Metal tyre pressure cap stuck

B

Big Bad Boris

Senior member
 Braintree
Someone has a used metal pressure cap on one of the valves on Mrs B’s (newish to us) X3, I went to check the pressures yesterday and it’s obviously reacted and welded itself on. I have tried to get some WD40 into it but so far it’s not looking like budging.

Anyone have any other tips on how to try and get it off……or am I ultimately going to have take it to a tyre shop to get a new valve put on it?

All four tyres are brand new.
 
Heat it with a blowtorch / jet lighter or such... AFTER wiping away any leftover WD of course :o , then use pliers to twist it off.
 
Pliers; without the heat. That could damage the rubber/ neoprene seal in the schrader valve then it will leak.
Just make sure you use pliers that grip it all the way round, otherwise you can deform it and that will make it more difficult to remove.
 
If you've got a 1/4inch socket set one of the sizes is a very tight fit and with 6" (or what ever length!) angled drive easy to remove - sometimes a very small tweek to tighten loosens it up. Cant remember if metric or imperial size.
 
When one got stuck on my 1 Series I managed to get it off with 2 pairs of pliers, one on the valve stem and one on the cap.

But it required a fair bit of force, so the valve stem didn't look too good afterwards!
 
Thanks for the replies one and all.

I have been out and tried most of them (apart from the Dremel - as I don’t have one).

Bottom line is the f**king thing isn’t budging, it feels like it’s actually welded on. The amount of force it’s gonna take to shift it feels like I’m gonna chew the valve to pieces, rip it clean off or take a chunk out of the alloy…. none of which is very appealing.

Sensible option seems to be to get a tyre shop to replace the valve, should be around £15 I guess? Me and my fists of ham could do a lot more damage than that :oops:
 
Just a line to give a big up to my local “Tyre Pros” shop. I took the car in to get them to change the valve, they did it in about 20 minutes, free of charge. So I thought I’d give them a mention and a bit of free publicity.
 
Big Bad Boris said:
Just a line to give a big up to my local “Tyre Pros” shop. I took the car in to get them to change the valve, they did it in about 20 minutes, free of charge. So I thought I’d give them a mention and a bit of free publicity.
Click to expand...
:thumbsup:
I have to say I keep hearing about local tyre places being really helpful and charging very little.
On another forum recently someone bought a used car from a BMW dealership (AUC) and they managed to put the wrong wheels on the wrong axles. The chap didn't have a jack, so took it to his local tyre place and they changed them all back in 10 minutes for £5.

I had a bulge in a nearly new tyre last year. My local tyre place swapped it for a new one (obviously I had to pay for it) but spent ages helping with my claim from Michelin. They were brilliant. Shame Michelin weren't.

Maybe I should get into the tyre business because everybody I deal with on a daily basis with my work doesn't seem to give a toss anymore, even when being paid very good money. :x
 
I received this warning from my local tire shop to replace the metal valve caps with nylon. Is there another option in use like adding ptfe tape or anti-seize?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom