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Tyre Valve Stems

3K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  mdem 
#1 ·
I've just gone to put some air in my tyres and the dust caps were extremely difficult to get off. Managed to get 3 off but one of them is stuck.

I've been told I need to buy some valve stems without the sensor as to attempt to get the cap off will most probably snap the stem.

My question is, are all valve stems generic or do I have to buy a particular stem for the XE?

Cheers
 
#2 ·
I would suggest that you get rid of the metal caps on your wheels. These have probably originated in China and are well known to fuse to the valve. Jaguar fit plastic caps to avoid this weld of metals. You could try soaking it overnight in WD40 and it may release. Most tyre depots should be able to fit a new valve if required. It may not snap off but it will be extremely difficult to remove. The Nat tyres just over the bridge in Widnes will help you. I used them a few years back and found them helpful. Get RID of the metal caps. They, at Nat tyres may give you 4 plastic ones.
 
#3 ·
I've just took it to place in the Old Town but they didn't have any valves but suggested I bought some and they'd fit, I just wasn't sure if they're all the same. They said exactly the same though, avoid metal caps.

Funny thing is, the two caps on the front tyres were plastic ones and they too were a nightmare to get off.
 
#4 ·
It's normally recommended that tyre pressures are checked every couple of weeks or so. I know this can be done on the XE by calling up this information on the dashboard dispIay, but I'm old-school enough to do this with a manual tyre pressure gauge at each wheel.
I suspect that doing this doesn't give a chance even for metal valve caps to get stuck in place.
 
#5 ·
That's exactly what I thought and I usually put air in once a month so I was surprised that they'd stuck so quickly.

The XE is really sensitive and will flag a warning when the tyre pressures go slightly below the recommended value.
 
#6 ·
A TPMS valve service pack is available from dealer parts dept for about £30. It contains 5 valve stems, caps and seals. I went this route after having a troublesome leaky valve and the tyre place recommended getting the correct seals for the wheel. I think they can be bought individually on fleabay sometimes.

Daughter has some metal valve caps which weren't cheap ones. One if them was stuck solid and even after cutting a slot in the top with a hacksaw blade and splitting it vertically, half of the remains of the cap was firmly welded to the stem threads and still took a bit of prising off. Nasty things don't ever fit them.
 
#7 ·
I had metal caps for years on my Audi TT which were fine as I coated the valve stem with a tiny amount of copper grease when I screwed them back on.
However, I stopped using them as I noticed over the years that their extra weight caused the the valve stem to bend over as the wheel rotated and the metal cap coming into contact with my wheel damaging the paint on all four wheels. They look pretty but damaged and now bubbling paint on my wheel definitely doesn't!
 
#8 ·
colbod said:
That's exactly what I thought and I usually put air in once a month so I was surprised that they'd stuck so quickly.

The XE is really sensitive and will flag a warning when the tyre pressures go slightly below the recommended value.
Hmm ...yes, I am surprised at how quickly they stuck. I've got the standard issue silver plastic caps on mine at the moment and I thought they looked at bit feeble, but I'll certainly now be resisting the temptation to change them to metal ones - even though they're nice looking.
 
#9 ·
colbod said:
The XE is really sensitive and will flag a warning when the tyre pressures go slightly below the recommended value.
The alerts shouldn't happen unless the actual pressure is 5psi + or - from the approved pressure.

Newer models can have an intelligent system which allows for variables such as temperature too so the the approved pressures (in brackets) can also change.
 
#10 ·
Mine gave a warning a couple of weeks ago at 210 kPa with an expected value of 260kPa. 50kPa is around 7psi. I was of course about 150km from home with a nail in the tyre. It was a very slow leak and after a top up I got home OK and it is now repaired.
 
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