Is Fix-A-Flat Bad?

mo_dingo said:

Seriously, most texaco's will fix it for 5-10 bucks.
Scott

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my citgo does it for 15

Had a small leak in one of my tires. No shop could find the hole using the water test. Used some fix-a-flat, never had the leak any more. Just remember to tell tech about its use prior to him pulling the valve stem. it'll release the chemicals with the air in the tire into the atmosphere.

Seems to me that some of those products are corrosive to some alloys.

i work at a tire shop and ive NEVER seen a wheel thats been corroded from fix-a-flat. But i will say one thing, be careful with those slow leaks, one day it might get too low and you might have to drive on it, this will cause the sidewalls to get all chewed up and show wires on the INSIDE! this is also called "runflat" damage. Its cheaper to pay for a tire repair than it is to HAVE TO buy a new tire, i see it happen to people all the time at my work.

I would suggest some reading or an internet search. The MSDS on some of the flat repair products might change some minds.

skylovia said:

i work at a tire shop and ive NEVER seen a wheel thats been corroded from fix-a-flat.

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I have a chrome rim that will disagree with you, previous owner used some crap like that and now I have on rim corroded and pealing.

a lot of times, really slow leaks like that are bead leaks(very common with alloy wheels) if you are unable to find a hole in the tire. try defalting the tire, popping the bead off and putting bead sealer in there. ( your local service station can do it for you too) as for the fix aflat, if you plan on replacing the tires soon, there should be no problem with using it. it will however affect the repairability and balance of the tire, depending on which product you use.