Bought the Ultraseal sealant kit which includes about 1 gallon of sealant and the pump used to inject it into the tires through the valve stem. Put the Ultraseal in all 4 stock tires and had enough left over to do about another 4-6 tires, if needed. Had no problems with it affecting either tire balance or the operation of the TPMS. Had no encounters with anything which would have caused a flat, so cannot comment on how well it worked.
After 1600 miles I changed to different tires and rims and removed the TPMS units from the stock rims and put them into the new rims. Did clean the TPMS units with a wet cloth and blew out the valve stem just as a precaution, but found no build up of sealant material. The TPMS units work just fine in the new rims. Did not put Ultraseal into the new tires as they are low profile and Ultraseal does not recommend the use of the sealant in wide profile tires. Tossed the remaining sealand and pump.
I can confirm from experience that the $5 Fix-A-Flat, if left in the tire for 6+ months, will cause vibration and require a $100 tire replacement. Lesson learned. When they tell you to get the tire fixed asap, they mean it.
I now carry Nealey's Tire Repair Kit from tirerepairkit.com which is billed as a permanent patch that melts and cures into place using tire heat from highway driving. It'll plug a sizeable hole, too... 3/8 or 1/2" tested, I think. I may consider Ultraseal for preventive measure, but I'm closely watching others' experiences before I decide to risk tires, TPMS and rims.
Used to manage a Discount Tire. You should see it in the winter. People forget they put the stuff in a few months ago, and now they come in complaning the car is shaking like crasy. Take the tires off of the rims, pull out the blocked of frozen sealant, wash and remount. (after finding the original hole and sealing it of course.) It was always fun telling them that they had a nail in the tire several months ago when they didn't remember it at all. Thought I was psychic till I showed them the chunks.
Those fix a flat things are bad for your rim, they actually eat into the wheel. This was my experience.
Not to mention and adding onto the cleaning of the tire and sensor BUT... the REAL problem is that extra weight from the liquid makes your wheel out of balance that's why you need to get the wheel replace as soon as you can so it doesn't mess up your wheel bearing or create vibration. This is why we balance wheels at the shop to within 0-5 oz.
P.S. I never liked those fix a tire thing for those reasons but if you need it.. you need it..
I can confirm from experience that the $5 Fix-A-Flat, if left in the tire for 6+ months, will cause vibration and require a $100 tire replacement. Lesson learned. When they tell you to get the tire fixed asap, they mean it.
I now carry Nealey's Tire Repair Kit from tirerepairkit.com which is billed as a permanent patch that melts and cures into place using tire heat from highway driving. It'll plug a sizeable hole, too... 3/8 or 1/2" tested, I think. I may consider Ultraseal for preventive measure, but I'm closely watching others' experiences before I decide to risk tires, TPMS and rims.
I use Nealey's as well and have used it on the smart. Right rear has had a Nealy patch for almost a year and no leakage.
I had a bolt go through the tread section on the front tire. It was so big that most of the solution just ran out of the hole onto the cold, wet, rain soaked road. and all over the bottom of the pump, etc. I was able to limp at about 5-10 mph for 1/2 mile to a repair shop who plugged the hole and charged me 8 dollars for the job. That was about a week ago, and the tire is holding fine. The dealer apparently knows nothing about tirerack.com. The mechanic saitd these new plugs are used on TRUCK tires, and the repair ougth to be good for probably 3 years, which at my yearly mileage would far outlast the tread on the tire.
Last fall the tire light came on and we filled with air, but next day was flat. Used the repair kit that came with the car and off I went. We cleaned out the pump and got new goop from the dealer. When it started getting cold we added air to all 4 tires and the car has been fine all this time. Last week I had some kid stop me and ask if I knew I had a bolt in my tire. I now think this must be the reason that the tire went flat last year and the repair stuff really worked. I have now ordered a new rear tire and should be in on Friday. Will have the other one repaired and keep as a spare. I am sold on that kit!
I had the tire light come on a month ago. I took the car in, only to find that one of the tires had two small punctures. Oddly, I'd spotted a nail in one of the back tires, but that's not the one where they found the leak. So I still have a nail in one of my tires, and I'll have that addressed when I take the car in for the 50K tune-up in a few weeks.
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Thought I was psychic till I showed them the chunks.
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