Need some Advice on Tires Pressure

[Ksaness07Edge]

Ok so I have been having a problem with my Edge its tires loosing air pressure about every 2 weeks the light comes on. It started about 2 or 3 months ago and i alerted the service tech at the dealer so they filled all 4 tires becuase they were low. They said "if it happens again let us know" The next time it was in for an oil change I told them that the light had come on again but I filled the tires with air they said ok well if it happens again bring it in and we will see what is wrong. So I dropped it off this am and I get a call an hour ago saying that they are going to Charge me to take off the wheels remove the tires and put the same tires back on and fill with air and see if that solves the problem. I stop them right there and say "I'm not paying for that the car is only 9 months old and I have 18,000 miles on it there is no way I should pay you to "see" if that will solve the problem. I told them I will be in later to pick up my car.

 

So here is what I am asking you guys should this be covered under my Warrnty on the car or the Warranty on the tires an help will be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Ksaness07Edge]

How low were the tires?

 

Low enough that the light came on and they looked low to the naked eye, I can't say how much psi low it was I don't have a tire gauge.

[Abrannan19]

did they check the tires for a leak? if its leaking..and they plug it..then it wont be free..thats understandable..i

 

you need to get a tire gauge and check it..if its leaking that much..there is a hole somewhere.

[07 MKX]

TPM's are set to notify you if their is a drop of 25% I think. Depending on where you live, You've probably already lost about 4-5 PSI alone due to cold weather.

 

If the dealer just filled the tires and didn't reset the tire pressure sensor's on the car, I would expect this to happen.

 

The only real way to check a tire IS to dismount it and to physically run your hand inside the tire to see if a bit of metal has been picked up. Just filling it with 50-60 PSI of air and doing a bubble test will not always show if a nail has been picked up. IF you have all 4 tires going down like this, I don't think it's the wheels or tires, It's just the change in the weather, Put 35-40 pounds back in them, and make sure your using a good tire pressure gauge at home.

 

You've asked that someone check for normal maintenance. You would be paying for this at a Firestone store. But once you've paid, and it keeps occurring and they do find the problem, your initial cost would be applied to the rest of the repair bill.

 

It would fall under the tire warranty.

[Ksaness07Edge]

did they check the tires for a leak? if its leaking..and they plug it..then it wont be free..thats understandable..i

 

Yes they checked for leaks and found none

 

IF you have all 4 tires going down like this, I don't think it's the wheels or tires, It's just the change in the weather,

 

All 4 tires are low, I have Nitrogen in the tires and the problem started before the temps started to get cold here. With nitro the temp should not affect the pressure that much thats one of the many reasons to run nitrogen in your tires.

 

You've asked that someone check for normal maintenance. You would be paying for this at a Firestone store. But once you've paid, and it keeps occurring and they do find the problem, your initial cost would be applied to the rest of the repair bill.

 

I would not call this "normal maintenance" tires should not loose that much pressure in 2 weeks

 

 

Thanks for the responses so far

[07 MKX]

Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earth's gravity. It contains roughly (by molar content/volume) 78% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% carbon dioxide, trace amounts of other gases, and a variable amount (average around 1%) of water vapor.

[bbf2530]

Hi Ksaness. :D to be honest, your description of the problem is a little confusing (at least to me).

 

To start, is it possible that some idiot (or friend who is an idiot) is pulling a poor taste practical joke, and letting air out of your tires?

 

Next, whether that is a possibility or not, you need to purchase a good quality tire pressure gauge. Every car should have one. You have a $25,000+ machine, so at least do the minimum maintenance required.

 

Since you say the tires were visibly low, then we "probably" can safely rule out a TPMS system problem.

 

Having said that, do not count on the TPMS system as your safety cushion. It is an "IDIOT LIGHT". It is there to protect from their own stupidity, those who are too lazy to check there own tires. As 07 MKZ stated, they are usually calibrated to alert the driver when the pressure has dropped +-25%. So on a car with a recommended pressure of 34psi, it may not notify you until they are down to approximately 26psi. That is dangerously low. Get a tire pressure gauge, and use it!

 

Next, when did you have the tires filled with "Nitrogen"? They do not come from the factory with nitrogen. Did the Dealer do it, or another tire shop? When the "nitrogen" fill was done, did whoever performed the service completely purge the tires of all air? If they did not, the nitrogen fill was a waste, as it is contaminated. Might as well be compressed air.

 

Are all four tires losing pressure? Are these the original wheels and tires? You say you have had the Edge for 9 months and put 18,000 miles on it, when did this problem first begin? Did they lose pressure from the time you purchased the vehicle, or has it begun recently? These are just a few questions that would need to be answered.

