Hi, picked up a delightful screw in my tyre today and pressure sensor flagged to me of the drop in pressure (only a 3lb drop).

i have only done 4600 miles on the pirelli’s and was still hoping for the hole to be plugged. If not, then it’s a replacement tyre,  but reading in the manual it says that tyres should be replaced ‘axle by axle’, which in theory means both tyres. Would rather not as they are £160 a tyre!

 

Anyone had something similar and what did you do in this position?

 

Any help appreciated.

They are self-seal tyres, you should be able to pull that screw out and the tyre will seal the hole itself.

 

 

 

 

Edited 7 July, 20196 yr by silver1011

Even if it doesn’t seal, there is no reason to buy a new tyre the screw is well away from the side wall just get it repaired.

If you're going to be unfortunate enough to get a puncture, you've picked the ideal place to get it. 

 

Had one in a similar location in a brand new Nokian winter tyre; on the car less than six weeks and only a couple of hundred miles (if that!) under its belt. 

 

Cost to repair was about a tenner. 

 

My understanding about replacing both tyres on the same axle was if there was a 'significant' difference in the tread of the new tyre and the remaining tyre, more so if the vehicle had four wheel drive. 

 

Happy to be corrected though. 

Edited 7 July, 20196 yr by Guest
Further information added.

A lot of garages won't repair a self-seal tyre. It is possible but a real chore.

 

The self-seal gel needs to be removed before the tyre can be patched.

Can the seal inside definitely be repaired?

 

Tempted to remove the screw and see what happens ref the goo

Edited 7 July, 20196 yr by milkymarsh

This information used to be easy to find on the Pirelli website but I couldn’t find it, so pinched from another forum....

In the event of a puncture, the sealant allows the driver to continue driving – not having to stop the vehicle for an immediate replacement of the tyre – until it can be replaced.
The sealant does not guarantee permanent repair of the tyre caused by a puncture. For this reason Pirelli recommends that drivers regularly monitor the tyres in order to identify punctures that are sealed, or the presence of nails or screws on the tread pattern. In such a situation, it is necessary to go to a specialized tyre dealer who can identify the puncture area and remove the object that caused it.
The tyre dealer has to subsequently evaluate the extent of the damage and decide if the tyre can be repaired or not.
Seal Inside tyres can significantly reduce the chance of having a flat tyre but, unlike run flat tyres, are not designed to be driven under inflated or in a flat condition.
In terms of mounting, removing and balancing there are no differences between Seal Inside and standard tyres. Pirelli tyres with Seal Inside technology do not need dedicated rims and for this reason can be mounted on the same standard rims used for standard tyres.
Seal Inside tyres should be stored in the same conditions recommended for standard tyres.

 

Repairing Instructions

Premise: examination of a damaged tyre and execution of a proper repair are the responsibilities only of a specialized tyre dealer. Pirelli does not assume any liability for operations performed by third parties.
To perform the repair of a tyre with Seal Inside technology it is necessary to remove the layer of sealant in the puncture area within the tyre until you reach the impermeable butyl layer, for an area with the same size as the repair patch to be applied; after removing the sealant the repair operation is equivalent to that of a standard tubeless tyre.
As is evident, this operation to remove the sealant from the puncture area inevitably means that the treated area loses the special technical feature of Seal Inside.

 

 

Edited 8 July, 20196 yr by Kenny R

Hopefully can be plugged

 

If can’t be done, with only 4600 miles, tyre is nearly new, so tread depth should be similar, so worst case is just buy one tyre.  

Well the verdict is in. Unscrewed and pulled the screw out of it (looks like an old roofing screw), and the goo has plugged the gap.

Inflated the tyre to the correct pressure, reset the pressure gauge and hey presto, so far all good. That’s £160 saved so far...

26 minutes ago, milkymarsh said:

Well the verdict is in. Unscrewed and pulled the screw out of it (looks like an old roofing screw), and the goo has plugged the gap.

Inflated the tyre to the correct pressure, reset the pressure gauge and hey presto, so far all good. That’s £160 saved so far...

So are you going to try to get it repaired properly now ? It'll be interesting to hear how that goes if you do.

On 07/07/2019 at 21:07, Kenny R said:

Even if it doesn’t seal, there is no reason to buy a new tyre the screw is well away from the side wall just get it repaired.

 

I concur.

 

My wife came home yesterday with a similar puncture on our Octavia.  Warning popped up on dash. Several PSI down.

 

Local tyre emporium took £20 for a plug. Last for ages yet.

Edited 8 July, 20196 yr by BoxerBoy

56 minutes ago, milkymarsh said:

Well the verdict is in. Unscrewed and pulled the screw out of it (looks like an old roofing screw), and the goo has plugged the gap.

