arbees

Tire, of course Just want to get this off my chest... not really a question.

2015 A6 Prestige, 19" sports package

A screw made its way to the tire, and looks like it was a slow leak. Had a service at the dealer a few months ago and they inflated all the tires to 32 psi, and a few days ago the TPM warning came up and it was 19 psi when I checked on the right side front tire! I was a little surprised since I would have thought that the warning should have come much sooner. Next, I inflated back to 32 psi and reset TPM, and next day TPM warning came back up, this time at 26 psi. So its been quite surprising the variation in when the TPM warns on under inflation.

Went to Costco today to get it repaired, however they say that its need to be replaced. The tread depth is 8/32 - so now I have a choice to try to get one tire replaced, the front two, or all the four.

Eventually, I had wanted to replace the Pirelli that came with the car by Continental's (that is highly recommended from what I could gather from this forum), but the existing three tires are almost new (10/32 is the tread depth for the new ones), and just replacing one is not recommended, so an interesting dilemma...

DanfZX14

In case you didn't see this thread. Covers your dilemma pretty well:
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-...l-4-a-2907182/

Calimus

Just my thoughts and what I would do. I see plenty of meat on the tire unless you track it. Plug it and wear them out till you are ready to replace all 4.

A7_TDI

Have you tried Les Schwab for 2nd opinion on repair?

J. Patterson

I would plug that tire and never give it a second thought. I had a similar puncture on the way home from Fort Worth to Birmingham AL a couple of months ago on our Q7. Rather than hunt a tire center on a Sunday, I stopped at a Pep Boys and bought a plugger and did it myself in their parking lot. Used the Q7s air compressor to pump it back up to recommended pressure and was on my way in a few minutes.

Fahrer

I would plug it and forget about it. It takes about 10 minutes with one of those cheap plug kits.

arbees

So I got a second opinion, and a third one too. All of them said it should not be fixed as it won't last since its very close to the sidewall. So instead of taking the risk and self-patching, I will get it replaced (especially since the other three treads are still at 8/32).

Thanks again everyone for all the input (and support .

tenspeed

Plug it to buy yourself some time. It will help hold the air pressure better than a drywall screw.

Have a can of Fix-A-Flat in the trunk if the repair doesn't hold as the tire sellers told you. Always handy to have a can around for lawn tractors and such if the plug doesn't fail.

dctech

You are correct not to repair it. That screw is close enough to the shoulder that it (and the resulting hole/plug) is in a highly sensitive area of the crown where the belt ends and extra layers of cap ply are located. NEVER attempt to repair a tire in that area. Source: I am a tire engineer.

J. Patterson

Of course you are correct to give conservative advice. Especially so, given your training and occupation. I said what I would do based on experience but that is not necessarily what someone else should. The plugged tire certainly would be compromised.
That said, back in August I was on a tour with other Audi owners in the Appalachians. One of the guys ran over a sharp rock in a picnic area near a waterfall we were going to view. His brand new Michelin Pilot Super Sport lost ALL of it's air immediately. That cut was out near the edge of the belts too. Since his Audi TT only had a temporary spare and he had driven all the way from Massachusetts (We were in North Georgia) we decided to try plugging it. (I keep a plug kit and 12v compressor in my S5) I had to use two plugs together because the cut was about 1/4 inch long. I told him to watch it carefully for leakage. That plugged tire did the rest of the tour (three more days) and went all the way back to Massachusetts and never required any more air. I hope he replaced it then as he had a road hazard warranty thru Tire Rack and I advised him to use it.