Tire Valve Cap Disaster!

tonyv79 · 07-05-2005, 03:52 PM

The other day I took my Titan to the Nissan dealership(where I bought it) to get the 15,000 mile inspection. One of the technicians told me that he couldn't take off my valve caps and that they had seized. Two weeks after I bought my Titan, someone stole my valve caps so I put some stainless steel ones on. Little did I know that the tire pressure monitoring valve stems and sensors(all one piece) were aluminum. Apparently aluminum and steel don't work well together. The oxidation caused the caps to seize to the valve stems. When I tried to take off the cap, the stem broke letting all the air out of the tire. I ended up putting on the spare and having an independent tire place put on rubber stems for now. I just thought I would warn an others to beware of what you put on your tire valves. I'm gonna try to get Nissan to cover the installation of new tire sensors seeing that no where in the manual do they say anything about valve stems or caps. Otherwise I have to fork over a ton of money to have them replaced. Unbelievable!

TXTitan05 · 07-05-2005, 04:24 PM

Wow, I never thought of that. Thanks for the information and sorry it happened to you.

Clint · 07-05-2005, 06:58 PM

Next time use anti-seize compound to prevent it. Dissimilar metals create corrosion. If you have a steel front door on your home and put a genuine brass kickplate on it, the door will corrode and the brass will tarnish too. Same thing with the steel bolts into an aluminum alternator etc.

Clint

**goathead** · 07-05-2005, 07:12 PM

my dad had this happen when he bought some aftermarket caps for his cobra. luckily he checks his pressures all the time and caught it before it got too bad. sorry to hear about your misfortune.

phillipyang · 07-05-2005, 07:46 PM

How much are they asking for the caps? I lost mine 5 months ago. I have some cheapo autozone ones.

tonyv79 · 07-05-2005, 11:09 PM

I didn't ask them about the caps, but I know the sensors aren't cheap.

ktee · 07-08-2005, 06:44 AM

I noticed one of mine missing the other day, I checked the others and found two that were loose. You might check them now and then if they come loose like that veary often.

KT

superdelish · 08-24-2005, 10:20 AM

The SAME EXACT thing happened to me! I got one off, but the other 3 were seized. The minute I tried to take the next one off, snapped right off. So now, I have to figure out what the hell to do with the other two. This sucks b/c I replaced them with aftermarket caps (since 2 of the original caps fell off).

Anybody have any ideas on freeing the other two. Those damn sensors are expensive not to mention mounting and balancing. These $2 valve caps could end up costing me $300+.

Doghouse · 08-24-2005, 10:47 AM

add me to the list.

I did not snap mine, but I quickly replaced them with plastic ones. Heck you can always break plastic.
K-mart has cheap chrome colored plastic ones.

superdelish · 08-24-2005, 10:49 AM

I'm just not sure how to go about getting the last two off without breaking them.

superdelish · 11-02-2005, 08:36 AM

Just wanted to let you all know that my dealer in Indianapolis took care of the valve stems. He said that this is a common problem and to put plastic caps on them from now on.

Rock on!

P.S. For those of you in Indy, I dealt with Todd Ryan (Service rep). He was extremely good and much better than the other service rep I had dealt with in the past.

majorKAP · 11-02-2005, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superdelish

I'm just not sure how to go about getting the last two off without breaking them.

Squirt a little from one of the various penetrating lubricants (i.e. Break-Free) onto the offending area and allow a little time for it to do it's work.

Afterwards, hold the valve stem in place with an appropriate sized wrench to prevent it from turning as you twist the valve cap off.

Might work, might not. I'll accept no responsibility for failure but if successful accolades are in order.

KAP

Luckyontheducky · 11-02-2005, 11:27 AM

If its REALLY bad, try slitting it with a Dremel tool and un-peeling it

DryHeat · 11-02-2005, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luckyontheducky

If its REALLY bad, try slitting it with a Dremel tool and un-peeling it

I was thinking the same thing.

docopharm · 11-02-2005, 05:41 PM

wow, thanks for the heads-up. I never thought about it. I'm gonna have to check mine in the morning, I had new ones put on with the new wheels. Haven't had any problems yet, but it's been a few weeks since I checked.