QUESTION ABOUT TIRE REPAIR. "Expert" answer please

One of my tires has an astronomically slow leak. Perhaps 10 psi in 7 days or so. I took the tire in for repairs, nothing was found. The service tech (in his explanation of what he did) seemed to be very thorough. Valve stem replaced... Since they found nothing, they charged nothing, (fair deal). I spent quite some time inspecting the tire inch by inch, found nothing visible. Tire is P275/55/R18 and may be a year old. I used a bubble solution and went around the rim, both sides, valve stem and found no issues.

I'm assuming (yes, I know) that there is a nail, screw or thorn in the tire and it only leaks when I'm parked on it or some such thing. I even drove from Florida to Kentucky and back towing a trailer and no leaks occurred until I returned. (strange) All of my other tires loose no air. Only this one.

My questions are:
1. Using "stop leak" or any other brand, how does this affect tire repairs in the future? Does it coat the inside of the tire and make it difficult to implement a repair?
2. Is there a better brand than another? OR a better product?
3. Is there a better way to detect or stop the leak?
4. Is there a risk of unbalancing the tire?

Thanks!

TB2

 

Inflate the tire to 50 psi and slowly spray it with soapy water. Wait for bubbles. Was the bead cleaned when the stem was replaced? As far as fix a flat... I would never recommend it's use.

 

could it be your rim causing the leak? Maybe try switching that tire out to a different rim and see if the results are the same or moved to the new rim.

 

Soapy water on the rim. If that doesn't work having the tire removed and looking from the inside you'll find the puncture. If you have a discount tire or an Americas tire nearby they'll do this for free and fix the flat for free as well.

 

Thanks for the excellent suggestions. I will give them a try. I did use bubble solution on the rims, (not at 50psi) without failure. When I had the tire checked, the service tech said he inspected the rims & found nothing. Still, could have missed something I suppose. Wish I had a container big enough to dunk it in to look for bubbles!

TB2

 

The tire shop that use has just that, a container with water large enough for 35s to quickly find leaks from embedded foreign objects. They have a jar at the cash register and you would not believe what ends up in it. That said, soapy water should do the trick.

 

Yea, I've noticed the "jar" that seems to be at every tire shop. Some interesting stuff!
TB2

 

is the tire old and dry rotted ? need new tires.

otherwise plain old green bicycle slime from walmart, stick at least 8 ounces maybe even 16 ounces in the tire
it will never leak again after a week of drving it around

but the next guy who changes your tire will want to choke you out

 

No joke. That slime will seal the valve stem. You'll pretty much have to remove the valve stem. I've seen having to puncture the side wall to remove the tires with slime in them

 

I had a similarly slow leak with my previous car. The wheel was not sealing at the bead due to aluminum corrosion creating an uneven, porous surface.

Go to a tire shop, have them remove the tire and inspect for damage. Before remounting the tire, make sure they sand away any corrosion on the wheel at the bead area and brush on a coat of bead sealant.

Don't use fix-a-flat or the likes. The fluid will clog the valve stem and damage the TPMS sensor if you have it.

 

I use slime on my ATV tires along with fix a flat and have never have a clogged stem. Of course I do not have TPMS on the ATV. I carry fix a flat for use on the ranch I hunt. Fortunately I have never had to use it in truck tires. I do not hesitate to use it in trailer tires. Yes repair shops do not like the mess but they can pound sand as far as I am concerned. They are not the ones 25 miles of nearest town. Hopefully you do not have a pinhole in your rim.