Continental tyre puncture

[drzed]

Just wanted to share my recent experience with a puncture in my Continental CSC3.
I have a 2010 R36 - last weekend took it for its 15000k service at the dealership. Was told that I had 2 nails sitting in my rear tyre, which I didn't know about. The tyre pressure had been stable the whole time.

Anyway, went to a nearby tyre shop after the service to have the tyre fixed. When the tyre guy removed the nail, the hole sealed over by itself. The tyre guy started asking me what I had put on the tyre. He then realised that it had the self-sealing Contiseal stuff on it, and he had never seen it before. Told me that I should be right to just drive on it now. Of course, I wasn't. I barely drove 5 minutes when the TPMS started alarming. I returned to the shop and swapped my spare in to get home as he said the tyre was unrepairable.

I brought the tyre to 2 other shops, both of which were stated as stockists on the Continental website. One shop didn't want to touch it as they were not familiar with it. Donnellan's in Box Hill said they could repair it but of course they couldn't. Also want to say that they were extremely rude and just generally unprofessional - definitely wouldn't go back to them again.

At this point in time I was getting quite frustrated - the tyres were still quite new and the puncture was pretty small but nobody seemed to know how to fix it. Finally, called Continental and they referred me to Tyrepower in Bulleen. Just got it done this morning, hope it stays alright. The guys at Tyrepower were great and definitely recommend them.

So if you get a puncture in your Contis, I wouldn't recommend just bringing it to any old tyre shop.

[kleung]

Donnellan's in Box Hill said they could repair it but of course they couldn't. Also want to say that they were extremely rude and just generally unprofessional - definitely wouldn't go back to them again.

I've had some pretty average service there too with my previous car. Again I needed a quick repair (blown out tyre and only a spacesaver to drive on), and they were the nearest place to have the type and size of tyre I needed.

[hosko11]

I had JAXQuickfit Tyres in Preston fix mine. They scratched their head initially, but a couple of phone calls to their Conti rep and $40 the tyre was repaired.

[johnw]

I got new CSC3s as the part of the road worthy on our Passat and this is very interesting. Never knew

I reckon this would be better than run flats, but from what drzed said, prob won't last as long if the nail popped out.

How big were the nails drzed? >5mm?

[drzed]

Nope it was less than 5mm and the hole appeared to seal over. Anyway, the Conti guy said that their preferred tyre shops are Tyre Power and JaxxQuickfit.

[nicholas128]

Conti CSC3s

I just fitted a set of these to my MY07 V6 Passat... the same tyre is also available without the sticky stuff inside that is meant to seal the leak (and is a bit cheaper than the one with the magic goo inside).
Nicholas

[transporterq]

The other thing to worry with these tyres is to make sure you do not hit anything too hard with them, e.g. pot holes, rocks or the side of gutters as it can damage the size walls, causing for it to form like an egg on the side wall. The tyre is now worthless, not cover by warranty. I learned this lesson the hard way, but I believe all tyres with a low profile can have this problem.

[kimmik]

"I learned this lesson the hard way, but I believe all tyres with a low profile can have this problem."

i learn the same lesson the hard way not many weeks ago... went over a roundabout that was higher than usual, and bubbled the tyre.

lucky at least that my spare is full size! the bubble doesn't seen to increase leak, so i'm happy for it to be our spare.

[antone_86]

"I learned this lesson the hard way, but I believe all tyres with a low profile can have this problem."

i learn the same lesson the hard way not many weeks ago... went over a roundabout that was higher than usual, and bubbled the tyre.

lucky at least that my spare is full size! the bubble doesn't seen to increase leak, so i'm happy for it to be our spare.

Mate - this is a worry... I wouldn't be doing this if I were you... Spend the coin and buy a new tyre... for your safety and for the safety of all road users... I'd never risk having that as a spare.

[wai]

The other thing to worry with these tyres is to make sure you do not hit anything too hard with them, e.g. pot holes, rocks or the side of gutters as it can damage the size walls, causing for it to form like an egg on the side wall. The tyre is now worthless, not cover by warranty. I learned this lesson the hard way, but I believe all tyres with a low profile can have this problem.

This is very true. Many ow profile tyres are run at lower than optimal pressures to reduce bump harshness. The problem is that they don't have much give left and so can overstress the sidewalls. You then get delamination and the formation of a bubble where the plies have separated.

[kimmik]

still safer than a space saving tyre... and if you were me, you'd rather keep the $320 (quoted) too.

btw i dont know how big you thought the bubble was - 40*20*5mm. you'd have to be pretty obscessive compulsive to change the SPARE tyre due to this!

[antone_86]

Take a photo of it and post here mate...

[nicholas128]

Contis have to be replaced after 500 kms!

The 4 Continental Sport Contact 3's I fitted 4 weeks ago have now done a little over only 500kms and three of them have bulges forming in the sidewalls (not egg shaped bulges, more like a rib-shaped bulge around 5cm long). One is quite pronounced. I went back to the shop which fitted them today in dismay and they said they will be calling Continental to organise a replacement set. They are the self-sealing type and cost over $300 per corner. I could understand if just one tyre failed - any manufacturing process can produce the occasional dud. But it is really unbeliveable that three out of four could fail so soon after purchase, especially given how sedately I drive the car. I am now not sure I want them on the car again.

Anyone heard about this problem?

Nicholas

[wai]

Take a photo of it and post here mate...

Now I don't know if this will work, so here goes.

This is what greeted me when I went to try and check the tyre pressure of the spare. As you can see, the tyre is hardly worn, and is close to brand new. The tyre has ripped along the tread groove and everything is pushed outwards. It is a wonder the rear screen was not shattered or pushed out. When this let go, it would not have been a gentle hiss.

[nicholas128]

Continental replaced all 4 tyres

The 4 Continental Sport Contact 3's I fitted 4 weeks ago have now done a little over only 500kms and three of them have bulges forming in the sidewalls (not egg shaped bulges, more like a rib-shaped bulge around 5cm long). One is quite pronounced. I went back to the shop which fitted them today in dismay and they said they will be calling Continental to organise a replacement set. They are the self-sealing type and cost over $300 per corner. I could understand if just one tyre failed - any manufacturing process can produce the occasional dud. But it is really unbeliveable that three out of four could fail so soon after purchase, especially given how sedately I drive the car. I am now not sure I want them on the car again.

Anyone heard about this problem?

Nicholas

UPDATE....
To their credit, Continental replaced all 4 tyres with new ones quite promptly, no charge. Didn't get the self-sealing ones this time - they are no longer being sold here apparently. They filled them with nitrogen which is supposed to have a range of benefits including less leakage over tgime, lower operating temps at high speed, etc... the downside is that I have to go back to the tyre dealer to get them topped up - otherwise if I put air in there I will gradiually dilute the nitrogen (and hence the benefits). Anyone have experince of nitrogen in their tyres instead of air?

Nicholas.