Flat tire repair

[alfloiz]

About a month ago, I was dismayed to discover a sheet metal screw embedded in my right front tire. I wasn’t loosing any air so I took it to a local Firestone dealer and asked his opinion. He said that it was too far from the tread to be repairable and since I wasn’t loosing air, he recommended that I leave the screw in place and consider replacing all four tires, which had a lot of wear but probably would have made it through the winter and spring.

I researched replacement tires and decided that I wanted Continental DWS.

The car was parked in a garage during the recent snow event in Baltimore and when I got it out last Monday. I went to the Firestone guy and was prepared to replace four tires. He did not have my size in stock so I asked him to find the Continentals which he agreed to do. When I did not hear from him, I found another local dealer (Hillen) who sold many different brands including Continentals (and Falcon which were rated number one by Consumer Reports).

Wednesday morning, I started out to Hillen to buy new tires but the left front was totally flat!

I was only a block from home so I limped back and got the Porsche tire repair kit out of the car.

I connected the air pump to the power outlet in the passenger foot well, and started to inflate the tire. I could see the hole were the screw used to be and there was air leaking from it. The pump ran for a few minutes, with little effect, and then quit. It blew the 7.5 amp fuse!

I had a manual foot pump at home for bicycle tires so I got out the Porsche tire repair juice and I removed the tire valve (as per Porsche instructions) and emptied the squeeze bottle into the tire. Then I pumped enough air (about 15 lbs) to drive the car to the nearest gas station, (about a mile) and I pumped the tire to about 40 lbs. I used the remaining time on the air pump to top off the other tires and when I was done, I checked the “flat” and it was down to 29 lbs.

So, I drove along a local street the 15 miles or so to Hillen tires. The car handled reasonably well but when I got to the tire store there was very little air left.

I got four new Continental DWS’s.

I have replaced the blown 7.5 amp fuse with a 10 amp. There is no excuse for fusing a power plug too low to operate the air pump when there is, after all, NO SPARE!

I replaced the nearly useless Porsche tire repair juice with a pressurized can of tire sealant. At least this will put some air back in the tire.

[paulv]

About a month ago, I was dismayed to discover a sheet metal screw embedded in my right front tire. I wasn't loosing any air so I took it to a local Firestone dealer and asked his opinion. He said that it was too far from the tread to be repairable and since I wasn't loosing air, he recommended that I leave the screw in place and consider replacing all four tires, which had a lot of wear but probably would have made it through the winter and spring.

I researched replacement tires and decided that I wanted Continental DWS.

The car was parked in a garage during the recent snow event in Baltimore and when I got it out last Monday. I went to the Firestone guy and was prepared to replace four tires. He did not have my size in stock so I asked him to find the Continentals which he agreed to do. When I did not hear from him, I found another local dealer (Hillen) who sold many different brands including Continentals (and Falcon which were rated number one by Consumer Reports).

Wednesday morning, I started out to Hillen to buy new tires but the left front was totally flat!

I was only a block from home so I limped back and got the Porsche tire repair kit out of the car.

I connected the air pump to the power outlet in the passenger foot well, and started to inflate the tire. I could see the hole were the screw used to be and there was air leaking from it. The pump ran for a few minutes, with little effect, and then quit. It blew the 7.5 amp fuse!

I had a manual foot pump at home for bicycle tires so I got out the Porsche tire repair juice and I removed the tire valve (as per Porsche instructions) and emptied the squeeze bottle into the tire. Then I pumped enough air (about 15 lbs) to drive the car to the nearest gas station, (about a mile) and I pumped the tire to about 40 lbs. I used the remaining time on the air pump to top off the other tires and when I was done, I checked the "flat" and it was down to 29 lbs.

So, I drove along a local street the 15 miles or so to Hillen tires. The car handled reasonably well but when I got to the tire store there was very little air left.

I got four new Continental DWS's.

I have replaced the blown 7.5 amp fuse with a 10 amp. There is no excuse for fusing a power plug too low to operate the air pump when there is, after all, NO SPARE!

