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leaky rims on a "05 seville


jtrent

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I've had some luck with a sealer that the tire shop puts on the rim when I get new tires. I have one this time that has the slow leak. If I have time, I might take it in and get it re sealed. Other wise....I just keep topping it up

2001 STS Mettalic Otter Grey, Black Leather, 213,000 kilometers - miles - ? Still running strong!

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the rims on my old STS had a slow leak, as well. A tire shop was able to use a bead sealer or something, and fix one of the rims but the other one I just had to live with and fill up every couple of weeks. The "bead sealer" (if that's what it's called??) was pretty cheap, I think it cost around 12 or 15 bucks to have done. Any good tire shop should be able to take a look at it for you.

WARNING: I'm a total car newbie, don't be surprised if I ask a stupid question! Just trying to learn.

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just my opinion but GM had some bad rims in the 99-2006 model years. I have seen many cracked, badly oxidized. Dont know why GM had such issues but Gm wasnt the only ones. Hyundai, chrysler, even ford have all had issues. it seems the older rims were made better. my 96 devilles are original and have no oxidation. I have worked on 2 2001 Devilles that even after multiple reseals the beads still leak. GM recommended replacement off the faulty rims as the integrity of the rim can be severely weakened.

My best tip would be to have the tire removed and visually inspect the rim and see how badly it is oxidized. Dont rule out a nail or other item in the tire though, and also the TPMS sensors can be terrible. thankfully GM has since changed the design on the tpms sensors in 2009 to a better design

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Has this been the case (loosing pressure) since new; if so then I would suspect the rims (porosity problem, which is addressed in the Service Manual), if it started after changing to new tires, then I might suspect something in the mounting (rims not cleaned of old tire debris, etc.). Does happen to all the tires linearly; can it be the ambient temperature change with the onset of cooler temperatures.

Chuck

'19 CT6, '04 Bravada........but still lusting for that '69 Z-28

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I had a slow leak in a tire or two when I was running Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires that turned out to be dirt working its way into the rim. I enjoy spirited handling on occasion which can work dust into the rim gradually, and these are long-wearing tires. The dealer that sold me the tires pulled them off, scrubbed the tires and my sealing surfaces with soap and water, and solved the problem.

My car is a 1997 ETC with the premium (chrome) rims. I bought the car new and have never changed rims. They have no corrosion problems.

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-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
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Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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The chrome rims are the worst for this type of problem. The crome will start to flake away from the bead area (hidden by the tire bead) and then leaks will develop. I have one tire on my STS that leaks out about 1 psi per day. I had the bead resealed with sealer and verified there are no nails in the tire. I put the wheel & tire assembly in a tank of water and could not see any bubbling (evidence of a leak) yet it still leaks...

Kevin
'93 Fleetwood Brougham
'05 Deville
'04 Deville
2013 Silverado Z71

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A bead leak is like that - it won't show in a bubble tank. In fact, that's probably the best way to diagnose a bead leak, if you are sure that the valve stem seal is OK, and that there are no bruises in the cord. The problem with a bead leak is that they leak when you turn to one side or the other.

My wheels show no signs of corrosion. I have no idea why, other than that I'm not in a heavy snow area and I garage the car.

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-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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With the assumption that these are chrome wheels, IMO the only solution is to sand the chrome off the area around the bead. the chrome turns into a "floating" flake, and the air escapes underneath it. it's like having a piece of tin foil between the outer & inner portion of the bead. You can put all the sealer in, but nothing will be able to stop the air from escaping from under the flake. Worse is that as the tire stiffens up as it gets cold, the condition is worst in cold weather.

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A bead leak is like that - it won't show in a bubble tank.

Pump it up to about 80 or 90 psi. Lay it flat on the ground and spray the bead with soapy water and you'll find the leak. It will foam like a mad dog.

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I had the same problem with my '99 STS. Chrome on aluminum wheels equaled constant leaks after the first set of tires. It was the chrome flaking off and the air leaking out between the chrome and the wheel causing the problem. The guy at the tire dealership went around the sealing surface of the wheels with a 2" diameter sanding disc mounted on a little pneumatic zipp grinder. Once all the chrome on the sealing surface was gone, the problem vanished.

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At 89-90 psi, I'd be worried about blowing the tire.

Nah, I've pumped them higher than that. They'll hold a lot more than you think, but if worried, use 60 or 70. That would probably do it. If not add 10.

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Ive ran into this on my 00 DTS and my in-laws 03 Denali and other cars. A shop here in town I take them to takes the tire off then you can see the aluminum is corroded around the bead, its very common here in nebraska because they heavily salt the roads and aluminum wheels get corroded bad. They use a drill or grinder with one of those twisted wire brush ends and buff out the bead. Its inside the wheel so if u have chrome wheels it wont matter if it takes off the chrome. They buff it down smooth and I never have that slow leak again.

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I use rolocs on my angle grinder and grind till the chrome is gone, but around here I see alot of pitting and some cracking rims around the inner bead

GM FAN FOREVER

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I've seen my bead and it's aluminum. The tire place that I went to for my first new set on the East Coast (NTB, a chain) probably just the wire-buffing thing as part of the tire mounting and balancing process. I've watched them work and they are good. I do *not* see buffing marks, which means that they polished it after they buffed it. Or, my wheel (1997 model year) was done that way from the factory.

