus Twickenham were mistaken ( ) then ? Email them the number of Specsavers maybe ..............

[quote name='Steve ( West Mids )' date='Aug 18 2004, 02:34 PM']So I take it Lexus Twickenham were mistaken ( ) then ? Email them the number of Specsavers maybe ..............[/quote]

ive had 2 punctures in the 18 months ive had my is more punctures then ive had in 15 years of driving my other cars. must be more crap on the roads as were not paying enough tax for road sweepers..

one puncture was on the first inch on the out side of the tyre took me ages to find someone to repair it no one wanted to do it but they all wanted to sell me a new tyre. got it repaired and re vulcanised for £5 and 17000 miles later it's still working.

inner tubes are not an option due to the low profile aparently inner tube only go down to 60

the other puncture i had was in the middle so no problem there