05-26-2019, 02:58 AM
Forrest wrote:
FYI you can buy a can of Fix-a-Flat for $8-$9 at many department stores. I would guess Chevy charges more for there brand.
Fix-a-Flat used to work reasonably well on small holes but some years back they changed the formula, I'd assume going from VOC-based to water-based, and it hasn't worked worth a flip since. Except under absolutely ideal circumstances, about the most Fix-a-Flat will do now is show you where the hole is as it leaks out.
Tire Slime is vastly superior to current Fix-a-Flat and works even better than original formula Fix-a-Flat did.
GGD wrote:
Was there a mess inside the flat tire where the goop stuck to the wheel. Did Costco have to clean that all up? I could imagine that the slime that adhered to the wheel could cause problems trying to balance the wheel.
Balancing isn't the problem. If the Fix-a-Flat hasn't set up yet then it's no problem at all and will wipe off with a rag because straight out of the can it has the consistency and color of liquid coffee creamer, a little bit thicker and slimier than whole milk. If it has set up properly, which the current formulation rarely does, then all the chunky bits (it looks like fine-grained cottage cheese when it sets up) will have to be manually scraped from the inside of the rim so that none of it gets stuck between the tire and the rim during mounting and the new tire can seal properly. Original formula Fix-a-Flat just peeled off exactly like a layer of latex paint on top of oil-based paint: The less time it had been there, the easier it was to peel off and sometimes all of it would peel off in one piece if you were careful.
Acer wrote:
Does it still say on the can to warn your tire tech if you've used fix-a-flat? It used to, maybe for the explosive volatiles or just the mess, not sure.
I think it does because the fumes are still noxious even if they're no longer potentially explosive.
Fix-a-Flat, Tire Slime, and similar products had a reputation for messing up early TPMS sensors. I don't know if such products have ill effects on later model sensors or not, but since Chevrolet includes it on Volts I'm guessing not.