Yep, our long-term, oh-so-sexy 2009 Audi S5 turns heads all the time. It turns even more heads when its got a too-sexy-for-my-shirt spare tire mounted. Mildly amusing details on how and why this happened follow after the jump.
Last Friday morning, I was playing around with the S5's MMI interface and decided to check the Audi's oil level via the electronic oil dipstick. Officially, the oil level was "OK," but the graphic indicator bar had the oil level about two-thirds of a quart low.
(Note: Picture was taken while the car was at an incline; proper measurment on a flat surface after a couple minutes of engine shut-off resulted in a slightly lower level.)
So I drove over to my local auto-parts store to buy a quart of oil. Purchase successful, I got back into the S4 only to find the tire pressure monitoring system light lit up. A quick visual inspection of the tires revealed one very-flat left-front tire. D'oh!
Surely, you've seen guys wrenching on their vehicles in auto-part store parking lots before. In my experience, at least, these vehicles look like they're one anti-freeze fill away from the crusher. But hey, not today AutoZone patrons! For your amusement you get to watch an unshaven, flip-flop-wearin' dude change a tire on his new shiny-red Audi S5!
In the spectrum of flat-tire changes, I'd have to say this one was pretty easy -- I'll take a change at an auto-parts store over a road-side change with semi trucks barreling past anyday.
Everything was pretty standard, and the S5 had all the required equipment in the trunk, including the spare tire, jack, lug wrench and the little pin you use to pull off the center cap. Even the lug nuts weren't too hard to loosen, which is always a concern with the dinky lug wrenches they give you in cars.
I pulled off the flat tire and inspected it. There was an impression and toothpick-size hole near the center of the tread width. A puncture wound, for sure, but whatever the offending item was, it was long gone. I'm not even sure when it happened as the tire deflation was pretty quick.
I drove over to my local Tire Pros shop a couple miles away to have them take a look at the tire. "Yep, we can patch that," said my advisor. I left the tire at the shop so I could get back to work. The gimpy S5 drove a bit differently with the space-saver on (some vibration through the wheel, altered ride quality) but otherwise it did alright. Pressure in the spare tire was fine, too.
I went back to Tire Pros and had the patched tire mounted later that day. Total cost was $25. The TPMS warning was still active, though. When I got home, I checked and set all four tires for the correct air pressure and then reset the sensor via MMI.
Oh yeah, and the oil. Topped off with Castrol Syntec 5W-40 (meets the owner manual's recommended VW 502 00 standard). Unlock the power in your gimpy sexy beast!
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor @ 9,061 miles
altimadude00 says:
11:08 AM, 09/21/09
I've been lucky to find a gas station or a parking lot where I could change my flat tires (I've changed two, but not at once). I definitely agree that changing a tire on the side of the road is dangerous.
Are there new cars out there that DON'T come with a jack and tools?
I usually put the lug wrench on the lug and stomp on it to tighten/loosen the lug. Does the job well.
hybris says:
11:25 AM, 09/21/09
I'm guessing the numbers on the spare (or would you call it a donut?) are there to remind you the max speed for the tire.
Also shouldn't the TPMS have gone off a good bit sooner before the tire got to very flat?
carguy622 says:
11:25 AM, 09/21/09
I'm just glad that the S5 even has a spare. It seems more and more vehicles are switching to run flats, or just ditching the spare for a repair kit.
ahightower says:
11:33 AM, 09/21/09
I'd glady trade the electronic oil dipstick for a TPMS that tells the psi at each tire (such as GM has offered for years).
worthyofed says:
11:42 AM, 09/21/09
It was definitely some extremely jealous/angry passerbyer that had just finished lunch at the restaurant down the street. He was walking by only to see a scruffy beach bum get out of the car of HIS dreams! And he's all like, "What the hell is this?!"
As beach-bum Romans leaves the car and enters the AutoZone, angry-passerbyer runs up to the car, takes the toothpick from lunch out of his mouth, jams it in the poor tire and runs off with the murder weapon, cursing the scruffy beach bum who has a nicer car than he does.
