# Tyre Weld



## Mack The Knife (Jun 14, 2007)

Many car manufacturers/models now provide a tyre sealant kit instead of a spare wheel (and tyre).

For Audi TT this includes an Audi OEM tyre sealant and tyre compressor/pump. The Audi OEM sealant has a shelf-life of circa four years. Anyone with an ongoing relationship with their Audi stealer will usually receive a reminder for its replacement and the option of doing so at Audi prices. The Audi OEM sealant also has a reputation for subsequently making the tyre irreparable. For these reasons many members have a can of Holts Tyreweld too/instead.

Holts Tyreweld is a water-based latex formula which does not damage the tyre. Application should therefore leave a tyre professionally repairable (although tyre repairers may charge an additional nominal fee, say £10, to wash-out the formula prior to 'permanent' tyre repair).

It is worth noting the importance of having an adequate can size (available in 300ml, 400ml and 500ml) for the target tyre size.

A very helpful "Customer Support Representative" from "Holt Lloyd International Ltd." in Manchester has advised the following:

1. The shelf life of Holts Tyreweld is now five years from the date of manufacture.

2. The date of manufacture is printed on all Tyreweld cans in the following format: 05678/23409 LOT 123456 where the underlined numbers represent the date of manufacture in DDDYY format. The first 3 digits (234 in this case) represent the day of the year, and the last 2 (09) represent the year of manufacture. So in this example the Date of Manufacture is 22nd August 2009. (234th day of 2009).

3. The product shelf-life used to be three years but is now five years.

4. It transpires that the new shelf-life of five years applies retrospectively to all cans!

So now we all know!


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## mr gee (Apr 20, 2007)

Thanks, good to know


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## TT-driver (Sep 14, 2010)

Nice tip. My dealer saw mine was too old, but they advised not to replace it. The cure is worse than the disease they said.

Question: say I find one of my tyres too flat to drive, because of a tiny leak. Can I use the Audi compressor kit to inflate the tyre so that I can drive to the tyre shop? Or is the bottle with junk a mandatory part of the whole inflating set-up?

I'd rather throw away the expired bottle than keeping it in my car. Saves weight :wink:


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## brittan (May 18, 2007)

Thanks to OP for the transferred information; very useful.



TT-driver said:


> Question: say I find one of my tyres too flat to drive, because of a tiny leak. Can I use the Audi compressor kit to inflate the tyre so that I can drive to the tyre shop?


Answer: yes.


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## TT-driver (Sep 14, 2010)

Cool thanks. So out with the bottle with junk it is then


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## ScoobyTT (Aug 24, 2009)

TT-driver said:


> Nice tip. My dealer saw mine was too old, but they advised not to replace it. The cure is worse than the disease they said.


Interesting. Aside from destroying the tyre, did they add any reasoning? (I'm not sure another reason is necessary, just curious :lol: )

If I remember rightly from looking at the setup, the connectors are the same so you can use the pump without the gunk. Check the procedure in the manual.. I see to recall you need to hook the pump up again after putting all the gunk in and spreading it around.


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## TT-driver (Sep 14, 2010)

Well, indeed apart from ruining the tyre they said that for small punctures inflating would be enough to get out of trouble (i.e. get to a garage) and with a blown tyre it's useless. Furthermore, if the car is being maintained by Audi, you're entitled to roadside assistance. (don't know what that would mean in case of a puncture... buy a new tyre for 300 euro ???) The Audi sealant would set me back around 50 euros. So I thanked the after sales service man for his kind and honest advise. Good that they checked. Good that they did not try selling something that is basically not very usefull, especially in the Netherlands where help usually isn't far away. I can imagine that it's a different story when you're in the middle of nowhere...
For the just in case situations I'll get a Holts bottle.

_edit_ Further [smiley=book2.gif] reveals: mobility service is free of charge in case of a puncture. And indeed, the compressor can be connected straight onto the wheel/valve. So out with the useless gunk it is.


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## MXS (May 10, 2010)

Ditched the old gunk earlier in the year and replaced it with a product bought in Halfrauds, it possibly was the Holts stuff :?


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## MaybeTT (May 8, 2004)

What size can do you need for 19" wheels?


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## ScoobyTT (Aug 24, 2009)

I saw some different stuff at my dealers recently though I can't remember its name off hand.. I'm sure it had "guard" or "gard" in the name, and it _appeared _as if it actually inflated the tyre too, or the foam did. Anyone seen this?


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## MXS (May 10, 2010)

MaybeTT said:


> What size can do you need for 19" wheels?


I think you need the larger can for 19's.... it does tell you the recommended wheel size on the side of the can :wink:


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## ScoobyTT (Aug 24, 2009)

This is the stuff I saw. It does the inflating too:
http://www.gardx.co.uk/index.php?page=o ... t=1&pid=62

Has anyone used it?


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