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Piece of metal in Nanoenergy tire

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by JimmyPri, Dec 12, 2016.

  1. JimmyPri

    JimmyPri Active Member

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    Today I got a large sharp piece of metal in one tire. The tire never lost any air even driving about 4 miles Toyota dealer. They have the car now and will be a few hours before they can get to it. I asked if the tire wasn't safe to fix how much is a new tire the same brand and do they have one. It appears they do not. My question is on the 2016 Prius is it ok to drive at speeds under 45mph on a different brand tire until they get one in?
     
  2. DonDNH

    DonDNH Senior Member

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    Follow your dealer's advice. I wouldn't think speeds at or under highway limits would be a problem.
     
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  3. JimmyPri

    JimmyPri Active Member

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    Thanks DonDNH, I'm still waiting to hear from them. There were many cars before mine but hopefull by the end of the day they will get to mine. I had stopped at a tire repair place before going to Toyota because they were closer and I didn't want to drive too far. But I didn't like the feeling of their unfamiliarity with hybrids. As it turns out Just to fix the flat they would have charged more than the Toyota dealer. Like you said I would feel more comfortable with the dealers advice once they see what has to be done.
     
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  4. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    I blew out a Nano Energy last week (damn pothole). My solution was to replace the two front tires with Nokian WRg3s so that I would have better snow traction for this winter season. I'll rotate the Nokians to the rear in the spring.

    JeffD
     
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  5. JimmyPri

    JimmyPri Active Member

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    Thanks for that info. If I need to get new tires It is good to know I can get 2 and not all 4.
     
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  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Did you get a look at the metal piece, how wide is it? And how close to edge of tread? It might be repairable, depending.
     
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  7. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    I have seen cars with 2, 3 or even 4 different brands or models of tyre - I wouldn't be overly concerned. As far as I know, you can still get a roadworthy certificate (MOT etc) without reference to make or model of tyre - have to be the same size and have legal tread depth.

    However, it is usually advised that the driving wheels (in this case FRONT) should be similar.

    With the old system of rotating 5 tyres, you would often get 2 , maybe same brand, but with different wear amounts on the same tyre. Current 4xtyre rotation shouldn't have that effect.
     
  8. JimmyPri

    JimmyPri Active Member

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    Tire.jpg
    That's it just below center left in the photo. That visible piece broke off before I reached dealer. It is near the inside edge but I think far enough not touching sidewall. The tire never lost any air.The service writer thought it was in at an angle up but I couldn't stay since it would have been 3 hours before it could be worked on. But I just got a call before they did anything they wanted to get my ok to put a Michelin tire on instead of a Nanoenergy if it couldn't be repaired. They said it was ok to do on the Prius as long as the treads matched close enough. And that they do that all the time with the Prius cars and never have any problems???
     
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  9. JimmyPri

    JimmyPri Active Member

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    Thanks alanclarkeau
     
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  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I'm not that knowledgeable about tires, but it sounds a little iffy, replacing a single tire, and a different make/model. I'm assuming it's hard/impossible to the OEM's. How many miles on the odometer? They will charge you for this I'm thinking?

    My first flat experience with our Prius, a small finishing nail, a little less than an inch from tread edge, I brought it into dealership. They were adamant the tire was unrepairable, too close to the edge for a kosher repair, where the tire is removed and combo patch/plug applied from the inside.

    I took it home, got a plug repair kit, plug repaired it myself. It's still in use, about 5 years later. that strip of metal is more extreme, obviously. Your call, and maybe by now you've pulled the trigger on whatever.

    But you might want to try a plug repair. If indeed it's going in on angle it's more of a fight getting the plug through. Keep as much air in the tire as possible, by minimizing the time nothing's in the puncture. Get everything prepped, pull out the metal, immediately put in the reaming tool, and as soon as you pull that out get the plug going in.

    The wheel should be off the car for this, you straddle it, and it might help to have an assistant, to steady things and hold the sidewalls if the tire starts to concave on you.

    Anyway, you could try, then air it up, see if it holds.
     
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  11. JimmyPri

    JimmyPri Active Member

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    Thanks Mendel Leisk for that information. I just got back fro the dealer and they were able to patch it with no trouble. By the way, the Toyota dealer only charged me $22. and change
     
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  12. kithmo

    kithmo Couch Potato

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    Glad you got it patched Jimmy.
    Although it's allowed, I would not put a different make of tyre on as a permanent fix.
    Different makes and different tyres of the same make have different rubber compounds as well as different tread patterns and grip levels. If you put an odd tyre on the front, you could get the vehicle pulling to one side as if the tracking is out, but a check of the tracking will show it's not. You could go into a spin on heavy braking if the grip levels vary, understeer on cornering as one wheel lets go of its grip and so on. If you have an odd tyre on the rear the pulling to one side is less and the chances of spinning on braking are less due to the fact that most of the braking (70% or so) is done by the front wheels, but you could induce oversteer on cornering as one of the rear wheels lets go. If my dealer doesn't have the tyre I want then I go online and see who does. This is another good reason for having a spare wheel, even if it's a space saver.
     
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  13. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I think too the nano energy are hard to find in North America. But yeah, repair? Much better.
     
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  14. Coast Cruiser

    Coast Cruiser Senior Member

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    One dealer told me they do not have the factory Toyo OEM tires available. Those are special tires that are only installed on the assembly line. Does that make sense? But he said they have similar Toyo tires for sale.
     
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  15. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    A dealer told me a few years ago that the original tyres on a new car were always a better tyre than "identical" replacements you buy later. He was convinced - I'm not so sure.

    Personally I suspect that a worn car with new tyres might have been the difference, not the different tyres.
     
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  16. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    In an ideal world, yes, true - but I had it pointed out that when tyres are past 50% wear, you have the exact same problem with the current 4x tyre rotation pattern. The (in RH Drive (particularly where we have lots of roundabouts)) LH tyres tend to wear faster, and more on their edges than the RH tyres. I presume it would be the opposite on LH Drive cars. Unless you want to spend money flipping them on their rims and putting them on the opposite side (still rotating the same direction), it's just something you live with.
     
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  17. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I see "GreenX" on our OEM Pilots, but it's not shown on replace same tires.
     
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  18. krmcg

    krmcg Lowered Blizzard Pearl Beauty

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    I worked many years in the tire business. Years ago. But at that time the OEM tires were not as high a quality as available replacement tires from tire manufacturers. I still use that as a rule of thumb.
     
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  19. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    I guess it may depend on the tyre source. I remember a RENAULT with Michelin tyres which were French - the replacements weren't French - can't remember where now, but they were quite poor in comparison.
     
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  20. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I just got some michelin defenders (for another car): they were made in United Kingdom.
     
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