 

Essentially, if there is a manufacturing defect in the wheels, tires, valves, etc etc, then yes the Warranty should cover it. But if the tires have punctures, then no, it would be normal wear and tear, and it would be your out of pocket cost.

 

You are either going to need to have the Dealer check them, or a tire shop check them. One way or another, the results will be the same. It is either a manufacturing defect covered by warranty, or a road hazard problem which you will have to pay for, out of pocket.

 

You can't keep riding around with leaking tires.

 

Let us know what happens, and good luck! :beerchug:

Edited December 19, 2007 by bbf2530

[Ksaness07Edge]

thanks bbf2530 for your response I'll try to expalin this as simple as possible

 

all 4 tires and rims are what were on the edge when I bought it.

 

My TPS light was constantly coming on in the car and I was constantly filling the air at the gas station.

 

I decided to get Nitorgen in the tires because they say it retains pressure and does not loose air as much as just the regular compressed air. The tires were completley purged of any air and then filled with nitro.

 

No one is letting air out of my tires.

 

 

my problem comes when the dealer says "We can take the wheels off and the tires off and then put them back on but that will cost you $xx.xx and that might fix the problem"

 

what I am asking is that shouldn't something like this be covered or am I just being stupid.

[bbf2530]

thanks bbf2530 for your response I'll try to expalin this as simple as possible

 

all 4 tires and rims are what were on the edge when I bought it.

 

My TPS light was constantly coming on in the car and I was constantly filling the air at the gas station.

 

I decided to get Nitorgen in the tires because they say it retains pressure and does not loose air as much as just the regular compressed air. The tires were completley purged of any air and then filled with nitro.

 

No one is letting air out of my tires.

 

 

my problem comes when the dealer says "We can take the wheels off and the tires off and then put them back on but that will cost you $xx.xx and that might fix the problem"

 

what I am asking is that shouldn't something like this be covered or am I just being stupid.

 

Hi Ksaness. :D Thanks for simplifying, and displaying some pity for a simple man.

 

You did not say at what point this problem started in the 9 months and 18,000 miles you have had the car? Have the tires leaked since day one, or is it a more recent development?

 

But again (and I know this sounds overly simple), if the leaks are due to some type of manufacturing defect, like a faulty wheel, bad tire bead, defective tire valve, etc etc, then it should be covered under your new car warranty.

 

If the leaks are due to the fact that you ran over a box of nails that fell off a truck and spread all over the road, or come other type of road hazard damage to your wheels or tires, etc etc, then no, it is not covered.

 

Here is what I would do. Take the car to the Dealer when you have the time to stay there. Have them take off one wheel, and dismount and check the tire. See what is causing the problem. Is it road hazard damage, or a manufacturing defect?

 

If it's road hazard damage, then they get fixed on your dime.

 

If there is no road hazard damage, then there is some type of inherent defect. Therefore, it's a Warranty item, it should be covered by Ford or the tire manufacturer, and the Dealer should fix it and the other three, under warranty.

 

It's as simple as that.

 

Another option to ponder: If you have a local service garage that you trust, preferably with some tire expertise, you could have them check one wheel/tire first (before you return to the Dealer), just to cover your back. Having something in writing would certainly help your cause.

 

By the way, unless you are getting the Nitrogen fills for free (and refills and top offs each time you need it), save your money. I'm not going to get into the whole story now, but most experts will state that until it is more widely available, it is not worth the cost and trouble.

 

If you regularly maintain you tires, by purchasing and using a tire pressure gauge to check them, you do not need a nitrogen fill. It does not make them maintenance free. Also, once you have nitrogen in the tire, using regular compressed air to "top off" the tires will negate all of the benefits of the nitrogen. So you always would need to go back to a shop which uses nitrogen.

 

Let us know what happens. Good luck! :beerchug:

Edited December 20, 2007 by bbf2530

[Ksaness07Edge]

By the way, unless you are getting the Nitrogen fills for free (and refills and top offs each time you need it), save your money. I'm not going to get into the whole story now, but most experts will state that until it is more widely available, it is not worth the cost and trouble.

 

If you regularly maintain you tires, by purchasing and using a tire pressure gauge to check them, you do not need a nitrogen fill. It does not make them maintenance free. Also, once you have nitrogen in the tire, using regular compressed air to "top off" the tires will negate all of the benefits of the nitrogen. So you always would need to go back to a shop which uses nitrogen.

 

 

since I have gotten Nitrogen I go back to the tire shop to have them refill when I get low.

 

The tires started loosing air about 9,000 miles ago about 3 oil changes. I am hard pressed that I ran over something and it caused leaks in all 4 tires but hey anything could happen.

 

I am going back to the dealer and have them do one tire like you suggested and see what they find thanks

[EdgeNut]

All 4 tires losing pressure at the same rate? That's quite the statistical oddity...