I replaced the nearly useless Porsche tire repair juice with a pressurized can of tire sealant. At least this will put some air back in the tire.

That doesn't suprise me coming from a Firestone dealer! Anyway, could you please post again in the future on how the Conti EC DWS are working out for you? I'm running the ContiExtremeContacts and have had good luck with them, and they are being phased out with the new generation DWS. Good luck with your new tires!

BTW, I always deal with Tire Rack and have a really good local installer that has a road force balancer and knows how to use it!!

Regards,

paul...

[berty987]

Porsche state in the manual that there is only one 12V socket on the car capable of plugging the tyre inflator into, the one in the cigarette lighter. All the others have too low fuse ratings . Daft I know.

[number9ine]

About a month ago, I was dismayed to discover a sheet metal screw embedded in my right front tire. I wasn't loosing any air so I took it to a local Firestone dealer and asked his opinion. He said that it was too far from the tread to be repairable and since I wasn't loosing air, he recommended that I leave the screw in place and consider replacing all four tires, which had a lot of wear but probably would have made it through the winter and spring.

I researched replacement tires and decided that I wanted Continental DWS.

The car was parked in a garage during the recent snow event in Baltimore and when I got it out last Monday. I went to the Firestone guy and was prepared to replace four tires. He did not have my size in stock so I asked him to find the Continentals which he agreed to do. When I did not hear from him, I found another local dealer (Hillen) who sold many different brands including Continentals (and Falcon which were rated number one by Consumer Reports).

Wednesday morning, I started out to Hillen to buy new tires but the left front was totally flat!

I was only a block from home so I limped back and got the Porsche tire repair kit out of the car.

I connected the air pump to the power outlet in the passenger foot well, and started to inflate the tire. I could see the hole were the screw used to be and there was air leaking from it. The pump ran for a few minutes, with little effect, and then quit. It blew the 7.5 amp fuse!

I had a manual foot pump at home for bicycle tires so I got out the Porsche tire repair juice and I removed the tire valve (as per Porsche instructions) and emptied the squeeze bottle into the tire. Then I pumped enough air (about 15 lbs) to drive the car to the nearest gas station, (about a mile) and I pumped the tire to about 40 lbs. I used the remaining time on the air pump to top off the other tires and when I was done, I checked the "flat" and it was down to 29 lbs.

So, I drove along a local street the 15 miles or so to Hillen tires. The car handled reasonably well but when I got to the tire store there was very little air left.

I got four new Continental DWS's.

I have replaced the blown 7.5 amp fuse with a 10 amp. There is no excuse for fusing a power plug too low to operate the air pump when there is, after all, NO SPARE!

I replaced the nearly useless Porsche tire repair juice with a pressurized can of tire sealant. At least this will put some air back in the tire.

Next time I'd avoid the "fix-a-flat" sealant (Porsche's or Pep Boys) because the mess it makes won't ever be cleaned off the inside of your wheel. Tire "professionals" hate the stuff.

I use a $6.00 plug kit for punctures to keep me rolling down to the tire shop. Most punctures are slow leaks, so I can use the compressor to keep air in until I get home.

Pull out that 10 amp fuse and replace it with the 7.5 amp, lest you fry something that's expensive to replace. Like Berty987 says, the cig lighter outlet works fine. Make sure you read the label on the compressor itself, which warns you that the pump should only be run for x minutes before turning it off for a rest. I can get about 30 PSI into my tire from the Porsche compressor in about 4 minutes.

[berty987]

I carry a 986 space saver (with jack and tools) in the front boot rather than have the hassle of using the tyre sealant. Rolling radius isnt exact as the 987/997 is bigger than the 986/996 but with PSM off its enough to get you to the tyre shop for a decent repair. The space saver is pre inflated type so no fiddling with pumping it up at the roadside. Spare can go on passenger seat (porsche can supply a plastic bag for about 2 uk pounds or 3 USD ) or in my case I've made up a rubber mat for the top of the rear trunk and some straps to seucre it.

[jim_hoyland]

The 986 spare worked for me on Christmas Day; one suggestion, have the locking lug socket handy.