In my battery-charging adventure last weekend I had occasion to take a close look at the Ford GT's "tire repair kit" (being a modern performance car it, of course, has no true spare). The kit is pretty impressive in that it combines a tow hook, air compressor and tire sealant into a compact package that fits in the GT's compact cargo bay. But in looking at the kit I noticed the "expiration date" of the sealant -- in this case it's February of 2009. It made me wonder what an owner is supposed to do post February 2009?..
I assume Ford will be stocking replacement sealant, but I'm not sure how many other Blue Oval models use this exact same kit. Looks like some research is in order to see exactly how much incentive Ford has to keep producing this stuff. It also made me ask another question: How many folks out there with similar kits are aware of an expiration date on their tire sealant? Certainly wouldn't want to discover this little factoid the hard way...
Karl Brauer, Editor in Chief, Edmunds.com @ 7,928 miles
kurtamaxxxguy says:
10:46 AM, 04/ 2/07
Karl, I wonder if the expiration date is similar to that required by food stuffs or some consumer products (batteries, etc.) ?,
I.E. the products cannot be sold after that date because they will not have the expected life a consumer would normally expect.
Also, by expiration date, does Ford mean "the sealer is now completely useless", or "the Sealer will start deteriorating and we cannot guarantee how long it will last ? "
I assume part of this will be the temperature the sealer is exposed to
(high temperatures may make it deteriorate faster than usual) ?
editor_karl says:
11:20 AM, 04/ 2/07
Good question kurt. I think you're right that higher temperatures probably make the sealant deteriorate quicker -- and guess what the storage area of the Ford GT consistently experiences?
kurtamaxxxguy says:
09:59 PM, 04/ 2/07
One of the hotter spots of the car, I assume?
Hopefully there are Off-the-shelf tire patch kits that work on GT wheels!
skierx420 says:
12:47 PM, 04/ 3/07
Wouldn't one of those roadside fix-a-flat-in-a-can work? Or is it one of those things that has to be a "special Ford only" part?
editor_karl says:
02:36 PM, 04/ 3/07
One of the other fix-a-flat sealants probably would work -- but only another Ford (or even specifically Ford GT) cannister will come in that neat-o-cool orange block that fits flush with the air compressor and tucks into the cargo area's corner.
This is still all theory, however. Some phone calls to Ford are in order here.
greenpony says:
10:58 AM, 04/10/07
As a note, regular Fix-a-flat is not supposed to be used with Z-rated tires, which I would assume the Ford GT has. That means this system probably uses a special formula for the GT.