 

When you measure pressure, the tires should be at ambient temperature, after sitting a while. Is it possible you're measuring pressure after driving a while, or even after the tires have been in the sun for a bit? I've found that, on the same vehicle, tires in the sun can be up to 10psi higher than those in the shade. Even driving in a reasonable manner can raise pressure a few psi after sitting a while.

 

Might be worth having your valve cores tightened/replaced. Maybe there's enough crud in there from the tire shop that they can't seal all the way? Another possibility is that the pressure gage at your tire shop is horribly out of calibration, and you check it yourself with one that is in spec, and agrees with the TPMS sensors?

 

Very strange indeed...

[Ksaness07Edge]

So yesterday I was going to take my car to the dealer but decided to stop at the tire shop where I had my tires filled with nitrogen and asked them to check the pressure in the tires. They said that all 4 tires were at different pressures so they purged them again and refilled the tires to 35psi. The guy there is a real nice guy and is trying to help me out unlike the Ford dealership is so he said to come back in one week and he will check the pressure again. If we find anything then I can go to Ford and tell them what is up.

[akirby]

So yesterday I was going to take my car to the dealer but decided to stop at the tire shop where I had my tires filled with nitrogen and asked them to check the pressure in the tires. They said that all 4 tires were at different pressures so they purged them again and refilled the tires to 35psi. The guy there is a real nice guy and is trying to help me out unlike the Ford dealership is so he said to come back in one week and he will check the pressure again. If we find anything then I can go to Ford and tell them what is up.

 

Get a tire gauge and check them yourself.

[Ksaness07Edge]

Get a tire gauge and check them yourself.

 

What good would checking them myself do if I don't have nitrogen to fill them back up I'd still have to go to the tire shop.

[bbf2530]

Thinking back, I have cars that I got tires for from Costco. It is their policy to use nitrogen to inflate the tires. I have noticed that there was a pressure drop (@ 3 psi on the average) per tire after a couple of months. Not having nitrogen to put in, I used my air pump to bring the tires back up to specs. Didn't have any loss after that. That happened on 2 of the cars. The third one, which had it's tires replaced this past summer, has not lost any pressure at all, of course.

 

What good would checking them myself do if I don't have nitrogen to fill them back up I'd still have to go to the tire shop.

 

Hi guys. :D The post by "Trainmaster" is the perfect example of why we all should routinely check our tire pressure, whether they are filled with compressed air, nitrogen, jello or whatever.

 

Let me start by saying that I am not trying to make any one angry, insult anyone, etc etc. Just trying to present the facts (not my opinion).

 

First, nobody should go a "couple of months" without checking their tires! Nitrogen filled tires will still lose pressure over time. Just not as quickly as compressed air. And yes, they are not affected by temperature change in the same way as compressed air. But you still have to check them!

 

They will lose pressure normally. And what if you have a puncture with a slow leak? Do you plan on finding it out only when your TPMS (Idiot Light) comes on?

 

A Nitrogen fill is not some sort of "cure all" which means we no longer need to check our tires. And a TPMS system is not some sort of "fail safe, hands off, never have to check your tires yourself" system.

 

A TPMS system is a "Holy Shit! Hey you! Wake up! Your tires are so low you better stop and fill them now system".

 

Again, most TPMS systems are set to warn when your pressure drops below approximately 75% of recommended pressure. So, on a tire with a recommended pressure of 34psi, your TPMS warning light will not even come on until you are at 26psi. That is dangerously low.

 

Essentially, they are just two more attempts at trying to make cars "Idiot Proof". And the "Idiots" they are trying to "proof" the cars against are those of us who don't have pressure gauges and don't check their tires regularly.

 

"Ksaness", "akirby" is right. Of course you should check your tires in the mean time. What if they get dangerously low before the week is up? What if you get busy and can't go back in a week? This is one of the drawbacks of a nitrogen fill. You can not do anything without going back to that one shop (or use compressed air and contaminate your nitrogen fill).

 

Everybody needs to check their tires, unless you are rich enough to pay your butler/driver to do it for you.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

Edited December 21, 2007 by bbf2530

[jeffreybehr]

FWIW, I agree with about 90% of what bbf writes. EVERY car owner should have a tire gage and check his/her tires regularly, perhaps every couple weeks. And every car owner who is having trouble with tires losing pressure and doesn't have or use often a pressure gage deserves all the bad service from his/her tires that the poor, neglected things give him/her.

 

Ksaness07Edge: "What good would checking them myself do if I don't have nitrogen to fill them back up(?) I'd still have to go to the tire shop."

