Porsche advises not to plug or patch tires on Taycan

[Gino]

I picked up a screw in my right rear tire a few years ago and wound up on the side of I-580 in Carson City with a flat. It was 20 degrees F and snowing. I followed the directions with the liquid sealant and all it did was help me find the hole - which is where the liquid came out.

I carry a plug kit, so I plugged the tire. I had to move the car to get the hole in an accessible location and then plugging was easy. Two years and 10,000 miles later the plus is still in there. I haven't bothered to get it patched.

That’s what I’ve always done on every bias ply or steel belted radial tire for the past 40 years. I’ve never had a plug fail. The plug manufacturers say you shouldn’t run the tire with a plug for more than 100 miles at no more than 50mph but that’s just to cover their asses.

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[Jonathan S.]

BMW is the same way -- dealers won't plug a puncture.
But of course independent tire shops are willing to do so (with the usual caveat if the puncture is too close to the sidewall).
I had a slow leak in my rear 20" Taycan tire. I looked carefully (reversing the car, getting out, looking across the width of the tire, then repeating the process until I found the head of the nail or screw), and fortunately the leak was far away from the sidewall. A tire shop fixed it for some trivially low cost, probably less than what I spent on lunch during the short wait. Been fine for 10k or so miles since then.
Similar experience with my A6 Allroad.

 

[Gino]

I picked up a screw in my right rear tire a few years ago and wound up on the side of I-580 in Carson City with a flat. It was 20 degrees F and snowing. I followed the directions with the liquid sealant and all it did was help me find the hole - which is where the liquid came out.

I carry a plug kit, so I plugged the tire. I had to move the car to get the hole in an accessible location and then plugging was easy. Two years and 10,000 miles later the plus is still in there. I haven't bothered to get it patched.

It appears I will only get 15K max on my rear 21” Pirelli tires so a plug should outlast the tire.

 

[juergenhr]

I have plugged two tires on my 2021 Taycan with run-flats. No problems. Have plugged tires for years with no problems. Never bothered to get them patched. Never had a plug fail.

 

[Gino]

I have plugged two tires on my 2021 Taycan with run-flats. No problems. Have plugged tires for years with no problems. Never bothered to get them patched. Never had a plug fail.

That’s what I thought… No issues with plugs or patches. Just an excuse to throw away a perfectly good (expensive) tire…

 

[CraigUrch]

My dealer put a plug in my right rear tire no problem, didn't even charge me for as it the car was in for the 1st battery test recall. Said it wasn't worth the paper work, I count my lucky stars that we have a reasonable dealership here.

 

[Gino]

My dealer put a plug in my right rear tire no problem, didn't even charge me for as it the car was in for the 1st battery test recall. Said it wasn't worth the paper work, I count my lucky stars that we have a reasonable dealership here.

Probably not worth the paperwork to explain to management at corporate why they violated their policy of warning customers about plugs & patches.
I could see this one in a million, dealer service advisor saying “please don’t tell anyone I fixed your tire”. Corporate hates it when we do the right thing…
My dealer in Newport Beach does the right thing too from time to time which is why I’ll continue buying vehicles from them.

 

[figure1a]

I've had a few service advisors tell me they can't patch Z-Rated tires.
But I've had it done plenty of times.

It's a bit of crap shoot. You can patch anything but then the speed rating gets reduced to 85MPH or whatever the tire manufacturer states—they all have different numbers.

 

[figure1a]

I picked up a screw in my right rear tire a few years ago and wound up on the side of I-580 in Carson City with a flat. It was 20 degrees F and snowing. I followed the directions with the liquid sealant and all it did was help me find the hole - which is where the liquid came out.

I carry a plug kit, so I plugged the tire. I had to move the car to get the hole in an accessible location and then plugging was easy. Two years and 10,000 miles later the plus is still in there. I haven't bothered to get it patched.

That's actually pretty scary. You could easily go to the end of the life of the tire unscathed. But with a puncture and then the plug, the integrity of that tire is seriously compromised. If you drive at low speeds, then you may never have an issue.

 

[figure1a]

My dealer put a plug in my right rear tire no problem, didn't even charge me for as it the car was in for the 1st battery test recall. Said it wasn't worth the paper work, I count my lucky stars that we have a reasonable dealership here.

Probably did not want a paper trail in case you try to push that Z rating and the tire disintegrates. "Nah, we don't plug tires so couldn't have been done by us. Sure don't see anything like that on the service record."

 

[Gino]

It's a bit of crap shoot. You can patch anything but then the speed rating gets reduced to 85MPH or whatever the tire manufacturer states—they all have different numbers.

I suppose if you’re using your vehicle on a race track then technically they have a point. Otherwise, in the real world I would love to hear about instances where a z rated tire has failed in a catastrophic way…
I’ll be waiting…

 

[figure1a]

I suppose if you’re using your vehicle on a race track then technically they have a point. Otherwise, in the real world I would love to hear about instances where a z rated tire has failed in a catastrophic way…
I’ll be waiting…

I would say at 100+ speeds with a patch and you are gambling. Lots of flex and strain in a tire once you get above 80.

