Can't live without IT, but boy does IT leave a dent in MY wallet!!

[esme]

:angry: (just letting off steam!!)

I just dropped off my truck @ the dealer because it's been leaking water/coolent ....whatever!! .....it started on saturday morning, thought nothing of it at first .....BUT today i'm on my way home for my lunch break and my truck's heating up a little ....well, turns out it had no water!!

so i call the dealer and the guy says it's normal that it's leaking water ....NORMAL?!! i think NOT ....to go from full on Sunday to empty today ....without turning on my AC/Heater ....that is not normal!! :yell: so he asks me to bring it in ....well, it's more likely because of the radiator ....which so happens to be the cause of an accident "i" had a few months back .....(i say "i" because my truck was parked while i was attending a concert and turns out that some idiot didn't see it and hit the passenger side) so my warranty might not cover this because of the "accident" which means that i'll probably have to file a claim w/my insurance to get this fixed ....which i haven't done because my deductible is $500 ....which is more likely what i'll end up doing because that way the dealer won't have to do anything!!!

great! .....just great!!

oh, and i'm having another problem w/my tires (if anyone can explain, i'd appreciate it!!) ....so in the last month i've had about 3-4 flat and by flat i mean to the floor, riding on rim flat tires. now, i know it's normal and it's just something else we gotta deal with with cars BUT it so happens that the only tire that this happens to is my front passenger tire :shrug: oh, did i also mention that after i "fixed" the flat tire i have to keep putting air in it like every 2-3 days?!!! ....ok, so i changed the tire and put in a different one ....SAME THING HAPPENS!! ....about 3 days after the other tire's in it's flat ....we checked it for nails/screws/holes ....and nothing!! the guy @ the dealer said that it has to be the tires ....they're no good! :spock:

sidenote: my t-bird once "woke up" w/2 screws in each of my 3 tires ...the 4th one was spared!! :dead:

[AlpineJay]

oh, and i'm having another problem w/my tires (if anyone can explain, i'd appreciate it!!) ....so in the last month i've had about 3-4 flat and by flat i mean to the floor, riding on rim flat tires. now, i know it's normal and it's just something else we gotta deal with with cars BUT it so happens that the only tire that this happens to is my front passenger tire :shrug: oh, did i also mention that after i "fixed" the flat tire i have to keep putting air in it like every 2-3 days?!!! ....ok, so i changed the tire and put in a different one ....SAME THING HAPPENS!! ....about 3 days after the other tire's in it's flat ....we checked it for nails/screws/holes ....and nothing!! the guy @ the dealer said that it has to be the tires ....they're no good! :spock:

sidenote: my t-bird once "woke up" w/2 screws in each of my 3 tires ...the 4th one was spared!! :dead:

I don't know about anything else but I'd definitely check your valve stem on that tire. When it becomes dislodged or loose, it'll lose air over time. An easy way to check whether or not that's the cause would be just to play with the valve and see if you hear/feel air leaking.

[zero2dash]

the only tire that this happens to is my front passenger tire :shrug:

My front passenger tire in my '03 Focus is always lower than the rest of them (usually 10psi lower in some cases). I believe it's primarily because you mainly make right turns and if you hit a curb/pothole/whatever it's usually on the right front side since you can't judge that side as well as you can on the driver side (and obviously you also don't do much to hurt your rear wheels).

I just keep an eye on mine...usually every time I fill up with gas I check the tire pressure (one of my few good habits). :)

As for the radiator...all you can really do about that is get it checked out; you would probably save money in the long run if you pay that out of pocket since you wouldn't have higher insurance rates, etc. (although depending upon your policy, I could be wrong).

One thing I've learned about cars...something I will share with everyone in the hopes that it helps someone else out too...my brother in law had his transmission rebuilt late winter/early spring of this year ('05) - he took it to either Midas or Car-X, I don't recall which (paid roughly $1500). He drove the truck for several months (I'll say 6-7) and started having more transmission problems. He takes it somewhere else to have it checked out...as it turns out, the idiots that rebuilt the transmission did NOT put transmission fluid back in the truck (and he didn't check) so he's been driving the truck for 7 months with no transmission fluid and his clutch/transmission is totally shot again. The thing to learn is - anytime you have a car serviced - check and make sure they replaced fluids, refilled the tires, etc. whatever. I'm just glad I learned this lesson from his misfortune...what's really sad is that the place he had it rebuilt doesn't claim any responsibility and won't repair it for free (even though it's their fault). F'n crooks. :thumbdown :shifty:

[esme]

I don't know about anything else but I'd definitely check your valve stem on that tire. When it becomes dislodged or loose, it'll lose air over time. An easy way to check whether or not that's the cause would be just to play with the valve and see if you hear/feel air leaking.


actually my brother did put something around the valve hoping that if it is that it'll be fixed but we're still waiting, he just did it yesterday.


