PH1958

I have a 2010 LS460L AWD with the OEM wheels. Periodically, one or two of my tires experience slow PSI drops. The Firestone Auto Center attributes the tire pressure loss to wheel corrosion where the tire bead meets the wheel. After the Auto Center cleans the wheel, the tire pressure holds. However, the problem recurs periodically. It is not isolated to one wheel...

Has anyone else experienced the similar issue?

Thanks.

sdwtchlvr

iTrader: (1)

Do you have a pic of the corrosion? Where do you live?

jmcraney

You have not told us anything about the leak rate? Or, the brand and model of the tires?

Rhambler

You live in a high-humidity area or near the ocean?

It's actually not that uncommon from what I understand, especially if the wheel has been nicked or damaged. Most wheels have a nice coating on it to protect the Alumnimun alloy. However, once that gets damaged (and I would imagine the bead area might be prone to it due to a lazy or clumsy tire tech nicking or scratching it during a tire install) it is probably susceptible to corrode, especially in regions with high-humidity or near the ocean.

That bead area is bad as surface imperfections and subsequent corrosion on the face or elsewhere won't leak air, but if that section corrodes, for whatever reason, it just might do that. So scraping your wheels might not affect the bead, but still might lead to corrosion, but at least it won't leak air, but then you might have overall structural issues.

Of course, if you live in the desert or dry region, this might not be an issue for a long time. If you live in the south or near the ocean, or even worse, the south near the ocean or even areas where they salt the road a lot, it might accelerate what most of us never notice.

Good luck.

Lextrician

corrosion on the inner wheel where the bead of the tire seat is very common but mainly on chrome wheels, any tire place should be able to demount the tire and clean up that area, whether it takes cleaning or a scotch brite pad it can be achieved...

DJWLDW

I have a 2010 LS 460L with OEM 19 inch wheels and have not had any problems with air leaks on any of my wheels

Dennis

Scrutator

After almost ten years and 75K miles I lost pressure in one of my tires on my 2006 LS 430 with stock wheels. Turned out that a 3-inch section of chrome near the bead had separated. Had to re-chrome the wheel.

Doublebase

Your car isn't that old, but it depends on where you live. If you live near the ocean or in an area that uses a lot of road salt, then yeah, you could have corrosion on the part of the rim that seals against the bead. It's pretty normal in the north east. When they break your tire down they will need to remove the corrosion with an angle die grinder and then apply some bead sealer along the bead of the tire. That should solve your problem - any capable tire shop can easily do this.

Unsober1

For small leaks, the tire shop can use a sealant, or liquid rubber, or what ever it its. They paint it onto the rim or something. When I first bought my house, they were building houses for the neighborhood and nails and debris were all over the road. The wife drove a CTS and killed the rims by driving on flat tires multiple times. It was crazy how often it happened. Anyways, they seal the bead with something that helps hold air. It works most of the time. I did however eventually buy a new rim because one tire didn't hold. And then I got smart and traded the caddy in for my first lexus.

PH1958

Thank you, everyone, for your input.

The tires are Bridgestone Serenity Plus tires on the OEM wheels with the 2010 LS460L AWD. I live in the New York City are.

jmcraney

Sometimes permeation loss is confused with wheel leaks, especially with mismatched tires.

In your case the cause seems to be wheel leaks. The fact that your tire service provider is "cleaning" your wheels makes it even more likely that it is a wheel leak.

During manufacturing the wheels are passivated to prevent corrosion. Passivation is usually accomplished through a electrochemical process called anodization.

If the anodize layer on the wheels is compromised then corrosion sets in and nothing can stop the corrosion short of stripping the wheel and applying a new anodize coat. Reasons for coating compromise range from manufacturing defects, to tool damage during tire mounting and dismounting, to unnecessary cleaning with abrasives, to damage from driving tires that are flat.

About the only thing that can be done is to have the problem wheels stripped and refinished. Refinishing is probably much less expensive than replacing the problem wheels with new wheels. You can also replace the problem wheels with used wheels but if you choose that route then be sure to inspect the coating on the used wheels before you buy.

For those of you who suspect that your have a wheel leak: check carefully as it could just be the valve stem and that can usually be repaired with new gaskets. Once you start scrubbing on the wheel with abrasives there is no backing-up.