Is Tire Sealant Effective On Tires With Acoustic Foam?

[SnowFlyer]

I travel long distances across rural parts of the west, day and night and I don't really like the prospect of being stranded for hours on one of these trips with a simple tire puncture, so I want some way to repair the most common tire damage.

After having this discussion with a Service Advisor and Delivery Specialist in Tempe AZ, they both advised that I buy the Tesla Tire Repair Kit (which is sealant and a pump and really is a short term fix to get you back to civilization vs an actual "repair" despite the name "Repair Kit"). I just received it today. Model S/X/3 Tire Repair Kit

My MS came with Goodyear Eagle Touring tires that have this acoustic foam on the interior of the tires to reduce tire noise (the Service Advisor was aware of this). Unfortunately I came across this TMC discussion with several sources advising that injectable sealants are not effective on punctures in tires with the acoustic foam interior like the Goodyears, so I'm wondering if these Tesla employees gave me bad advice? Model X and Tire Repair Kit

I want to know if this $80 Tesla Tire repair kit will be worthless on the Goodyears. I considered keeping it for my next set of tires, but have to say that I really do like the quietness of the Goodyears so there's a good chance my next tires will have the acoustic foam, be they Goodyears or another brand. FYI I will also be carrying a tire plug kit, but thought a sealant would be good backup (belt and suspenders sort of thing).

1) Has anyone had the sealant work effectively on a puncture in one of these tires with acoustic foam interior?

2) Can anyone link a reputable source that says if sealant and acoustic foam are or aren't compatible?

Thanks,

SnowFlyer

 

[BerTX]

I don't have any references or experiences, but I think the sealant makes those tires unusable and they have to be replaced if you put it in there. I can see the foam+sealant causing the tire to be constantly out of balance.

 

[Don TLR]

I don't have any references or experiences, but I think the sealant makes those tires unusable and they have to be replaced if you put it in there. I can see the foam+sealant causing the tire to be constantly out of balance.

Why would you think it would be out of balance?? There are lots of tire balancing alternatives using DynaBeads Air Soft Pellets, that use centrifugal force to help balance. Truckers use Dynabeads as well as off-roaders with big heavy tires. The sealant never gets hard and would flow out like the beads would. Tire plugs are the best way to go and you'd be amazed at the size of the holes they'll fill. Heck we used bailing wire and plugs to get a buggy off the trail that had a 2 inch slice. I ran for a year with 10 plugs in a sidewall on a bunch of sharp rock trails.

 

[BrettS]

Why would you think it would be out of balance?? There are lots of tire balancing alternatives using DynaBeads Air Soft Pellets, that use centrifugal force to help balance.

I think the concern is that the sealant goo would soak into the foam unevenly and cause the tire to be unbalanced. Since it had soaked into the foam it would be unable to freely move and dynamically balance the tire.

 

[Don85D]

In my experience, Dyna Beads are only effective on high profile tires like transport trailers or motorcycles. The beads need to stay on the centre line to work and for wide low profile tires the beads spread and cannot balance the tire. I recently had to use sealant in a leaking tire and it is effective for an emergency repair. In theory it should distribute around the tire and not affect balance but this doesn't work in cold temps when the sealant settles to the bottom of the tire when the car is parked. In the cold the sealant becomes jelly and will not distribute which limits highway speeds to around 60 mph. Still good enough to make it home but as will all miracle cures there are side effects.

 

[mrElbe]

Not speaking from experience but I suspect the sealant would stick in the foam and not even reach the puncture.

 

[Don TLR]

I think the concern is that the sealant goo would soak into the foam unevenly and cause the tire to be unbalanced. Since it had soaked into the foam it would be unable to freely move and dynamically balance the tire.

Good point, I had not thought of the small holes in the foam collecting sealant..

