dblteez

The flat has always been on the right front. There is no issue with the wheel (18x8), or alignment. I have been to 3 different tire places and purchased 5 used tires and 1 new pair (10 days ago). All tires were 225/45/18. I have noticed that the front wheels tilt when sharply turned. Could this be putting undue stress on the tires sidewall causing the bead to break? I would really appreciate any suggestions.
I really love this car (still), Spring is almost here, but I'm starting to have 2nd thoughts. Thanks in advance!

Patton001

what is the nature of the flat? Obviously a puncture would not be a problem with the car. It sounds like each flat caused irreparable damage to the tire. I have had flats but usually they could be repaired unless it destroyed something or was too near the sidewall.

dblteez

No tire damage found (except the couple of times I obviously drove on it). I got the road hazard warranty and am going in tomorrow. No one seems to know what is going on.

Patton001

If the tires are just going flat on their own and there seems no explanation mechanically, don't overlook "human intervention". My wife used to be property manager for a large high rise commercial building here in So Cal and some one got pissed off at her for enforcing parking regulations in the building garage. First it was a nail under the tire so when she backed up it would puncture the tire. That happened once, then he just started letting the air our of the tires to about half flat so she would need to refill before she could drive home. They caught the jerk on camera so it ended quickly but just sayin', you never know.

dblteez

Thought of that too. I have 3 motion spotlights in the driveway and garage with cameras. No one in the neighborhood has had any problems in the almost 12 years that I've lived here.

zip439

If the alignment was done properly ( I use my local Merceds dealer for this as I don't trust other shops to have the full equipment to the job completely and accurately) then the tilt you see should be exactly as designed. The Mercedes shop would also inspect all that steering gear when doing the alignment. I seldom go to a dealership for help, but this is one area I believe they do it best.

dbldpr

I had problem with one of my cars. one tire kept going flat. Found out that there was a bar code sticker where the seal would be. They removed the bar code sticker and did not have the problem again.

dblteez

I've been to my Benz dealer twice and according to them, all is fine.

Martin_F

I know this is not exactly your problem, but my tire light was going on on every drive, so I figured the TPMS must be bad, because I had just done state inspection two weeks prior and made a point of checking tire pressure. Even had the two rear tires replace at the same time.

So I get there expecting to put new TPMS sensors on and be done with it.
Turns out the right front tire was down to 20 psi, but wasn't noticeable when just looking at it. They took the wheel/tire off and sprayed liquid on them to check for leaks. Sure enough, it was bubbling pretty crazy in one location on the inside of the tire. It didn't take much to notice that the rim was bent and that's where it was leaking. I must have hit a pot hole at a high enough speed to mess up the rim like that.

What I'm getting at is that even tough the tire looks good, spraying the liquid on the tire to check for leaks might do the trick, then you can examine further once you know the location. It might not take much of rim damage to create a little leak.

My rims are 18" as well, and since your problem is always on the same tire, makes me think the rim could be the issue.

dblteez

Thanks, there is no problem with the wheel, in fact, we swapped the 2 on the front and the same thing happened! My Model does not have TPMS. I'm at my whits end!

Gary C

Are the wheels chrome? Sometimes the chrome pits and peels on the bead and you can get leaks around the bead. The chrome on the aluminum wheels do not like salt air or road salt.

dblteez

Thanks Gary C, That was supposedly done on more than 4 occasions but I did not witness it actually being done. Yes, the wheels are chrome & I'm in upstate NY (lots of road salt). I'm going to bring the wheel inside now and see if that might be the issue.

Gary C

Unfortunately I see this on occasion. And we scrub the wheel and put bead sealer on it. But they will usually leak again. So the only permanent fix is a new wheel.

dblteez

There is no pitting but I do see some obvious small gouges most likely from repeated repairs. They are not deep at all, could they be smoothed out? You'd think something so obvious would be brought to my attention.

Martin_F

Put some soapy water on there to see exactly where the leak is coming from!

dblteez

They always seem to happen fairly sudden. I'm still thinking the wheel tilt when making a sharp right turn, coupled with the gouges I just discovered, might be the culprit. Am I crazy? Crap! I just got a better look with a mirror (the tire is still on), was going to post a pic. You are correct Gary C there is some pitting. I'll insist the tire guys call me back for a look before remounting.
A million thanks to all! I knew you could do it!

eteller

I used to have a Tracker with some corrosion on the seal of one alloy rim, every winter it would lose air.

dblteez

They told me that there was some corrosion around the valve stem (new 10 days ago) which they cleaned up, applied sealer, and installed another new stem. So......was this the reason for the other 8 flats?

beejAMG

you may have cameras in your garage...but its useless when the guy who hates you is from work.

dblteez

No work. Retired. I'm actually going to look at a set of 17 inch wheels tomorrow. I haven't liked the ride with the 18 inch wheel and lower profile tire. And I'm thinking that a tire with a little more meat on the sidewall might help with the flats too. At least I hope.