VW Golf 1.6TDi mark VI (Nov 2009) - Tyre deflated - but no puncture found!

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Thu 16 Feb 2012 14:37
VW Golf 1.6TDi mark VI (Nov 2009) - Tyre deflated - but no puncture found! - ah207

Hi - a strange occurrance two days a go! Leaving from work in the evening, I noticed the rear (driver side) tyre was deflated. Didn't remember being so when I arrived at work in the morning. Anyway, thinking it punctured, I put on the spare, and drove to the nearest garage. The guys there performed multiple pressure tests, water test etc. No puncture found! They replaced it back onto the car - and its been fine ever since. Where I work and park (secure area) its extremely unlikely someone let it down. So, what else could have caused this ?

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Thu 16 Feb 2012 14:48
VW Golf 1.6TDi mark VI (Nov 2009) - Tyre deflated - but no puncture found! - top drive

alloy wheels ?

my partners alloy wheels on her mkIV golf leak. its suggested the alloys them selves may be porous or the seal lip between tire and alloy may be corroded badly. I just stuck a quarter can tire sealant in each wheel and its been fine since - will rectify the issue proper when i change the tires - or more likely given the milage and the fact they are brand new tires just scrap the car !

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Thu 16 Feb 2012 15:05
VW Golf 1.6TDi mark VI (Nov 2009) - Tyre deflated - but no puncture found! - ah207

Yep - alloys. I'll get a can of sealant and apply to just that wheel. Thanks for the heads up. Lets see if anyone else chimes in on this issue. We actually purchased the car used from a VW dealership in Dec 2010 - so it was about a year old. But it had clocked up 30K miles on the clock in that one year - most likely an ex-rental. It was in excellent condition - but may have been driven hard/abused in its first year. I can only imagine the cost of replacing 4 alloys and tyres on a Golf!!

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Thu 16 Feb 2012 15:22
VW Golf 1.6TDi mark VI (Nov 2009) - Tyre deflated - but no puncture found! - Peter D

This may be a bead leak and only happens when the car is parked with a particular section of tread in contact with the road. I and my Son have experience this. Regards Peter

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Thu 16 Feb 2012 15:37
VW Golf 1.6TDi mark VI (Nov 2009) - Tyre deflated - but no puncture found! - galileo

You could always have been a victim of someone with a grudge or warped idea of fun who just let that tyre down?

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Thu 16 Feb 2012 17:28
VW Golf 1.6TDi mark VI (Nov 2009) - Tyre deflated - but no puncture found! - bathtub tom

Possibly got a minuscule piece of grit in the valve last time the tyre was inflated that was blown away at next inflation?

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Thu 16 Feb 2012 19:09
VW Golf 1.6TDi mark VI (Nov 2009) - Tyre deflated - but no puncture found! - wrightstuff

Wonder if the valve was leaking? I've had this before where the valve had split at the point it entered the alloy wheel. Perhaps the garage fitted a new valve before pressurising and testing.

You would hope they had re-filled the tyre with air through the original valve in order to rule out the valve, but you never know...

Edited by wrightstuff on 16/02/2012 at 19:09

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Fri 17 Feb 2012 09:04
VW Golf 1.6TDi mark VI (Nov 2009) - Tyre deflated - but no puncture found! - ah207

Thanks everyone for your contributions. I'm pleased to say that the offending tyre is still holding up and I've been driving the car to work every day since the incident - with no further deflation or reduction in pressure.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't someone with a grudge who let the tyre down (I park in a secure section of a university staff-only car park - with barrier entry and security point) and I can't imagine any of my colleagues - mainly senior professors getting up to mischief! :-)

A couple of you mentioned valve grit, or damage. Its possible - I have occasionally hit a kerb while reversing - so may have impacted the valve part at some stage. In the garage the guys were thorough with the pressure and leak tests - but nothing new was fitted - otherwise they wouldn't have let me drive out of there without paying a penny ;-)

I think I'll pick up a can of sealant at the weekend. If I notice any more deflation or pressure reduction in the same tyre over the next week or so, I'll take the wheel off and apply sealant lightly between the tire/wheel interface on both sides. Will post message again in any case.

Thanks all!

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Fri 17 Feb 2012 09:26
VW Golf 1.6TDi mark VI (Nov 2009) - Tyre deflated - but no puncture found! - Peter D

"I'll take the wheel off and apply sealant lightly between the tire/wheel interface on both sides." That will not help you. You either need to wave the tyre removed and the rim and bead cleaned and refitted, or you use a can of sealer. Tyre places hate this stuff as they have to clean it off when they replace a tyre. Regards Peter

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Fri 17 Feb 2012 09:57
VW Golf 1.6TDi mark VI (Nov 2009) - Tyre deflated - but no puncture found! - ah207

ah! Understood. OK - in this case, rather than fidget about myself and possibly make things worse, I think I'll just take the car to a service centre soon - especially since the display on the console has been flashing up reminders - I have 119 days or 650km for the next 12000 km service. It'll also be an opportunity to have other 12K service recommendations seen to (such as air filter, possibly oil change etc). Will get the service book stamped too.

Other than this the car is running just fine. My 20 minute journey to work is mainly along a dual carriageway - without traffic lights - so the car gets a twice daily 60-70mph run. Occasionally longer trips on motorways at weekends. We don't use it for shopping or driving into the city (we have a couple of sturdy bicycles for that!) :-) I would like to get at least 10 years worth of trouble-free motoring out of it. Academic salaries aren't great (especially now with all the cuts) - so the VW had better live up to its reputation :-) I'm very happy with the fuel consumption though - 40 pounds worth of diesel lasts me 3 weeks exactly (work-home journies only).

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Fri 17 Feb 2012 17:43
VW Golf 1.6TDi mark VI (Nov 2009) - Tyre deflated - but no puncture found! - Roly93

I have seen this on my car recently. It turned out to be a loose valve core in one of the tyre valves, simply tightenend with the little tool and problem never re-appeared. From now on I always check all of my valves for tightness. You can get the tools in any car accesory shop for pennies or ask nicely in the tyre services and they may give you one.

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