As I've mentioned a bunch of times before, I love to race around the long (mostly) deserted canyon roads in the Malibu hills. This afternoon was no exception.
At the top of the mountains, the off-shore clouds were pouring over the hills:
The roads look like this (this is a tame and far too flat example of what is typical up there):
Just as the sun was setting, on my way down the mountain in a really steep twisty section with no shoulder and narrow lanes, my zipping came to a (not quite) screeching halt as I caught up with a _crawling_ Benz... who was doing about 15 MPH.
After about a minute of following this guy, as I was rounding a sharp turn I heard and felt a really loud and sharp BANG from the right front wheel. There are loose rocks around this part of the road and I thought I must have clobbered a _huge_ rock... but I was closely following the guy in front of me going really slow, so I don't know how I could have hit something he missed.
Anyway, 2 seconds later I get a nice red "flat tyre!" warning (what's a "tyre" anyway
). Now there is no where to stop, and the road is super steep and so sharply twisted that you cant see more than about 30 feet down the road. So I had no choice but to put the hazards on and ride it out at about 5 MPH for about 500 yards till I thankfully got to an area of road that turned briefly flat. Its dark now, and there is _nothing_ near by. Not a house, a light, another car. Nothing...
At this point, I recall having thought that people who complained here about not having a spare were a bit too sensitive, but quickly realized that if you're in the middle of fsking nowhere, in the mountains, out of reach, that not having a spare is, as I like to say, "suboptimal."
Well, I think, "hey, I've got ``goop'' and a compressor, how hard could it be?" Ha. Its funny now that I'm home. Anyway, the first step is to take the yellow plastic valve-stem remover tool and unscrew the valve from the tire so that you can get the goop in there and start the compressor.
So, in the "tool" goes, and after a couple of counter clockwise turns, it doesn't feel like its grabbing (its completely pitch black now...). With my flashlight, this is what I see:
There are supposed to be two fork-like protrusions at the top of that completely smooth piece of cheap and apparently soft plastic. At this point its all over and I'm stuck. If the valve is still in there, you can't put the goop in.
A call to 1-800-porsche gets me to someone that puts me on hold for 20 minutes while he finds someone who is willing to try getting a flatbed up a twisty mountain road...
That was a long hour and a half wait stranded in the deserted hills...
Anyway, the flatbed actually made it up and we got it on the back and headed home. Now I have my car at home on a Friday night with a blown wheel, no spare, and closed Porsche service departments for the whole weekend.
I've got to try to find some one that has PS2s that's open on the weekend and figure out how to get the wheel to them since I can drive it (I dont have jack stands, or a jack for that matter, these days).
I would recomend while you're thinking of it, to go out and get a real metal tire valve extractor tool from any bike shop and throw it in with your package of goop in the trunk.
Looks like I'll be missing the Zone 8 LA run through the Santa Monica mountains this weekend!
thanks for the lesson about the tire valve extractor tool--I will be adding one to my Goop Kit.
Bummer,bright side is that you have twisty malibu roads to drive on,here incentral florida flat and straight is all we have anice freeway on ramp is qbout as exciting as it gets.
has anyone tried the tyre sealers that are sold in most auto parts stores to reinflate their damaged tyre?
what is the difference between the two besides the compressor that porsche sells you with the car?
The Cayman manual has a warning to not use aftermarket goop.
Yancy,
That's sucks. From your pictures and description its makes me feel like I was listen to a beautiful song on a record, and then suddenly someone drag the needle across the vinyl. Ouch!!!
Just thank God for that slow Mercedes in front of you. Imagine if you were flying on an open road. Well, I am glad that you are OK. Anyway, see you on our next run.
Ciao,
Chaseman
This is great information and exactly why I want to buy the spare. Just as you experienced, I have been stranded in the past in the Nevada desert ... waited 3 hours for AAA to show up (different car) after hiking 3 miles to get to a phone (no cell service!).
If you saw a nail, you could get this
http://dynaplug.com/
cheap and just use the compressor to pump the tire back up. At least get you home.
Tirerack sells a Conti unit, refillable cartridges, that does not require the valve to be removed (pretty sure). I know Porsche says not to use aftermarket but its not a cheap thing they sell at all auto part stores.
Just a thought.
Chase: Yes, I've thought about that a bit. If that happened at speed on an outside bend, I wouldn't be here, that's for sure. There's risk in everything... But zipping around in my Cayman in those hills gets me laughing out loud to myself because I'm having so much fun! Currently, there's nothing else in my life like it!
So I got a better look at my tire and wheel today and managed with a _great_ deal of effort to remove the plastic from the removal tool that got completely packed into the valve stem when that cheap piece of crap broke off... I'll say it again: Everyone reading this should get out to an auto parts store or bike store and buy a metal valve stem removal tool before you learn the hard way! I found one at Pep Boys in Culver City for $3.50... its now in my kit in the trunk.
I got the valve out, thinking I could try the goop which would allow me to drive to the dealer under my own power on Monday. I couldn't see the tire damage (it turns out it was directly under the bottom of the wheel) so I plugged in the compressor and discovered that the accessory fuse had blown last night. I had used the compressor for about 10 seconds after pulling over, when it suddenly stopped and at the same instant, the electric engine compartment fan came on (the engine was pretty cool by this time). I thought the thing shut itself off automatically. It didn't.
Anyway, I took some shots today and the damage is severe. Looks like I sliced the tire, and damaged the wheel at the same time (which I didn't notice till I reviewed the image below). I must have hit a pretty big sharp rock. I still don't know how that was possible...
You know, I had the manual at home next to the computer (not in the car!) so I would never have to ask anyone here for info that might be in the manual.
The night of the flat I couldn't remember what it said about the compressor -- I remembered it being special, but I would never think of using the cigarette lighter for anything. I'd forgotten it was even there. But now I'll remember!
And yes, the tire damage is unfixable, but I couldn't see it until yesterday in the daylight.
The wheel has a tiny bit of "curb rash" which indicates that I did in fact hit something big enough to reach the wheel. Unless rolling on it for a short time with a flat did more damage, I expect that the wheel should be fine.