 

[Gino]

I would say at 100+ speeds with a patch and you are gambling. Lots of flex and strain in a tire once you get above 80.

True, but I have a plug in one of my Hummer H2 tires for 3+ years and I drive that at 90mph + going skiing in Utah. These tires aren’t Z rated and I’ve never had any problems never had a tire fail at speed.
Driving to Las Vegas with the Taycan I may get to 90 or 100 for at the most 5-10 seconds so I doubt I would ever see a performance tire fail due to a patch or a plug.
I do see idiots driving 100mph non-stop, blowing by everyone when the speed limit is 75 or 80 but these people either don’t care if they get a ticket at that speed which could cause them to lose their license or they have been lucky enough to avoid getting caught with their radar detectors which are not foolproof. It’s not worth the hassle to go 90+ consistently unless you’re in Germany on the autobahn where I have driven rentals above 100mph regularly.
I highly doubt a Z rated tire will fall apart even at 130mph because it has a patch or a plug in it. At the most it may create a leak.
I would love to see data that shows how fast and for how long at a given temperature a Z rated tire is known to fail. Would be very interesting to say the least.
Tires in my previous Porsche’s had to be replaced due to age rather than tread wear. I would only put 3K miles/year so after 6-7 years I still have plenty of tread but the side walls begin showing signs of cracking in the low humidity, high temp environment in Southern California.
Driving an 8 year old tire above 100mph is definitely more dangerous than a 3 or 4 year old tire with a plug or a patch.
The only time I ever had a tread separation was on an RV will 45K on the bias ply truck tires which were 20+ years old. I drove the RV at 75mph for an hour before one of the tires blew apart. Plugs & patches on Z rated tires is of zero concern to anyone who drives their vehicle in a normal way.
I’m not worried.

 

[Gino]

Probably did not want a paper trail in case you try to push that Z rating and the tire disintegrates. "Nah, we don't plug tires so couldn't have been done by us. Sure don't see anything like that on the service record."

That is exactly their reasoning. Better safe than sorry.

It's a bit of crap shoot. You can patch anything but then the speed rating gets reduced to 85MPH or whatever the tire manufacturer states—they all have different numbers.

Just searched the NHTSB’s opinion on plugs & patches. They state tires should be both plugged & patched to be considered a safe repair. This has been common knowledge for many decades regardless what the tire manufacturers claim.

“It is NHTSA’s position that a combination repair is the only way to properly repair a tire puncture. A combination repair consists of a repair patch with a rubber plug/stem attached to its center. There are some rare circumstances when a separate patch and plug can be used, but normally the industry guidelines recommend a combination repair unit that is only one piece. After a puncture is located, it is reamed out to create a clean hole for the plug. The area around the puncture on the inside of the tire is then prepared to bond with the patch. Vulcanizing cement is applied to that area and to the patch/plug combination. The plug is pulled from the outside of the tire through the reamed hole so that it completely fills the hole and created a tight seal with the rubber of the tire. The patch bonds to the inside of the tire, preventing air from escaping with the plug seals the puncture hole preventing air form escaping while the plug seals the puncture hole preventing air and moisture from invading the tire. The rubber stem is trimmed to be even with the surrounding tread.”

The risk of tread separation is caused over years when only an inside patch is used. Without a plug properly sealing the tread from the internal steel belts allows moisture to permeate them over time leading to tread separation.
They reference tires with normal lifetimes of 50K miles or more which is easily twice the lifetime of a Z rated tire which rarely last more than 25K miles.
I highly doubt if the Z rated tires on a Taycan are repaired using both a plug & patch that there would ever be a tread separation.
The only instance I could find of a catastrophic tread separation was on a tire with multiple repairs and never a repair done with both a plug & a patch.
So, long story short.
The tried & true method for 50+ years to repair any steel belted radial tire is to both plug & patch, as long as the puncture is in the tread area. Period
Replacing the tire with perfectly good tread is a complete waste of money and only in the interest of the shop suggesting it should be replaced. Maybe in a perfect world this should be done.
I once knew someone who was such a perfectionist she couldn’t stand the idea of a dent in her car. When she would get any dent she would trade-in the car for a new one.
I asked her why she doesn’t just get the dent repaired and she told me if the repair requires any repainting, it may look good from the outside to everyone else but she couldn’t stand the idea that she knows there is damage under the surface.
In other words she was just nuts…
She was not wealthy so she never made it to the end of a lease for as long as I new her over a decade or so.

 

[whitex]

I plugged my winter tire the very next day after picking up my Taycan from the dealer. Drove it home 3,500 miles with the plug, no issues. Talked to the tire shop when swapping the tires to a different rim set, asked them if I should have the plug removed and tire patched. They said they can do it, but don't really recommend it as the plug apparently should last the life of the tire. On 3rd winter now, tire holding pressure, no problems whatsoever. The puncture was smack in the very middle of the tire tread.

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