Tire Losing Air in Hillsboro, KS
The short answer
A tire that keeps losing air almost always has a small puncture, a leaky valve stem or a bad seal where the tire meets the wheel, and many of those can be repaired.
You top it up at the gas station on Friday, and by Monday morning the pressure light is back and that same tire looks a little soft in the driveway. Topping up keeps you moving for now, but every mile on a low tire heats it and weakens it from the inside. Bring it in, or we will come and get it.
Call or text (620) 416-0008. Describe the noise. We'll do the rest.
We answer texts the same day we get them.
Slow leaks, decoded
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Text us which onesHow we fix a tire that keeps losing air
We find the leak instead of guessing. Plenty of slow leaks turn out to be a valve stem or a corroded wheel rather than a nail, and each one needs a different fix.
We repair it properly when it is safe to. A small puncture in the tread gets a plug and patch fitted from inside the tire, which is the repair tire makers recommend.
We tell you straight when it cannot be repaired. A hole in the sidewall or the shoulder, or damage from being driven flat, means the tire has to be replaced, and no patch changes that.
Then we put it all back right. The repaired tire is balanced again, and all four are set to the pressure your vehicle calls for before you leave.
Why Hillsboro brings a leaking tire to Moxie
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Repair or replace, told honestly
We show you where the leak is and tell you whether a repair is safe, instead of selling you a tire you do not need.
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New tires when you need them
If a tire cannot be saved, we can fit a new one from a wide range of major brands.
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An ASE-certified technician
Our technician is ASE certified in engine repair, automatic transmissions and drivetrains, and Moxie pays for ASE testing for the whole team.
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We pick your vehicle up
Pickup and delivery is free within 40 miles of the shop, which covers McPherson, Newton and Hesston.
Call or text (620) 416-0008. Describe the noise. We'll do the rest.
Slow leak myths we hear at the counter
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Sounds like yours? Tell us what it is doing and we will tell you straight.
Can I keep driving?
Short trips to the shop, with the tire filled first.
Fill the tire to the pressure on the sticker inside the driver's door, then drive straight to us. A tire that holds air for a day or two will get you here, but driving it while it is low overheats it and damages the inside, which turns a simple repair into a new tire. If it is flat, never drive on it, not even around the corner.
Stop driving and call us if
- The tire is flat or visibly low, even if the light has not come on
- It will not hold air long enough to get to the shop
- You see a bulge, a bubble, a cut or cords showing on the tire
- You hear a thumping or feel a wobble that gets worse as you drive
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What lets the air out around here
- Nails, screws and wire picked up around job sites, farm yards and new construction
- Sharp gravel that works into the tread on county roads
- Old, cracked rubber valve stems on tires that have seen a few Kansas summers
- Corrosion on the wheel where the tire seals, common after winters of road salt
- A wheel bent by a pothole or a curb, so the tire no longer seals all the way around
- A worn seal on the tire pressure sensor where it mounts through the wheel
How we diagnose a tire that keeps losing air in Hillsboro
- We check the pressure in all four tires, so we know how fast this one is losing compared with the others.
- We take the wheel off and dip it in water, and the bubbles show us exactly where the air escapes.
- We check the valve stem, the tire pressure sensor seal and the edge of the wheel, not just the tread.
- We look inside the tire for damage from being driven low, which you cannot see from the outside.
- Then we tell you whether it can be repaired, and why, before anything else gets done.
A tire that keeps losing air across five Kansas counties
We look after drivers across Marion County, Harvey County, McPherson County, Chase County and Lyon County, with free pickup and delivery within 40 road miles of 611 Orchard Dr, Hillsboro.
Questions about a tire that keeps losing air
Why does my tire keep losing air when I cannot find a nail?
The leak is often somewhere you would not think to look, such as the valve stem or the seal between the tire and the wheel. Corrosion on the wheel and small bends from a pothole both cause slow leaks with no nail in sight. We find it by dipping the whole wheel in water and watching for bubbles.
Can a leak in the sidewall be patched?
No, it cannot be patched safely. The sidewall flexes with every turn of the wheel, so a patch there will not hold, and the tire can fail without warning. A damaged sidewall means a new tire, and we will show you the damage so you can see why.
Is it OK to use a can of tire sealant?
It is fine as a way to get you to the shop, but it is not a repair. Tell us you used it, because it coats the inside of the tire and has to be cleaned out before we can patch it. Sealant can also gum up a tire pressure sensor, so we check that too.