CTS-V_LateralGs_6-2018_tiny.jpg
-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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Ive ran into this on my 00 DTS and my in-laws 03 Denali and other cars. A shop here in town I take them to takes the tire off then you can see the aluminum is corroded around the bead, its very common here in nebraska because they heavily salt the roads and aluminum wheels get corroded bad. They use a drill or grinder with one of those twisted wire brush ends and buff out the bead. Its inside the wheel so if u have chrome wheels it wont matter if it takes off the chrome. They buff it down smooth and I never have that slow leak again.

Just my two cents here. What you described is almost exactly what I had to do to a couple of my rims. They are 1997 rims on my 1993 STS, Bought new! They started leaking after about 5 years after I had them installed. For whatever reason the inner bead area had several spots that were corroding heavily. I did some wire wheel buffing to get the surface stuff off, then very coarse emery cloth to finish the job. No more leaks.

As these rims have never seen snow or salt, I suspect a defective chrome job, or possibly when the tires were mounted the tire "soap" may have been contaminated with something that took awhile to corrode enough to start leaking air. Both the rims and tires were new.

-George

Drive'em like you own 'em. - ....................04 DTS............................

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Ive ran into this on my 00 DTS and my in-laws 03 Denali and other cars. A shop here in town I take them to takes the tire off then you can see the aluminum is corroded around the bead, its very common here in nebraska because they heavily salt the roads and aluminum wheels get corroded bad. They use a drill or grinder with one of those twisted wire brush ends and buff out the bead. Its inside the wheel so if u have chrome wheels it wont matter if it takes off the chrome. They buff it down smooth and I never have that slow leak again.

Just my two cents here. What you described is almost exactly what I had to do to a couple of my rims. They are 1997 rims on my 1993 STS, Bought new! They started leaking after about 5 years after I had them installed. For whatever reason the inner bead area had several spots that were corroding heavily. I did some wire wheel buffing to get the surface stuff off, then very coarse emery cloth to finish the job. No more leaks.

As these rims have never seen snow or salt, I suspect a defective chrome job, or possibly when the tires were mounted the tire "soap" may have been contaminated with something that took awhile to corrode enough to start leaking air. Both the rims and tires were new.

-George

never reallly thought of contaminated lube. I think it is just cheap casting in the rims

GM FAN FOREVER

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Just my two cents here. What you described is almost exactly what I had to do to a couple of my rims. They are 1997 rims on my 1993 STS, Bought new! They started leaking after about 5 years after I had them installed. For whatever reason the inner bead area had several spots that were corroding heavily. I did some wire wheel buffing to get the surface stuff off, then very coarse emery cloth to finish the job. No more leaks.

I also had the same trouble with the chrome wheels on my DHS, around the 5 year mark; the worst one would lose around 3 psi per month. After purchasing a spare wheel, I was able to systematically repair all 4 via substitution (over the course of a month) by removing all the loose chrome plating on the inner bead areas, hand sanding to remove aluminum corrosion and feather any edges, then painting the entire inner surface using silver rust paint (Tremclad).

If casting quality and mounting lubricant (soap) are factors, corrosion damage would be expected on both inner and outer bead areas. I understand the chrome plated wheels receive a clear coating for corrosion protection; it is possible this finish is applied more thoroughly to the outward facing surfaces, which may help to protect the outer bead area due to its proximity. Also, most of the damaged areas on the inner beads of my rims corresponded to current or previous knock-on balancing weight locations! I insisted on the use of stick-on weights during the balancing operation after remounting each tire.

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in all my experience when I was a tire tech. the inner bead was always the worse, except chrysler, chrysler seems to be the worst on both sides to the point of the facee of the rim peeling.

The tap on weights definately dont help because no matter how yuo look at it they still scratch the wheel. The main problem seems to occur underneath the chrome and clearcoat at the aluminum itself. it is almost liek it oxidizes and bubbles up under the chrome till it cracks.

I would think there is not much to do to prevent the problem.

I use tap on on my deville and my truck. deville 96 chevy truck 90, and all rims are like new still. have been balanced many times ans no issue. so it is a hard one to say and that is why I seem to still think casting problem

GM FAN FOREVER

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  • 1 month later...

One question and a caution.

The question: Has anyone had any luck with "SLIME" tire sealant?

The caution: Were taught to never use steel wire brushes to clean aluminum. Stainless steel or bronze brushes were OK. The reason is that small particles will transfer from the brush and imbed into the wheel. The imbedded steel particles will rust and cause a corrosion problem of their own. That kind of corrosion will eventually ruin the aluminum part.

Britt
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Another CAUTION!

If a rim is badly corroded, exceeding the recommended pressure is an invitation to a potential disaster! If you have ever seen one of these rims that has bee broken in an accident, you would be very careful with the inflation pressures. The cross section thickness is not much. :(

80 or 90 psi may work OK on a good rim, but a corroded rim may blow with the force of a hand-grenade. :wacko:

Britt
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I would suggest using a brush with organic bristles on aluminum rims. I would think that stainless steel or bronze particles could cause the same problems as steel particles, i.e. anodic corrosion.

CTS-V_LateralGs_6-2018_tiny.jpg
-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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