A friend was due to visit me yesterday but texted to say that her Mercedes had a flat tyre. She got it to a garage in her village, where she received immediate attention. I would not for one moment suggest that garage workers are sexist, and I, of course, am prejudiced, but that did not surprise me, and she did not demur when I suggested that she had undone the top button of her dress to curry favour.

The garage's apparently cursory examination found no problems, they pumped the tyre up and assured her that it was good to drive the 23 miles to me. She arrived with a warning flashing that the tyre pressure was low.

Three hours later, any pressure that might have remained did not register on my gauge. Manfully I set to work foot-pumping away. It did not help that I think in Imperial terms and my friend is Ukrainian and so metric, so we were somewhat at cross-purposes in discussing what the recommended pressure was. I'd checked another tyre, which had 40psi (and it had been out in the very hot sun for some time). When I'd reached 30psi she said "that will do", I said "no it won't" and went on up to 40psi. When she got home, it had lost 25%.

No spare wheel, and my limited knowledge of those gunge kits suggested that using any that might be with the car would be more trouble than it was worth..

I've loaned her my foot-pump, and she's back to the garage this morning, perhaps with another  button undone.

She's trading the car in at the end of the month and isn't keen on spending money on it, but I strongly advised her about the safety and legal risks of not getting it fixed.

get to a backstreet tyre place they'll whip the wheel off and wet tank it then whip it off the rim as the seal will have been broken and wont hold pressure, if they cant find anything obvious.

She'll have to undo 2 top buttons for that bit of advice hahahahahahaha

If she's trading the car in and finds a puncture, a can of Holts Tyre Weld might not be a bad idea.

It's probably a leaking valve if the initial garage couldn't see any damage though.

3 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

If she's trading the car in and finds a puncture, a can of Holts Tyre Weld might not be a bad idea.

Personally I've not had any success with tyreweld etc (though only tried it twice over the years). Also, I've heard anecdotes about tyre fitters being unable/unwilling to repair punctures once tyreweld has been used. 

I'm with Jimpster above - I'd take it to a tyre shop, who should be able to repair the puncture or replace a leaking valve for £20.  More reliable in my experience. (£30 if she wants it balanced).

Or she can use the foot-pump every morning until the end of the month ..... or persuade you to do that for her (though that might require 3 buttons to be undone???).

44 minutes ago, alanfp said:

Or she can use the foot-pump every morning until the end of the month ..... or persuade you to do that for her (though that might require 3 buttons to be undone???).

Foot pumps?? I haven't used one of those since the 70s. You do know you can get ones that plug into you car battery now LOL With all that pumping, no wonder the poor woman's buttons keep popping open!

5 hours ago, Marlburian said:

A friend was due to visit me yesterday but texted to say that her Mercedes had a flat tyre. She got it to a garage in her village, where she received immediate attention. I would not for one moment suggest that garage workers are sexist, and I, of course, am prejudiced, but that did not surprise me, and she did not demur when I suggested that she had undone the top button of her dress to curry favour.

The garage's apparently cursory examination found no problems, they pumped the tyre up and assured her that it was good to drive the 23 miles to me. She arrived with a warning flashing that the tyre pressure was low.

Three hours later, any pressure that might have remained did not register on my gauge. Manfully I set to work foot-pumping away. It did not help that I think in Imperial terms and my friend is Ukrainian and so metric, so we were somewhat at cross-purposes in discussing what the recommended pressure was. I'd checked another tyre, which had 40psi (and it had been out in the very hot sun for some time). When I'd reached 30psi she said "that will do", I said "no it won't" and went on up to 40psi. When she got home, it had lost 25%.

No spare wheel, and my limited knowledge of those gunge kits suggested that using any that might be with the car would be more trouble than it was worth..

I've loaned her my foot-pump, and she's back to the garage this morning, perhaps with another  button undone.

She's trading the car in at the end of the month and isn't keen on spending money on it, but I strongly advised her about the safety and legal risks of not getting it fixed.

This has all the hallmarks of the Flat tyre scene in Allo Allo with Herr Flick asking Helga to pump it faster faster  its almost there and aaaahhhhh there, was it good for you too Helga lol. 

The Holt's stuff is meant to be easily washed off to fit a new tyre.  It's some of the OEM cans that just make a sticky mess.  I haven't actually used any of them myself though.

If she's trading the car in, it won't be her problem.  The morals of that are of course left to the OP & the owner.

Not keen on 12v inflators myself, she may end up with a flat battery as well as a flat tyre!  I have a rechargeable battery inflator...it wasn't cheap, but it's very easy to use, no wires trailing about, and no risk of 12v battery issues.

6 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Not keen on 12v inflators myself, she may end up with a flat battery as well as a flat tyre!

Won't be an issue if you keep the engine running when using like I do.

3 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Won't be an issue if you keep the engine running when using like I do.

No wonder your MPG is so poor!

 

2 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

No wonder your MPG is so poor!

 

No, but I do cause some distress to dolphins & polar bears, so worth it...😂

As admitted when I joined this Forum last September, I'm a technophobe and was overwhelmed by all the gizmos on my Fiesta compared with my 2008 Honda Civic. Since I started driving in 1963 I've only ever used a footpump.

On the matter of running engines, my footpumping yesterday afternoon was not helped by her car engine running close to my head on a very hot afternoon. She was going to be busy today anyway, and hasn't yet replied to my text enquiring about progress.

BTW she's driven me for short distances a few times before the current "special military operation"  and I did think that she might been a tank driver in the Ukrainian army ...

I've had an update by email from my friend about her tyre:

"The tyre was fixed last Friday. It wasn't straight forward, I didn't have a special key to unlock it. Mercedes from *******, who serviced my car last year, confirmed that it didn't have key then, but forgot to inform me. They sent mechanic to [village] garage, where my car was since Thursday morning, with set of master keys, so garage could put on new tyre they've ordered earlier."