997 GTS - Flat Tyre - Help!! - Page 2 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

Hi guys - I went out to my car to find my right rear tyre completely flat, which is really odd as I didn't get any warning etc... What is even more strange is that the tyre doesn't seem to be taking any air from the air pump (both Porsche one as well as one I bought on Amazon) so I am completely flummoxed. I did try and call the AA but they oddly never turned up but it got me thinking is this the best call? These are centre lock wheels so will they have the tools or will they just screw something up? Also, is the best choice/only option for me to go to an OPC? I am based in NW London if anyone has any recommendations? Thoughts & any advice most welcome!

A regular AA van definitely won’t have the right tools onboard to remove the wheel. You need to ask them to send out a truck breakdown van, as they will have the correct torque bar on the van to be able to use the tool in the frunk to remove the wheel. If the tyre is completely flat, it may not seal of the weight of the car is on it. You could try jacking up the car and then seeing if it will pump up. I presume you don’t have a Porsche warranty on it? If you do you should have Porsche recovery included. They could recover it to an OPC for you.

Yep if you have Porsche assist the car will be recovered and could be taken to an OPC. Failing that join the AA or RAC with the appropriate cover and they call them later they will recover it to your OPC. Just a thought it may be worth attempting reinflating the tyre maybe pesky kids have let it down you never know.

Hi - thanks for your reply. Some useful info in there - maybe the weight of the car is not helping; unfortunately the car is parked up against a curb so it needs to be moved in order to jack it up!! PITA Unfortunately, I don't have any warranty on the car. I did mention to the AA call centre that they had centre lock wheels but they didn't really have a clue what I was talking about. I will try them again tomorrow or the day after.

Also, I assume the OPC will only replace tyres & not repair? One annoying thing i found when calling up West London Porsche, they will only replace the tyres with the same N ratings as the fronts - so i have N1s so they will only put N1 tyres in the back. I was hoping to replace with PILOT SPORT 4 S but i dont think these are N1 - maybe N2?

Just a thought....if you say the wheel is up against the kerb could you have somehow dislocated the valve whilst parking? I noticed a relatively slow leak in mine recently (I know you said yours was entirely flat), took it to Kwik Fit for a quick (excuse the pun) assessment. They replaced the valve and I've had no issues since.

Have you put the sealing gunk in? Also when inflating an unexpected flat tyre i always run my hands around as much of the tread as i can to see if there is a noticeable leak from a puncture that would prevent inflation.

Unfortunately- I see any obvious leaks whilst running my hands through the tyre thread (that I can reach). I did wonder about the valve being knocked out - I guess first thing is first, I need to get someone to recover/ fix the tyre. Another possibly dumb question - how far can you drive a tyre that is completely flat? As I mentioned, it is parked against a curb and getting a jack in would be impossible; given where I live, it is fairly congested, I might need to love the car about 300 - 500 metres - would that reck my alloys or just tyres?

Sebba said: Unfortunately- I see any obvious leaks whilst running my hands through the tyre thread (that I can reach). I did wonder about the valve being knocked out - I guess first thing is first, I need to get someone to recover/ fix the tyre. Another possibly dumb question - how far can you drive a tyre that is completely flat? As I mentioned, it is parked against a curb and getting a jack in would be impossible; given where I live, it is fairly congested, I might need to love the car about 300 - 500 metres - would that reck my alloys or just tyres? I would not drive more than 10m, very very slowly, on any tyre that is worth anything. And with Porsche 911 rears, each one is taking a nominal 500kg weight on it, so only the very minimum. If it unseats further it will be impossible to inflate in situ without a decent compressor. As it lies it may inflate with a proper compressor, it's likely leaking from the bead due to the weight of the car distorting it, as others have said, a small compressor wont keep up but a proper one, once Schrader valve insert is removed, could.

Personally in your predicament I would call mobile puncture repair guys, explain what you think is happening re the impossibility of inflation, re the possibly dislodged bead, ensure they have a good compressor on board before they come. If your tyre is also punctured, without removing the wheel they could plug it, even if you wish to consider the repair temporary at least you will then be able to repair properly in your own time. With a decent low entry jack they may also be able to remove the wheel if necessary, jacking from the rear unless the engine has a full undertray. I know nothing much about centrelocks - would you not have the appropriate socket tool in the car's toolkit? I doubt any odd recovery or puncture service would.

Reading this is like watching 2 midgets working out how to get the beans from the top shelf. Just move the car a few meters away from the curb, jack the dam thing up and check. Id also phone the AA constantly until they deliver what you pay for. You may also find the wheel is cracked with our wonderful roads.

Sebba said: Also, I assume the OPC will only replace tyres & not repair? One annoying thing i found when calling up West London Porsche, they will only replace the tyres with the same N ratings as the fronts - so i have N1s so they will only put N1 tyres in the back. I was hoping to replace with PILOT SPORT 4 S but i dont think these are N1 - maybe N2? The N Rated tyres for a 997 GTS are Bridgestone’s IIRC from when I owned one. PS4S might be available N rated if a later car has the same spec tyres.

Yes, make sure they're N rated, Ive heard baby Dolphins die if you don't......according to the OPC.

Surely you have the correct tool for removing the centre lock, it comes with the car (I had a 997 GTS back in the day).