That's definitely what happened.
achenator says:
11:55 AM, 09/21/09
altimadude the M# doesn't have a jack or spare. An inflator, fixaflat and BMW assist are all you get.
bromans says:
11:59 AM, 09/21/09
@altimadude
Certainly, there shouldn't be any concerns with a new car not having a jack/spare tire. But 1) This is a loaner car from Audi, so you never know; and 2) it's an Edmunds long-term vehicle, so you never know X2. :) As for the lug wrench, agreed that stomping can work, though you better hope it's fitted on the lug nut properly. Also, I was wearing flip flops. :)
@hybris
Yes, you would think so. But it didn't.
@worthyofed
It wasn't you, was it? :)
adavis2493 says:
12:19 PM, 09/21/09
That sucks. Even though it flattened, thank god they didn't put runflats on the S5. That was one of the large contributing factors to why I got rid of my old X3.
But, I noticed with new Audi's, they don't have the Triangle in the trunk like the old Audi's. I miss that.
huyracing says:
12:22 PM, 09/21/09
looks sexy with dark wheels...
bkochuk says:
12:35 PM, 09/21/09
technically, I believe they "plug" a tire as opposed to "patching" it.
mlh says:
12:48 PM, 09/21/09
It's interesting that you interpret the oil level as "low." To me, halfway between max. and min. is perfect.
robs249 says:
02:19 PM, 09/21/09
"Purchase successful, I got back into the S4 only to find the tire pressure monitoring system light lit up." --- You mean S5 lol
bodyblue says:
02:32 PM, 09/21/09
You tire was popped because you took up 3 parking places! (Unless you moved it to change the spare) If you did indeed take up 3 places then you deserve the pain.......:)
jaden82 says:
07:21 PM, 09/21/09
When one of my previous cars had a blowout on a really busy and packed stretch of I-70 in St. Louis, I had to pull over on the very narrow left shoulder. I had thought about trying to do the change myself but one look at the cars passing by no more than 3 feet from the flat front passenger tire had me flipping my phone to call Triple A. I have to give these assistance guys props for having balls of steel..
jaden82 says:
07:28 PM, 09/21/09
bkochuk...
Actually, I work at a general service shop and we do flat repairs. There are two main ways to repair a flat and of course they're plugging and patching. We use the patching technique because we felt it does a better job of holding the air in than a plug. We've had vehicles come in because they had their flats plugged, but they still leak. So we take the plug out and put a patch in. No problems since then.
vvk says:
06:28 AM, 09/22/09
> Are there new cars out there that DON'T come with a jack and tools?
altimadude00,
Plenty of new cars don't come with a jack and tools these days. New BMWs, for example.
Brent, great job picking the correct oil!
bkochuk says:
06:35 AM, 09/22/09
jaden:
can you explain exactly what a "patch" is?
jaden82 says:
02:25 PM, 09/22/09
To patch a tire, I would remove the tire from the rim, locate the tire, and lightly sand the area around the hole and clean it so it would have better adhesion. I then apply a layer of some industrial glue, then take a circular rubber patch which has a "tail" on the bottom. I push the tail through the hole from the inside of the tire and, once it's sticking out of the thread, I pull the tail out until the patch makes contact with the surface inside the tire. I let the glue dry to make the patch stick and then I thoroughly press down on every single bit of the patch to make sure there's no air between the patch and the surface. After that, I just put the tire back on the rim and fill it up. After that, usually no more leak from that hole for life of the tire.
jaden82 says:
02:27 PM, 09/22/09
To patch a tire, I would remove the tire from the rim, locate the "tire's puncture", and lightly sand the area around the hole and clean it so it would have better adhesion. I then apply a layer of some industrial glue, then take a circular rubber patch which has a "tail" on the bottom. I push the tail through the hole from the inside of the tire and, once it's sticking out of the thread, I pull the tail out until the patch makes contact with the surface inside the tire. I let the glue dry to make the patch stick and then I thoroughly press down on every single bit of the patch to make sure there's no air between the patch and the surface. After that, I just put the tire back on the rim and fill it up. After that, usually no more leak from that hole for life of the tire.
This forum seriously needs an edit button!
bkochuk says:
06:47 PM, 09/22/09
an INSIDE patch. interesting.
thanks.