Inflated the tyre to the correct pressure, reset the pressure gauge and hey presto, so far all good. That’s £160 saved so far...

 

I'd have left it in if it was holding up, till I reached the Fixer.

9 minutes ago, BoxerBoy said:

 

I'd have left it in if it was holding up, till I reached the Fixer.

+1 at least with the screw still in where to repair would be obvious, now it will now take them some time to find the hole where the screw was.

40 minutes ago, olderman1 said:

So are you going to try to get it repaired properly now ? It'll be interesting to hear how that goes if you do.

Couldn’t get to the garage today and have driven locally where it hasn’t lost any pressure at all all day. 

As the goo has done its job and plugged the hole, is there any point in the plug?

The seal inside is not a magic fix it’s only to allow you to drive till the tyre can be repaired, see post #7 above.

12 hours ago, BoxerBoy said:

 

I concur.

 

My wife came home yesterday with a similar puncture on our Octavia.  Warning popped up on dash. Several PSI down.

 

Local tyre emporium took £20 for a plug. Last for ages yet.

 

Does the Octavia have self-seal tyres?

As to whether the self-seal tyres require a permanent puncture repair or not isn't obvious to me.

 

Whilst Pirelli's website gives you guidance on how to repair a self-seal tyre, it isn't clear if this is for all punctures, or only those where the self-seal technology hasn't worked.

 

"The tyre dealer has to subsequently evaluate the extent of the damage and decide if the tyre can be repaired or not."

 

If the tyre is now holding air then the self-seal technology has done it's job. Whether the fix is permanent or not would require confirmation from Pirelli.

 

There are very few tyre fitters that will be willing to repair a self-seal tyre, simply due to the extra effort required to remove the layer of sealant around the puncture, most much prefer to charge you for a new tyre.

If it were me and the tyre was holding pressure ok, I would leave it be and work on the basis that the self seal has done its job. If it’s still slowly losing pressure then I would get a traditional plug repair done. 

8 minutes ago, MrTrilby said:

If it were me and the tyre was holding pressure ok, I would leave it be and work on the basis that the self seal has done its job. If it’s still slowly losing pressure then I would get a traditional plug repair done. 

 

Personally, I wouldn't. I'd worry too much about it being the source of potential blowout in the future. I'd see it as a 'convenience' to get by until I can have it repaired or replaced, but wouldn't trust it to keep me and loved ones safe in the longer term.

9 minutes ago, CheshireBumpkin said:

 

Personally, I wouldn't. I'd worry too much about it being the source of potential blowout in the future. I'd see it as a 'convenience' to get by until I can have it repaired or replaced, but wouldn't trust it to keep me and loved ones safe in the longer term.

 

The voice of reason at last.😄

Imagine this; you don't get it repaired and at some time in the future you're bowling down an A road at 60 mph when you have a blowout and lose control.  Coming in the opposite direction at the same speed is another vehicle which you hit head on at a closing speed of 120 mph. I wouldn't want to be in either vehicle if that happened !!

A touch extreme. If the sealant fails the tyre will deflate.  A blow out is different. 

Calm down, it's a puncture, one that's been repaired to the point it is holding pressure, exactly as it is designed to do.

 

There are plenty of vehicles "bowling down" A roads at 60mph towards you fitted with any one of a number of different tyre conditions...

 

Under / over inflated

Bald

Unevenly worn

Torn

Cracked

Out-of-date

Remoulds

Used / part-worn

Mismatched

Cheap / budget

Puncture repaired

Incorrectly fitted

 

* delete as appropriate

 

Imagine the horror of someone driving more than the recommended 50 miles on a punctured run-flat tyre, will someone think of the children!

1 hour ago, silver1011 said:

 

Does the Octavia have self-seal tyres?

 

Nope. Regular Michelin tyre. Plugged without question. 

So, if the OP makes contact with Pirelli and they confirm that a punctured self-sealed tyre needs to be plugged even after a successful self-seal, then I wouldn't want self-seal tyres.

 

• The self-seal tyres are more expensive to buy
• They need repairing anyway
• Most tyre fitters refuse to repair them due to the extra work required, or charge accordingly
• A puncture therefore results in a new tyre being required
• In this case, the tyre didn't go flat and could be driven to the tyre fitter.

Kind of defeats the object, especially as in most cases, such as this one, the car could have been driven to the tyre fitter whilst the screw was mostly forming an airtight seal.

 

Give me a regular cheaper non-self-seal tyre, a spare wheel and the option of a standard £20 puncture repair any day of the week.

 

22 minutes ago, MrTrilby said:

A touch extreme. If the sealant fails the tyre will deflate.  A blow out is different. 

 

I agree my remark was extreme but shock tactics are better than no tactics at all. You assume the tyre will deflate, and slowly hopefully, but how do you know, so why take a chance ?