mhunsr
Junior Member
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2010
- Posts
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The low tire pressure warning turned on when I was cruising down the highway. I found my left rear was going flat. I looked for screws, nails, holes or anything else wrong with the tire. 
I had been driving on the highway for about 1 1/2 hours so I figured I picked something up. Checked pressure and was down to about 20lbs, nothing found in tires. I was close to an exit so I limped to a gas station. Looked again and found nothing in tire. Aired up, held pressure, hit the road again. :??: Once up to speed the low tire lit up again. Stopped at another gas station, looked around, found nothing. Bought fix a flat, aired up , held pressure and hit the road. I stopped five times before I got to my finald destination. Was putting air in the tire and when checking the tire pressure, realized the valve stem failed and was cracked. Not vandalism, not cut, but failed. I took it to a local tire place and they replaced it for me. Drove around town for a week and all good. Hit the highway again, after an hour, tire sensor lit up, checked tires and was the left front with the same problem. Checked the right side tires and both were cracked, but not losing air. I found a tire place and changed the other three valve stems. I did some research and there were a bunch of valve stems that were faulty put on about 3 million cars in the USA. Here is the consumer reports link about the issue with another link for the NHTSA web site to report problems.
http://news.consumerreports.org/safety/2008/06/tire-valve-stem.html
After I changed the valve stems it was all happy motoring!!!!!:thumbsup: Apparently the centrifigul force of highway speeds was bending the cracked valved stem letting the air out. If I kept below 50 mph I could drive without losing air.
I had been driving on the highway for about 1 1/2 hours so I figured I picked something up. Checked pressure and was down to about 20lbs, nothing found in tires. I was close to an exit so I limped to a gas station. Looked again and found nothing in tire. Aired up, held pressure, hit the road again. :??: Once up to speed the low tire lit up again. Stopped at another gas station, looked around, found nothing. Bought fix a flat, aired up , held pressure and hit the road. I stopped five times before I got to my finald destination. Was putting air in the tire and when checking the tire pressure, realized the valve stem failed and was cracked. Not vandalism, not cut, but failed. I took it to a local tire place and they replaced it for me. Drove around town for a week and all good. Hit the highway again, after an hour, tire sensor lit up, checked tires and was the left front with the same problem. Checked the right side tires and both were cracked, but not losing air. I found a tire place and changed the other three valve stems. I did some research and there were a bunch of valve stems that were faulty put on about 3 million cars in the USA. Here is the consumer reports link about the issue with another link for the NHTSA web site to report problems. http://news.consumerreports.org/safety/2008/06/tire-valve-stem.html
After I changed the valve stems it was all happy motoring!!!!!:thumbsup: Apparently the centrifigul force of highway speeds was bending the cracked valved stem letting the air out. If I kept below 50 mph I could drive without losing air.
