Help: Conti Silent Tire Repair?

[Rodolfo Paiz]

My X100D only has about 6400 miles on it, and the tires were in great shape until I got a nail in the left-rear tire yesterday. It's right in the middle of the tread and looks totally repairable, but two tire shops (one Tires Plus, one Tire Kingdom) refused to repair it today. They both said it looked eminently repairable... but then said they won't touch a Conti Silent tire due to the inner foam layer and both insisted I had to buy a new tire.

I'm taking the weekend to get my facts straight, and I'd appreciate any help y'all can offer. I am finding some information online that says they can be repaired, it just takes more work and some tire shops don't like to do it (or just find it a good excuse to try to force you to buy another tire).

1. Can a puncture in one of these tires be repaired, albeit with more work than usual?
2. If so, is there something from Continental Tires that I can print out to take with me to a tire shop to show them that yes, it can and should be done?

Of course I'll also look for other installers that would be willing to do it (and any recommendations welcome). But mostly I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing by trying to repair the tire.

Thanks in advance for any help y'all can offer.

 

[Tam]

...

1. Can a puncture in one of these tires be repaired, albeit with more work than usual?

It just takes more work but I don't see why any person can't do it:

Repairing ContiSilent Tires with Quiet Foam | TechLink

Find exactly where the puncture site is:

Now that you know where that is, cut and remove the foam for about 4" area.

Do your puncture repair as you have normally done and there's no need to replace that 4" missing foam.

 

[365gtb4]

I've had two flats in my contis, i plugged them both. It's been about 15k miles with no problems.

 

[fbitz777]

Same with me.. the leaks from the nails were slow (over a few days) which made it hard to locate. Took only a few minutes to plug in each case.

 

[rudngo]

Do yourself a favor and find a tire shop that will patch your tire correctly as per the guide posted above. Plugging risks allowing air to cause the layers of rubber in the tire to separate. No manufacturer certifies plugging as an acceptable repair.

This is a good summary of patching vs. plugging.

Fixing Flat Tires - TIRE PLUG vs RADIAL PATCH at txtire.com

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

Thanks very much.

When I woke up this morning, the tire was flat since most of the air had leaked out overnight (it loses about 6-8 psi per hour). I've kept it inflated throughout today, but it'll be flat again by tomorrow morning.

How concerned should I be about the possibility of sidewall damage by the time I'm able to get this repaired on Monday afternoon?

 

[fbitz777]

Thanks very much.

When I woke up this morning, the tire was flat since most of the air had leaked out overnight (it loses about 6-8 psi per hour). I've kept it inflated throughout today, but it'll be flat again by tomorrow morning.

How concerned should I be about the possibility of sidewall damage by the time I'm able to get this repaired on Monday afternoon?

given that you might not readily find someone willing to fix it why don't you just buy a new one? probably faster and you can keep the "old" tire and have it fixed as pointed it above and keep as a spare.

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

Buying a new tire is always a possibility, and would become my default/preferred choice if I felt that the future safety or performance of the tire could be compromised. However, if it can be repaired to its full functionality and safety, then I prefer to be a responsible owner and put in the effort to repair it properly rather than waste all of the materials and resources that went into making a tire I used for less than 1/3 of its expected life.

I have come to believe that we (as a society) throw things away too easily, creating a level of waste that is a threat to our future well-being.

 

[rudngo]

Thanks very much.

When I woke up this morning, the tire was flat since most of the air had leaked out overnight (it loses about 6-8 psi per hour). I've kept it inflated throughout today, but it'll be flat again by tomorrow morning.

How concerned should I be about the possibility of sidewall damage by the time I'm able to get this repaired on Monday afternoon?

I wouldn’t worry about it. Sidewalls really get damaged when you drive on a flat tire. Any possible damage in your scenario will be evident when the tire is reinflated.

 

[MP3Mike]

@Rodolfo Paiz did you contact your local Tesla service center? I thought that they started doing tire repairs for about $50 when possible.

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

@MP3Mike, a huge thanks for that comment. It had not occurred to me that Tesla might be able/willing to do the repair, but in fact they were. Took about a half-hour and $68 ($60 for labor and $8 for the patch) to get everything squared away. Problem solved!

 

[jorobsand]

I also recently received a nail in my Michelin acoustic tires (after only 2k miles). The Tesla service center was closed the day I needed the repair so I took it to a tire shop. At first they were confused by the foam insert and thought they would have to cut it away and leave it out (to which they didn't think that would really matter for a small repair).

Then they realized they were able to simply peel back the foam to make the repair and there was enough stickiness left to place the foam back untouched.

 

[TexLaw]

I'm glad you got it repaired correctly. I had a puncture and, not thinking everything through, I just took it to the Discount Tire where I always had gone in the past. They screwed up the tire royally and tried to fix the "fix" with about a dozen or so balance weights. I had to get a new tire.

Just as an aside, it's worth getting a decent tire inflator to keep around for weather changes and slow leaks. Ryobi makes a couple good ones.

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

Just as an aside, it's worth getting a decent tire inflator to keep around for weather changes and slow leaks. Ryobi makes a couple good ones.

Yes, having a compressor around is phenomenal: helps with cars, balls and pool toys. This one is the best we've ever found, and we keep one in each car just in case:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036E9VB6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[psbill]

I had a flat tire a few weeks ago. Tesla said they wouldn't repair it because the puncture was too close to the sidewall. So I bought a new tire. Now I have a slow leak in another tire. This time Tesla says since my tires (Continental 265/45R 20") have foam in them, they can't be patched, only replaced. Any thoughts?

 

[jorobsand]

I had a flat tire a few weeks ago. Tesla said they wouldn't repair it because the puncture was too close to the sidewall. So I bought a new tire. Now I have a slow leak in another tire. This time Tesla says since my tires (Continental 265/45R 20") have foam in them, they can't be patched, only replaced. Any thoughts?

I have the Michelin Pilot acoustic tires which also have foam in them. They absolutely can be patched so long as the puncture is not too close to the sidewall like you previously experienced. Either they can peel back the foam and patch it normally and put the foam back in place (if there is enough adhesive left), or they can cut out a small section of the foam to apply the patch and the tire should be just fine with the small piece of foam missing.

So the foam in and of itself is not a reason why the tire can't be patched by a knowledgeable person.

 

[psbill]

Thanks. That's great information.

 

[wdolson]

I had a bad flat over the weekend. The car had to sit until today to get repaired. I thought the tire was a goner and the tech said they didn't want to patch it from the inside because of the foam, but he did put a plug in the hole. The tires are very worn and I was planning on getting new tires soon anyway, but the plug buys me some breathing room to order new tires.

 

[jdchi]

In the 18 years I’ve been driving, I’ve only had to replace one tire outside the normal lifecycle. This morning, after 8 months/7,000 miles with my X, I discovered my third puncture. The first two were too close to the sidewall to repair but this one looks promising.

Can someone smarter than me explain: is this just really, really bad luck or are these tires more prone to puncture? Is it the weight of the vehicle? I had a Volt before this and that thing was a little tank—but I never had to replace a tire.

 

[wdolson]

Strange. Do you drive through a construction area or have someone you don't like living on your commute route? I've had 5 or 6 flats over my years driving, but most were picked up in construction zones.

I had a bad puncture on my Model S a couple of weeks ago. That's the only flat I've had in 2 years. They were able to fix the tire, but they weren't sure how long it was going to last. I was going to buy new tires at the end of the summer, so I just moved up the replacement a few months.