You can drive a 997 on a flat rear a fairly long way without damaging the rim so long as you stay around 20mph. I had to do it once. The N rated sidewalls are reinforced and act kinda like a run flat. You’d definitely be ok to drive it off the curb and I’d expect you’ve damaged the sidewalk on the back of the tire on a pothole. Hence it won’t hold air. The AA will (eventually) flatbed you to an OPC or tire place happy to mess about with centre locks. You’ll find the socket in the bottom right of the boot (frunk). That with a decent breaker bar should remove the wheel ok. To refit however you’d need a big torque wrench or torque multiplier and the correct grease and procedure. (Not super complicated tbh)

So just as an update, after 1 failed AA visit (he never turned up), the second guy turned up without the require torque wrench. As predicted by OB1 - they are flatbedding me to a local tyre shop who said they can do it. Organising it to the OPC took too much faffing to book in etc. fingers crossed, they actually know what they are doing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT1UqzQU3DA essential viewing if you diy it yourself or make sure your tyre guys follow this procedure .My son has a 997GTS Carrera 4 and gets the car taken to his local OPC to remove if required a complete faf as his local tyre place do not have a breaker bar . Good luck Edited by woodysnr on Friday 20th January 22:48

If you need some wheels have a look at these. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=25593156681...

Thanks for the video, it was helpful.... So latest drama, after the first tyre shop patched up my tyre, I wasn't completely convinced they torqued up my wheels right so I drove to another place (Blackboots in Chesham) so told me that the patch job was cr@p & the tyres need changing -to be fair, was looking to change them anyway - decided to go for Michelins PS4s which seems to be the consensus tyre of choice...going in next Saturday.. I did have one question though - the guys (who were very good) wanted me to check whether the spline (??) should be removable like the pictures below; they said all the variants are slightly different but had not seen this before, is this standard for 997 GTS - does seem broken etc - any thoughts or one for main dealer?

Weird. I know it doesnt help you with a GTS but i bought the late Boxster space saver on ebay, checked the clearance to my calliper on back and front and use it stowed in the frunk when i go out of town. If i got a puncture i can swap out the damaged tyre and proceed to a repair shop. The lack of a spare is the stress trigger an ocd owner doesnt need. I have used it in France and got my tyre plugged in next village.Onwards to dinner. Totally made my holiday!.

Any thoughts on this? Can’t seem to get to the bottom of this - presume this is normal? Sebba said: Thanks for the video, it was helpful.... So latest drama, after the first tyre shop patched up my tyre, I wasn't completely convinced they torqued up my wheels right so I drove to another place (Blackboots in Chesham) so told me that the patch job was cr@p & the tyres need changing -to be fair, was looking to change them anyway - decided to go for Michelins PS4s which seems to be the consensus tyre of choice...going in next Saturday.. I did have one question though - the guys (who were very good) wanted me to check whether the spline (??) should be removable like the pictures below; they said all the variants are slightly different but had not seen this before, is this standard for 997 GTS - does seem broken etc - any thoughts or one for main dealer?

Totally normal. The removable part pictured is the 'locking' part of the centrelock assembly. The outer part (larger end) engages with the hub; the spring loaded inner part engages with the bolt once it's fitted and 'locks' the hub to the bolt. The centrelock socket has a boss that pushes the locking portion in as the socket engages in the drive elements on the outside of the bolt. Once fitted and torqued, as the socket is removed the inner part should pop out to its stop/final position - if it's between the splines it can be turned slightly and pulled out til it engages fully. In our market, the spring loaded part can oxidise and seize; once the socket is fitted during removal the spring loaded part then remains 'pressed' and has to be removed and cleaned/checked so that it can return to its' extended state without additional effort. (On later versions, the locks are integral with the bolt - probably why the confusion occurred). Edited to add: The corrosion on the disc face seen in the picture is a bit of a red flag. Micromovements between the wheel rim mounting face and the disc/hub faces can lead to a strange grating ticking noise when turning (cornering or negotiating roundabouts for example). Edited by Pope on Saturday 28th January 12:56

Sebba said: Any thoughts on this? Can’t seem to get to the bottom of this - presume this is normal? Sebba said: Thanks for the video, it was helpful.... So latest drama, after the first tyre shop patched up my tyre, I wasn't completely convinced they torqued up my wheels right so I drove to another place (Blackboots in Chesham) so told me that the patch job was cr@p & the tyres need changing -to be fair, was looking to change them anyway - decided to go for Michelins PS4s which seems to be the consensus tyre of choice...going in next Saturday.. I did have one question though - the guys (who were very good) wanted me to check whether the spline (??) should be removable like the pictures below; they said all the variants are slightly different but had not seen this before, is this standard for 997 GTS - does seem broken etc - any thoughts or one for main dealer? Can’t help specifically but Blackboots used to be absolutely brilliant, I used to live quite near by and they did all the work on my cars including my 997 GTS and my GT3. The business changed hands last year, the owner and all the most experienced fitters left including the ones who always fitted the CL’s… they always had a team of two working on cars with CL’s double checking everything…and then the boss would check it too. Then guys left are not as experienced….they did a wheel change for me on my GT3 which they were not 100% convinced the locking mechanism had released on one wheel. Freely admitted they weren’t 100% sure on the process. Car was due at OPC following week for a service so asked them to check…wheel wasn’t on properly. I’ve moved further north in Bucks now and currently looking for someone as good as Blackboots used to be with CL’s. I wish I knew where all the Blackboots guys had gone !