As for the radiator...all you can really do about that is get it checked out; you would probably save money in the long run if you pay that out of pocket since you wouldn't have higher insurance rates, etc. (although depending upon your policy, I could be wrong).



well, i'm glad to say that it wasn't the radiator, but the water pump which the dealer will be replacing and i'll have my baby (truck) back today @ noon :woohoo:

[DarkFury]

I don't know about anything else but I'd definitely check your valve stem on that tire. When it becomes dislodged or loose, it'll lose air over time. An easy way to check whether or not that's the cause would be just to play with the valve and see if you hear/feel air leaking.
honestly, with something like this, I'd think it was the "bead seal" aroujnd the wheel rather than the stem losing air.

If it keeps losing air, take it to the tire repair place and have them check the bead seal to make sure that isn't the reason for the loss.

I do have a question though... does that wheel have any bends in the outer lip (like if you ran through a pothole?) If so, then most likely that is your culprit.

[esme]

the original tire looked fine, but we changed it anyway and then the "new" tire was good and 3 days later there goes the air ....damn thing was to the floor

[zero2dash]

Have you got a nail magnet on your car? :heh:
j/k esme :)
My last car (an 89 LeBaron) I swear I had a frickin' nail magnet on it.
I must've nailed (literally) 3 or 4 tires in the 4 years I owned that car. :shifty:

[Winston]

spray some soapy water on tire,valve stem ,wheel it will bubble where the leak is

[esme]

Have you got a nail magnet on your car? :heh:
j/k esme :)
My last car (an 89 LeBaron) I swear I had a frickin' nail magnet on it.
I must've nailed (literally) 3 or 4 tires in the 4 years I owned that car. :shifty:


tell me about it!! .....i was starting to think that somebody was doing it on purspose! .....:cry: maybe somebody is!! same thing happened w/my tbird ...after i took out those screws i get more ....all i could think was where the hell was i getting all these screws stuck on my tires


spray some soapy water on tire,valve stem ,wheel it will bubble where the leak is


trust me ...i've done that ....i'm not an expert w/cars but i've learned a thing or two ....having my dad and only 2 brothers around helped me learn alot ....i know how to change/check the oil (motor), i always check the water ...little things like that, nothing mayor

[Nanotech9]

oh lordy... all the interesting theories on the tire lol...

ok heres what can happen...

1. you picked up a small nail thats punctured the tire, but either not stayed in the surface, or its hidden below the tread level and you cant see it. Possible solution: get some kind of liquid in the tire that you coudl see leaking out, or dip the entire tire in a bucket of water or a bathtub to see any air bubbles. Fix as necessary.

2. the valve stem. It can either have a poor seal around the OUTSIDE of the stem, be cracked, or the center of the stem is leaking. Valve stems unscrew - the inner part does - the little pin. if that part is not screwed in tightly, or has gotten dirt underneath it, it'll leak. Sometimes they get old and leak also. Cover valve stem with soapy water solution with valve cap off and see if it bubbles. Solution: Replace valve stem.

3. damaged or dirty rim or malformed tire, causing the bead to not seat. The damge here would have to be extensive - a very flat spot on the lip of the rim (i.e. 4 or 5" accross, completely flat.) or hit in a manner the spread the lip open say, 1/4" or so. Check the inner and outer lips of the wheel to make sure they're round and true. I've seen tires keep their bead seated properly on some VERY deformed rims, so this is probably not likely.

falsehoods above: tires will not loose air from normal use. not even the front right tire lol.

Tires under normal use and wear conditions (i.e. no nails etc) will maintain their air pressure for years... possibly dropping a pound or two over a years time. NOT 10lbs over a month. If you drop that much that fast, you have a problem - a safety problem, and need to get it fixed.

Running underinflated tires will cause abnormal wear, lack of traction, and degredation of the sidewall. Even if you inflate teh tire to normal pressure (not the MAX pressure on the sidewall either) the wear will still be there - it can cause tread and sidewall seperation, excess wear on inner and outer edges of the tread (this is key to cornering), cupping, and more.

Most importantly though it will overheat and fatigue the tire in spots that you may not see. The tire will then be more prone to failing under impact (hitting a curb or pothole).

take care of your tires. I'm a stickler... i can spot people tires 5lbs under pressure and i make a note to mention it to them 10lbs and under... People dont realize that rubber is the only thing between them and the road.

and on a motorcycle tire care is twice as important, cause you only have half as many :)

oh, and maybe your neighbors are deflating the tire.... to **** with you?

[Daedalus]

Haha, that was my first thought too. Sabotage! I didn't see this possibility listed--slight crack in the rim? It could be anywhere.

Which dealer told you that leaking is normal? And they're saying it's "probably" the radiator? Sure it's not the water pump?
Get a blacklight and shine it under the hood in darkness. Green coolant gets really fluorescent under a blacklight.

[renovation]

the original tire looked fine, but we changed it anyway and then the "new" tire was good and 3 days later there goes the air ....damn thing was to the floor
i bet your rim is bad !