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[FONT=calibri"]moment of panic came upon me when the dreaded TPM warning lights flashed on. An interrupted journey - certainly, but could it be sorted out quickly or was I to be the victim of a long delay awaiting the attendance of Porsche Assistance for recovery? [&:]
The dreaded warning lights! [FONT=calibri"]A cursory inspection revealed a screw head poking out through the tyre tread. A sigh of relief as this was something I could deal with myself, calling upon my trusty Silverline puncture repair kit.
[FONT=calibri"]I have carried one of these little kits for quite some time now and it’s surprising how often it has got me and others out of trouble. It accompanies me on all PCGB tours and at £15 or so on Ebay, it’s one of the best investments you can make. It also takes up very little luggage space. [
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[FONT=calibri"]The trusty repair kit [FONT=calibri"]The first thing to do is to move the vehicle to a safe spot in order to work on it. I was close to home so turned around to park up in my own drive. Normally, I would probably have removed the wheel at home to effect the repair, but the locking wheel nut key had gone walkabout and I was therefore forced into working on the wheel in situ. [FONT=calibri"]There’s usually no need to raise up the car, but if you have a jack it’s probably worthwhile doing so to give yourself a bit of extra manoeuvring room. Once located, it’s a simple task to extract the offending nail etc. from the tyre with a pair of pincers or the pliers supplied in your tool kit.
The offending item [FONT=calibri"]The next bit takes some courage as you need to use the reamer from the repair kit and push it through the puncture hole, pulling it to and fro several times until it becomes free moving. It’s actually enlarging the tyre damage you’re trying to repair - so you need to be resolute! [FONT=calibri"]
[FONT=calibri"]Showing the adhesive plugs, reamer, insert tool and a lovely green tarp! [] [FONT=calibri"]Next load up one of the supplied tyre adhesive strips into the eyelet of the insertion tool and push the tool into the puncture hole leaving about 20mm of tails protruding. The eyelet is split and by turning the tool clockwise when it’s inserted, it becomes detached from the strip and can be pulled out leaving the adhesive strip plugging the puncture hole. The Macan tyre tread is reinforced, so it takes some considerable effort to push the insertion tool and its repair strip into the tyre.[FONT=calibri"]
[FONT=calibri"]Reaming out the puncture hole takes some pluck! [] [FONT=calibri"]You now need to inflate the tyre to its normal pressure and allow it to stabilise for around 5 minutes. This gives the adhesive time to cure. Trim off the tails of the plug and test the repair by brushing on some soapy water (or just spit on it if you’re in the wilds!). Check for leaks and if all is well, confirm the pressure is correct once again by using the gauge supplied in the kit and you’re good to go. [][FONT=calibri"]
[FONT=calibri"]Plugged and inflated [FONT=calibri"]The repair is a "get you home” or "get you to the tyre depot” one really, but in my case I had to rely on it for a 125mile round trip to my PC in order to sort out the locking wheel nut issue and I can report I had no problem whatsoever and the tyre lost not one PSI of pressure during the whole journey. This is what comes in the kit[/b][FONT=calibri"]
[FONT=calibri"]Once I was able to get the wheel off, it was off down to my local tyre depot where a more permanent puncture repair was carried out – good for 165 mph so they tell me. That should be well within the range of the Macan SD then![FONT=calibri"]Regards,
Clive
