I routinely plug nail-holes in my fleet's tires. Never had a problem. (Well, I DID have to re-repair one plug after it had been installed for 25,000 miles...)

For less than one repair at a store, you can buy a kit.

Slime 1034-A T-Handle Tire Plug Kit : Amazon.com : Automotive

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4114mKGkFJL.jpg

Then, all it takes is a spray bottle with soapy water so you can find the leak. (The leak will blow bubbles.) Yes, don't forget to spray the valve, I've had a few of those leak.

I've had problems with the supposedly superior remove-the-tire-and-patch procedure. Either the patch leaks or the tire needs re-balancing...


The cheekiest thing I've done was one time when I got a drywall screw in the sidewall of a nearly new tire. Most tire shops will NOT repair this type of damage in a sidewall, so I unscrewed the drywall screw a ways, covered the threads with black RTV (<---style points?) and screwed it back in. Lasted another 20,000 miles and two years until the tread wore out!

1. There is a minimum size for the hole in the tire to use the tire plugs. If the leak is from a very small hole, I won't make the hole bigger just to use the plug.
2. Patch from the inside is better than plug, even both methods work.
3. Walmart usually does not have the experience like tire shop pro's working there. Similar to the can tire fix stuff, I would use it for emergency only.

So I took the car in to my Honda Dealership today and turns out it was a nail. Not sure if they patched or plugged. After waiting 3 hours I just paid the $25 charge and got out of there.

Despite the unusually long wait time for the work I'm glad it was taken care of and repaired.

Glad you're all fixed up buddy! :thumbups:

Thanks 2012FitFan!

In hindsight I feel rather stupid I was driving around with a nail in the tire but it was very apparent when I tried to look for it and thought it might be the valve or some other tiny little leak.

Top drawer, 2nd slot, in your "Lessons Learned and Best Practices" tool box is where this one goes. :D

damn 3 hours for a nail! u should have went to a local tire store and had them check out the tire first. it took me less than 15 minutes from walking inside the shop and paying 15 bucks to get it done.

:rotfl: Exactly.

Being in SF everything is a bit of a hassle with parking and such. The dealership was close and easy for me. But even with grabbing lunch I thought the time was excessive and was a bit pissed. But with dropping it off and doing the paperwork I was pretty much committed to having them do the work.

if it's a nail i plug it using that plug carbuff posted. it works fine given that you do it correctly. if it's a big hole i have a tireshop plug it from the inside, or just get a new tire.

i bet A LOT of folks right now are drving around with nails and crap stuck to their tires without knowing.

instead of doing these dumbarse meaningless OBD2 scan smogchecks on modern cars, they should be checking tire pressure and conditions of tires.

:thumbups: :rotfl:So you expect people to know they're running flat without TPMS? Find directions without GPS? Or drive with cell phone off? Sorry... Off my soap box... :D :offtopic: