Ford Mondeo II (1996 - 2000) - Porous Alloys - will slime help?

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Fri 25 Jan 2008 13:22
Porous Alloys - will slime help? - likerocks
I think that the issue of corrosion on the zetec 16" alloys is quite well known.

Even with weekly checks and reinflation, I still feel that I'm driving around on marginally uninflated tyres for some of the time.

I wondered if some of that puncture-repair type slime that you introduce through the valve would be a solution to my problems? As a mountain biker I am aware that similar latex solutions can be used to assist seld-sealing in tubed and tubeless applications.

The only drawbacks that I can think of are a) it not working, b) mess, c) wheel balance

any thoughts?
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Fri 25 Jan 2008 14:29
Porous Alloys - will slime help? - L'escargot
Are you sure it's not a normal degree of air loss caused by porosity of the tyres? I understand that all tyres are porous to some extent.
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Fri 25 Jan 2008 14:59
Porous Alloys - will slime help? - normd2
slow puncture perhaps? tyres not seated properly? dodgy valves? - these are a bit more likely than a porous wheel I would have thought.
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Fri 25 Jan 2008 16:08
Porous Alloys - will slime help? - Alby Back
This may be irrelevant info. so apologies in advance. I had a problem on a Mondeo 3 with a mystery slow puncture on one wheel. It was not cured by re-fitting and I absolutely smelled a rat when the same thing happened with a brand new tyre on the same wheel. Turned out that this type of wheel had originally been fitted with a screw in metal valve and the aftermarket rubber ones were not seating properly. I bought some Ford screw in valves and never had another problem. Way to check for this is to pour a little water over the valve and look for bubbles.
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Fri 25 Jan 2008 16:41
Porous Alloys - will slime help? - *Gongfarmer*
I had a similar problem with the 16" alloy wheels on a Galaxy Ghia and after trying everything else (including metal valves) the tyre slime worked a treat. I used half a can in each wheel, when I changed the tyres the problem returned and was cured again in the same way.

Edited by *Gongfarmer* on 25/01/2008 at 16:42

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Fri 25 Jan 2008 19:11
Porous Alloys - will slime help? - likerocks
Many thanks for the replies, I will certainly look for leaks around the valve holes.

For info, the problem affects 3/4 wheels which all have some corrosion present. It has affected 3 different tyre types, fitted at 2 different garages.

With respect to sidewall leakage - I'd expect slime to help this too, perhaps?
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Fri 25 Jan 2008 19:44
Porous Alloys - will slime help? - Galaxy
For some strange reason tyres do not seal properly after a while, on the seal rim that's on the outside. I have the same leakage problem (no punctures!) and have learned to live with it on the current tyres, I just try to pump them up every week.

On a previous set of tyres I did go back to the tyre shop complaining that the newly-fitted from tyres were leaking. They let the trye down, broke the front seaing rim, and spread some sort of sealer all around this rim. Cleverly they didn't disturb the rear rim so rebalancing wasn't required afterwards.

As far as valves are concerned, I had my original metal valves removed several years ago and replaced with rubber ones! Chap in tyre shop said they were asked to do this quite often. I have tested the rubber ones and they certainly don't leak, so the problem isn't there.

If corrosion is present when the tyre is removed then this should really be dealt with before a new tyre is fitted. For some reason, the seal on the outward rim seems to be only marginally adequate, so, with a bit of corrosion present, it starts to leak.

I think asking for sealer applied when a new tyre is fitted is the only real answer.
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Fri 20 Aug 2010 14:42
Porous Alloys - will slime help? - likerocks

this goes back quite a long way, but I've had a breakthrough!

Just had new rears fitted & the fitter asked me "i bet these have been going down a lot?"

I said yes and he observed that there was corrosion present on the inner surfaces of the wheel too. Most tyre places will only wire-brush the rim before slapping on new sealant, which in unsatisfactory. This fitter had access to a grinding machine that does a a far better job of tidying up any irregularities on the sealing surfaces.

I know where I'll be going back to now.....

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