 

[idealsol]

You can use the tire kit without the foam. If you have a slow leak or just need to adjust the tire pressure you can bypass the foam.
I have a 3rd party inflator with foam I got on Amazon and it has performed perfectly for me. I’ve. Ever used the foam. It as about half the price of the Tesla inflator
It’s a bit of a hassle to use. Need to pull inflator nozzle and power connector out then stuff back into unit. No biggie for occasional use

 

[SnowFlyer]

I had another discussion with a Tesla representative yesterday regarding this and let them know about the conflicting info I'm getting on the forum. The Tesla rep. is going to do some research and get back to me when he has more definitive information and I'll pass it along here.

 

[SnowFlyer]

Tim B., a Tesla service representative in Scottsdale, AZ, indicated that no one at that service center had a definitive answer in regard to the efficacy of the Tesla tire repair/sealant kit on tires with acoustic foam, such as the Goodyear Eagle Touring tires that come standard on many 2017 Teslas.

In summary he said that the sealant kit is effective on foam lined tires for small punctures in the tread. Once the sealant is used they say that the tire requires replacing. If the other tires are at or less than 3mm tread depth the recommend replacing all 4.

After doing a lot of research on this forum and talking to several Tesla service people, my opinion it makes a lot of sense to carry a tire plug kit and the Tesla sealant kit (which includes an electric tire pump that can reinflate the tire. The plug kit can seal a tread puncture in a matter of minutes without necessitate replacing the tire. I bought a Slime brand tire plug kit. The sealant apparently soaks into the acoustic foam and will create a tire balance issue so they recommend replacing the tire after someone's put sealant in this type of tire. A different tesla service person told me he's used these with great success on off-road motorcycle tires. He indicated that he thought it would be a very good option for a tire puncture repair but couldn't "officially" recommend it.

My plan for flat repair is:
A) Call Road Side Assistance and request a road side replacement or repair if it's an acceptable wait time.
B) If the estimated wait time is too long (as in a remote area) and the damage appears repairable with my kits, I'll attempt to repair it myself use the Slime plug kit and re-inflate the tire with the Tesla sealant kit air pump using air only and no sealant. For a larger hole, I may try using more than one plug if this is possible.
C) If the plug kit still doesn't seal the hole, I'll try using the Tesla Sealant on top of the plug.
D) If B and C fail return to A and call roadside assistance.
E) Break out my emergency Jack Daniels Reserve whiskey kit.

Here's a transcript of the relevant email discussion if you'd like more:

"Do you have any guidance in regard to whether the Tesla Tire Repair Sealant Kit is effective at plugging a hole in the Goodyear Eagle Touring tires that have the acoustic foam."

"The (Tesla) tire kit that you ordered is recommended for your Model S with the acoustic tires. Of course it is only designed to seal the tire that has a nail size puncture only. Please be reminded that once you use the kit, the tire is recommended to be replaced as it is only a temporary fix."

"If I do use the sealant on a puncture can the tire be repaired by a tire shop? If the tire can’t be repaired and needs to be replaced would it necessitate replacing the other side or all four?"

"We recommend that the tire be replaced after the use of the sealant on that tire, as it is deemed unrepairable. We recommend that only the damaged tire to be replaced, if the tread levels are low (3mm) on the other tires then we recommend replacement."

 

[Don85D]

After recently trying the sealant-in-a-can repair on another vehicle, I agree that it's a temporary repair only. It may seal the leak but the balance is messed up especially in cold winter months when the sealant remains jelly inside the tire. My view now is that sealant is to be used only when there are no alternatives or no experience with tire plugging or safe wheel change.

We carry a spare wheel and full sized tire plus tools when touring as this is my preferred repair to continue the journey at speed. I also carry sheet metal screws and a small compressor. A sheet metal screw in a steel belted tire will stop a puncture leak sufficiently to get you home and this is how we would repair a puncture in a motorcycle tire. Finally I also carry a plug kit but if not used for years the glue dries out and you are back to sheet metal screws or sealant.

Probably the best mitigation is new tires. It's always the old worn and hard tires that pick up a nail, in my experience.