Best way to deal with punctured tire

Leaving the nail/screw in the tyre is the FIRST thing you do!

Dont EVER spray that tyre crap in there unless you absolutely must!

Next time, you will know what to do.

 

I think you have been lucky, at least you HAD to replace the tyre.

I don't think I would trust a repaired tyre in a car which can do the type of speeds the Cali can do. Okay if you know you will not be pushing the car hard , but it is easy to forget about that repair in 4 weeks time as you enter the freeway and another guy is on your tail.

And for the price of the car and an avoidable accident due to tyre failure, the few hundred bucks the tyre just cost, I think it is money well spent.

 

Assuming the puncture isn't in the sidewall, a rubber plug can work extremely well.

Buy a plug kit and small ciggy compressor at your local autoparts store. It is quite easy to use, and will almost certainly get you rolling again. I've used plugs at home on my Ferrari and MINI just perfectly. Ferrari went another 750 miles or so before I got new tires installed (plug was holding fine, but needed good rubber for a track day). On the MINI, I got two punctures at about 5500 miles into new tires, and then ran them to 14k or so, when they needed normal replacement. I have not had any plugs fail or leak. I have done 4 total. Yes, the MINI is like a nail magnet !

Would I drive like a maniac on a plug? No. Is it something an unskilled person can use on the side of the road, in a parking lot, or in the driveway? Absolutely. No jack necessary -- which is useful if you're on a soft/gravel shoulder.

The plug kit I have has about 20 sticks of glob, some rubber cement, a reamer, and plug installer. I simply needed to put a small pair of needle nose pliers into my kit, and it's done.

The spray-in goop stuff (I think), just seems like a mess for everything -- wheel, TPMS, hands, etc.

 

If it happens within 150 miles of northwest Ohio call me. I have a spare set of rubber on wheels and am glad to loan one in an emergency. I had a Porsche 928 fuel pump failure many years ago and was in the boondocks in Tennessee. A kind PCA member drove at least that far to buy a pump for me and bring it to me, having to wake up the dealer since it was Sunday morning.

Rick

 

My car is 1000 miles away at the moment but I seem to recall a small compressor for tires under the carpet along with all the tools and spare fuses in the boot. I don't have a spare so I'm guessing this is how one could handle the occasional puncture?

 

KB has some points on repairs and high speeds. Pirelli allows one tread puncture repair and then the tire must be replaced. Make sure whoever does the repair uses a patch and not a plug for the permanent repair. If it was something big, I would replace the tire and only use the repaired one until a replacement could be located. Then comes the question of should both be replaced. If treadwear is over ~30%, probably so.

Like Rick said, a plug makes a nice temporary repair, but I have never had a puncture bad enough (providing you leave the offending object in place) that cannot be filled every 10-25 miles until you reach a repair shop. At least the TPMS sensor attached to the valve stem is easier for normal tire shops to avoid than the old band mounted sensors were.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

omniman, you are correct - there is an air compressor, along with a small assortment of tools/fuses in the trunk/boot of the California. Mine is a late 2010 build (July), but I assume that it's in all the Calis. I didn't measure it, but as I recall it's a fair sized compressor that you always have with you - think it's about 8 x 10 inches.

Leo

 

Something tells me that the small compressor is also filled with fix-a-flat which I would not suggesting to use. There are references in various places that talk about that but nothing specific. I will look at mine later today.

Rick

 

That is correct. It is a small compressor with a pre-installed bottle of fixing goo.