Friday I notice that my S is pulling to the right when I hit the gas. Thinking that this may have something to do with tire pressure I pull into my local BP and check. Sure enough the R rear has only 10 psi. Yup, 10. So the very friendly mechanic takes a look and finds a screw...a big screw. He grabs a pliers and with some tugging and pulling produces a 3 inch wood screw. He shoves some glue into the hissing hole the plugs it with a large piece of rubber. He kinda crammed it in, like pushing a drinking straw in sideways, then he snipped off the excess hanging out. He tells me that it's fixed, like fixed forever. I hand him $10 for his trouble and drive off.

Now, my question: is it REALLY fixed? I've known the owner and mechanics at this BP for years and they've always been helpful and honest....but I'm skeptical. It's my S after all (was that a pun?)

Thanks very much,

Uecker

 

To my knowledge plugs are not supposed to be used anymore. Anyway I would replace the tire as soon as possible. Just to be safe.

 

That was a quickie, cheap repair. To do it right the tire should be removed and repaired from the inside. The patch looks kinda like a lily pad where the stem goes into the hole. Any real tire shop can do this. If you have a Discount Tire or America's Tire near you, they do it for free.

 

you're driving on tires rated to 168mph and i'm guessing that you probably don't drive the speed limit.

i'd ditch the tire as soon as possible. sounds like a recipe for a serious mishap at some point down the road.

consider the $10 well spent on an interim solution.

 

I just had the same thing happen. I eventually replaced the tire because the plug wouldn't hold. A patch on the inside would be preffered if going the cheap route.

 

Probably no need to replace the tire. If you have decent tread left, a correct patch is fine. I've never had a problem, even with three or four of them in one tire. Today's tires are designed to be patched. No problem. Assuming the hole's in the tread of course where there are interlaced belts. Holes in sidewalls cannot be patched.

You also want to try and replace these tires in pairs if you can.

 

I've had all my tires patched when they had a nail in them, including the S. They always charge me between 5-8 dollars for the patch. I suggest getting it patched and never going to that place again. They should have charged you a lot less, especially since you have gone there for years.

 

I had a plug put in my right rear S02. It was near the side wall and I had to take it to a few places to find someone that would patch/plug it.

Well 7k miles and on track day latter. I've had no problems.

Your milage may vary.

 

bubbastook,
Just had the same thing happen to me a week ago. I posted on here to get some info, but unfortunately no one replied. I took mine to a local auto shop called Curry's Auto. They were great.
You should always have a patch done like BrotherRex said, from the inside. I would suggest taking the tire to another place & getting their opinion. My buddy who is a Honda mechanic suggested I replace it because of the unknown mileage that I put on the tire at low PSi's. He said that could have already cause "warping" and serious damage to the tire. I didn't feel like paying $200 + for a brand new tire when my current tires only have 6k/mi on them.
The other factor is the location of the puncture. Some places will not patch if the puncture if it is in a certain location. Personally I think if you get the tire patched from the inside, you'll be fine. I've had no signs of problems so far.
-j

 

What should happen:

1) remove nail/screw
2) remove tire
3) with dremel tools rough up area around puncture
4) apply cleaner around the puncture
5) apply sticky goop
6) insert patch/plug and pull the tail through the hole
7) snip tail from outside of tire
8) remount/balance tire and check to see if tire holds air

If it does you should be fine. I feel comfortable using patched tires like this for street and AutoX. Not comfortable using on track days (although I know people who have done it with no problems).

edit: I am not a big fan of Curry's. I know some people who were not happy with the service they received despite Curry's "reputation" (which is rapidly falling IMHO) and their high service charges. JMHO.