Randomly deflated (fully flat) tires
February 6, 2023 11:44 AM Subscribe
Someone/some arcane process took both my valve caps and fully deflated both front tires on the weekend. But when I took the car in to get checked, the garage said "all good, holding at 38ppi just fine." What gives? Did someone take my tire air for their (bike/car) tires? My car is a Honda Fit, not a Hummer, and there was no "climate change is for real" postcard tucked under a wiper. Has this happened to you? What could have happened?
I thought valve caps don't let out much air if any. And the tires were not a little flat, or even pretty flat, they were flat flat totally flat.
At the garage, one person mentioned that another customer had also come in with "tire problems" but also just needed to get their tires reinflated.
p.s. Thank goodness for instantaneous AAA membership, I enrolled/paid for basic at 7:15am and got the AAA service guy out at my car 30 minutes later, who figured we should trying filling up the tires, and when there were no obvious leaks, just accompanied me to the garage instead of towing the car.
I thought valve caps don't let out much air if any. And the tires were not a little flat, or even pretty flat, they were flat flat totally flat.
At the garage, one person mentioned that another customer had also come in with "tire problems" but also just needed to get their tires reinflated.
p.s. Thank goodness for instantaneous AAA membership, I enrolled/paid for basic at 7:15am and got the AAA service guy out at my car 30 minutes later, who figured we should trying filling up the tires, and when there were no obvious leaks, just accompanied me to the garage instead of towing the car.
Are you someplace where the temperature got below zero over the weekend? Because extreme low temperatures can cause the the rubber and rim to contract enough to break the bead (the seal between the tire and the rim) and leak all the air out. It's possible that by the time you got the tires filled in a nice, relatively warmer garage, the bead could have "repaired" itself.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 11:53 AM on February 6, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 11:53 AM on February 6, 2023 [7 favorites]
That sounds like someone being a jerk, maybe a kid being a miscreant, or even some kind of more personal "screw you" to you specifically.
posted by Dip Flash at 11:54 AM on February 6, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Dip Flash at 11:54 AM on February 6, 2023 [6 favorites]
My boss couldn't drive into work one day a few months ago because someone let the air out of all four tires in his/his partner's car. The tires were fine once reinflated and this was in LA, the temperature definitely didn't get below zero. My boss said the mechanic also just put it down to teenagers playing a prank.
posted by sigmagalator at 12:01 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by sigmagalator at 12:01 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
How tough is it to find overnight parking where you live?
People can get pretty territorial about spots in front of their places, and it might be illuminating to make a note of where you were parked and glance at the tires of other people who happen to park there over the next week or two — and also notice whether you tend to see the same car in that spot regularly.
posted by jamjam at 12:12 PM on February 6, 2023 [5 favorites]
People can get pretty territorial about spots in front of their places, and it might be illuminating to make a note of where you were parked and glance at the tires of other people who happen to park there over the next week or two — and also notice whether you tend to see the same car in that spot regularly.
posted by jamjam at 12:12 PM on February 6, 2023 [5 favorites]
Since your tires are already refilled, it's too late to check, but sticking a lentil between the valve stem and cap will deflate the tire. Which I'll bet is more or less what happened to you. Why someone would do that is another question. I'll admit a few drivers have tempted me to.
posted by adamrice at 1:09 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by adamrice at 1:09 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
Just to check: You do know that deflating tires can be done very easily with your finger and is not any sort of “arcane process”?
Sorry this happened to you.
posted by miles1972 at 1:09 PM on February 6, 2023 [4 favorites]
Sorry this happened to you.
posted by miles1972 at 1:09 PM on February 6, 2023 [4 favorites]
Just to check: You do know that deflating tires can be done very easily with your finger and is not any sort of “arcane process”?
Yep. Sometimes it's as easy as flipping the cap over and use it to deflate the tire.
posted by terrapin at 1:22 PM on February 6, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yep. Sometimes it's as easy as flipping the cap over and use it to deflate the tire.
posted by terrapin at 1:22 PM on February 6, 2023 [2 favorites]
FYI, a compressor that'll run off your car's 12V Accessory port will run you about $30. They come with plenty of cable because they are cognizant of the fact that your compressor needs to connect to the parts of your car which are not particularly close to the accessory power port.
It was great having one when I had a cryptic slow leak on one of my tires; I would just fill my tire every week or so until I had the right opportunity to replace the tires (which were approaching their end of lifespan).
It's a great thing to keep in the trunk. And since I got my new tires, I've used the compressor more to help other people. Most if not all of them come with nozzle accessories so it can also do, you know, bike tires and soccer balls and whatnot.
Combine that with a patch kit and something to kneel on without getting your knees dirty while doing the work, and you've got a kit that'll get you back on the road, independently, from a lot of tire problems.
posted by Sunburnt at 1:34 PM on February 6, 2023 [8 favorites]
It was great having one when I had a cryptic slow leak on one of my tires; I would just fill my tire every week or so until I had the right opportunity to replace the tires (which were approaching their end of lifespan).
It's a great thing to keep in the trunk. And since I got my new tires, I've used the compressor more to help other people. Most if not all of them come with nozzle accessories so it can also do, you know, bike tires and soccer balls and whatnot.
Combine that with a patch kit and something to kneel on without getting your knees dirty while doing the work, and you've got a kit that'll get you back on the road, independently, from a lot of tire problems.
posted by Sunburnt at 1:34 PM on February 6, 2023 [8 favorites]
Do you live near any mischievous kids/teens? My little brother deflated both my bike tires with a tire gauge when we were little, as a prank. I could easily see a random kid doing something similar if they got hold of a tire gauge.
posted by aecorwin at 3:06 PM on February 6, 2023
posted by aecorwin at 3:06 PM on February 6, 2023
I once had all four tires on a car mysteriously go flat, and that car was then immediately towed from my apartment garage for being “inoperable”. The valve stems had been loosened as well, so it was definitely no accident.
posted by Night_owl at 4:34 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Night_owl at 4:34 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yes, this sounds like a simple prank. You can let the air out by pressing down on the little metal pin in the valve stem - with your finger or a car key or something like that. The fact that your caps were missing suggested someone took them off and did this. Nobody took your air to fill something else - that’s much harder then just using a compressor for free or at a gas station for a dollar or whatever.
posted by Mid at 6:13 PM on February 6, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Mid at 6:13 PM on February 6, 2023 [2 favorites]
Letting down tyres is a trivial thing to do and almost certainly just a prank. If it keeps happening again, set up some kind of video surveillance.
posted by dg at 10:09 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by dg at 10:09 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
Electric pumps can be good (though often very slow). Make sure to have spare fuses for the acc circuit in case the pump blows it (NPI).
posted by jclarkin at 11:59 AM on February 7, 2023
posted by jclarkin at 11:59 AM on February 7, 2023
Response by poster: Thanks for all the answers! I am chalking it up to a prank.
posted by spamandkimchi at 10:04 AM on February 10, 2023
posted by spamandkimchi at 10:04 AM on February 10, 2023
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posted by pjenks at 11:49 AM on February 6, 2023 [5 favorites]