 

Yes, you would, but YOU would know which tires are and aren't losing pressure, and eventually, after you have this problem isolated and fixed, you'll learn that your tires are indeed inflated correctly.

 

Do you ever check your engine-oil level?

[Good_Hands]

Do you ever check your engine-oil level?

 

He might just wait for the light to come on.

 

Isn't that what it's there for?

[akirby]

Besides being able to check the pressure in 3 minutes without having to drive to the tire store or wait for the idiot light to come on, you'd be able to tell if they're losing air gradually or all of a sudden.

 

I still think it's possible that someone is letting the air out of your tires and this would confirm that.

[Ksaness07Edge]

He might just wait for the light to come on.

 

Isn't that what it's there for?

 

Please do not insult me I am asking a simple questions and you are not providing any help with your dumb-ass reply

 

 

Besides being able to check the pressure in 3 minutes without having to drive to the tire store or wait for the idiot light to come on, you'd be able to tell if they're losing air gradually or all of a sudden.

 

I still think it's possible that someone is letting the air out of your tires and this would confirm that.

 

NO ONE IS LETTING AIR OUT OF MY TIRES another helpless answer please move on

 

Seriously guys I'm not some moron that has only owned one car in my life. I take great care of my vehicles and I don't go months on end with out checking tire pressure. In this instance my tire pressure has been checked every 2 -3 weeks that is when the light comes on so yes it is loosing air at a rate the is faster then it should be. I don't think to many drivers check there tire pressure every week. I did when I owned my motorcycle but on todays cars it is not unreasonable to go 3 weeks without checking your tires air pressure. And weather I check them myself or go to the tires shop that I pass everyday they get checked so what the big deal who does it.

 

I am not asking for help on how to check the air pressure or my engine oil level either like I said above this is not my first car but thanks for all the help so far some of you have give me so good advice, others well thanks for the laughs.

[akirby]

The chances of having 4 leaky tires all at the same time are slim. Possible, but slim. Besides ruling out the possibility of someone messing with you, checking the pressure every day (or 2 or 3) would tell you if it was a slow leak or all of a sudden. You can't have too much data when you're trying to troubleshoot a strange problem.

[Good_Hands]

Please do not insult me I am asking a simple questions and you are not providing any help with your dumb-ass reply

 

 

 

 

NO ONE IS LETTING AIR OUT OF MY TIRES another helpless answer please move on

 

Seriously guys I'm not some moron that has only owned one car in my life. I take great care of my vehicles and I don't go months on end with out checking tire pressure. In this instance my tire pressure has been checked every 2 -3 weeks that is when the light comes on so yes it is loosing air at a rate the is faster then it should be. I don't think to many drivers check there tire pressure every week. I did when I owned my motorcycle but on todays cars it is not unreasonable to go 3 weeks without checking your tires air pressure. And weather I check them myself or go to the tires shop that I pass everyday they get checked so what the big deal who does it.

 

I am not asking for help on how to check the air pressure or my engine oil level either like I said above this is not my first car but thanks for all the help so far some of you have give me so good advice, others well thanks for the laughs.

 

 

Sheesh...It's called a sense of humor. Get one.

 

You have a very strange situation and we are trying to give you suggestions. I agree with akirby; to have all four tires with a small leak in each one of them is very unlikely.

 

If you don't like what any of us have to say, then figure something else out. After all, you are the one who doesn't think he should check his tire pressure because he has the TPMS. "What good would checking them myself do if I don't have nitrogen to fill them back up(?) I'd still have to go to the tire shop." Using that same logic, why check the oil or radiator level; you just have to get them filled up too.

 

 

You could always develop an Excel spreadsheet. Test each tire three times every three hours. Make a column showing each tire, the tire pressure and the time you checked it.

[carbonedge+]

Sheesh...It's called a sense of humor. Get one.

 

It seems a sense of humor and this forum do not play well lately...

 

This is a very strange situation indeed and I would think the tire shop that filled them with the nitrogen would help you get to the bottom of the issue and help you determine if it is a tire manufacturing issue. You might try going back to good ole regular air and see if it does the same.

[MountainEdge07]

Ok, I know what he is talking about because it is happening to me! I have been constantly losing pressure out of the same tire since I had them rotated for the first time after buying my Edge in September. I "DO" check my pressure and have even had the tire taken off by a friend and checked for nails, etc. I am going to my local dealership on 12/31/07 to have them check the TPMS in that tire and see if there are any other possible defects. I will let you know what I find out, so that hopefully it will help you as well.

 

Sometimes when people post responses, they don't realize that they are being ! I thought that little symbol said it all. No one likes being talked down to and that is how I would feel if a couple of those responses were addressed to me. Sense of humor or not! Happy New Year and Go Mountaineers!!!!! :happy feet: