Recall of faulty tire valve stems expanded

The recall of millions of faulty tire valve stems from China we wrote about last week has been expanded.
The rubber replacement valve stems in question may crack prematurely and cause tires to lose air quickly. At high speeds such rapid deflation can cause a serious crash.

Tire accessory distributor Tech International of Johnstown, Ohio, originally recalled model TR-413, which was manufactured for Dill Air Control Products of Oxford, N.C. by Topseal Shanghai Auto-Parts Co. Ltd. in China. The company said at that time the recall involved as many as six million valve stems.

But Tech International has now expanded the recall to include five additional models—TR-413CH, TR-414, TR-415, TR-418 and TR-423—manufactured between August 2006 and November 2006. Tech Int'l did not say how many of those additional models of valve stems it has distributed. Dill said earlier that it had shipped as many as 30 million of the TR-413 valve stems in the North American market.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation of the valve stems on May 15.

Most consumers will have a have a hard time figuring out with any certainty if they have any of the defective valve stems on their tires, however. That's because once a valve stems is installed, the only way to check to see if it is one of the suspected models is to dismount the tire from the wheel and inspect if from the inside.

Eugene Petersen, program leader for tire testing at Consumer Reports, says motorists should conduct a visual inspection of their valve stems to check for cracks. To do this, he says, remove the hubcap (if there is one) and move the top of the stem around, checking for any sign of cracks in the base of the stem where it meets the wheel.

Dill has posted photos online of what consumers should look for when they inspect valve stems.

Comments

[Jimmy McGee]

Well, we don't make anything here in the US anymore. We used to pride ourselves on the quality of US made products but those days are behind us. Now, everything comes from China. In the last month, I have had three valve stems fail. I literally thought someone was sabotaging my tires because the cracks looked identical to each other, all at the base of the valve stem. When I got flat # 3, I had a local tire shop replace all the junk Chinese valve stems with quality European made ones and I haven't had a problem since.

[Joe]

Last Friday I had the second valve stem crack at the base and unfortunately my wife drove on the tire enough of a distance that the sidewall of a very expensive Michelin tire was ruined. One of the techs at Costco was kind enough to suggest that I do some research about faulty valve stems; he thought maybe I could get reimbursed for at least part of the $200 for the new tire. From what I have read here, not likely. Here are some particulars: Vehicle new 2007 Ford Fusion with Alloy rims and Michelin Pilot MXM4 P225/50R17 93V tires; slightly over 10k miles. There had been no modifications to the vehicle or tires, all standard equipment. Mercury and Lincoln derivative owners should inspect valve stems and replace ASAP. After the first valve stem failure, the tech at the local Good Year noted that the factory installed stems were too long for the rim and replaced the bad unit with a shorter one (manuf. unknown-likely Chinese made). Costco did the same and the next day I returned to Good Year and replaced the other two. I find it interesting that when I mentioned this recall to the manager at Good Year he said he had never heard of it. This is a very serious issue!

[ET]

My 2008 Ford Escape had a faulty valve stem first on April 6, 2009, and a second on May 9, 2009. I talked to the dealer and this problem is unheard of to him. He did replace my other 2 today; however, Ford apparently is not responsible for my costs. The first one cost me $20 (during the day) and the second was $45 at night. I feel really safe driving this vehicle now!

[Joe B]

My 2008 Escape is at the dealers at the moment getting the valve near the transmission fixed because it was leaking (another manufacturer defect in this model). They called and told me all 4 stems are cracked and need replacement and it will be $20 per stem. Why isn't Ford responsible to replace these? I do have the extended warranty.

[Denise]

Yep, noticed a low tire this a.m. on my '07 vehicle with Michelin tires. After filling it at the gas station air pump, hearing the hiss, and then going to a car shop to get the valve replacement, I checked all other valves to notice some degree of cracking in ALL valves. I am still under warranty, but will be anxious to hear if dealership service can assure me the replacement valves are NOT Chinese made.....It's quite disturbing! It's also quite disturbing to see a comment on this site that people should not be quick to blame manufacturing. Hey, if all four tire valves are cracked on a roughly 2-year old car with only 11,000 miles, there's definitely something wrong with manufacturing practices!

[David]

Check out sure valve. U.S. made

[Rich]

Wow! I didn't hear about this last year when the recall was announced, but heard it on CarTalk this past weekend.

I bought a set of tires about 2 years ago, over the next year I had three valve stem fail! The third was on the highway, which ruined the tire, costing $$$ and aggravation to replace.

I specifically shopped around to not buy a Chinese made tire ( I ended up buying a Made in USA tire) but then they put a crappy Chinese valve stem on!!!

Rich

[Mike]

Experienced two deflation's within two weeks. Both were sudden with no warning. The tires were bought at Discount Tire.

[Dave Schuette]

In a matter of two hours driving time during my holiday travels to and from Michigan via I-94, I experience three flat tires. The second was 40 miles into my trip returning to Wisconsin. I opted to return to the home I was visiting to avoid continuing the drive without a spare (especially since I already experienced a flat on my drive to Michigan from Wisconsin). In the driveway of my mother's house, I notice the third tire going flat. As I tried to pump it up, I noticed the valve stem leaking. Ah ha! I checked the damaged tire that I now carried on my spare tire rack, and sure enough...the valve stem on it was split in half! Until then, I was baffled. The tires are expensive off-road Goodyear MT/R's. Until then, I couldn't understand why the most beefy tires I ever owned were going flat on normal pavement driving conditions (I had one other flat this past summer, but didn't think too much about it, since the tire was repairable). This recent trip cost me $600 by the time everything was said and done. I confirmed the valve stems were Dill TR-413 and 414s. I wrote a letter the the GM of Dill. Hopefully, they'll help me out. Their web page has a link to "recall information". I was expecting a link to claims, but instead it's just the article described above on how to check for faulty stems. Not sure how I was to know about this for preventative maintenance. So far, I'm chalking this up to a very expensive lesson on tires.

[Gregg Rene]

My 2007 MKZ AWD had a driver front failure of a valve stem (cracking as noted in recall), but I can't get my dealer to even acknowledge a valve stem recall by Lincoln - nor admit the widely publicized Dill recall (who supplies all the manufacturers). Looks like I will have to have the remaining valve stems replaced by a third party. And the big three can't figure out why people are moving to other manufacturers like Toyota, etc. The big three are sooo out of touch with their customer base. I want a Lexus or Beamer anyway....

[Luci]

I had two tire blowouts while driving on the interstate this past summer on two different occasions! We replaced all four tires because we did not know what the cause was... then we received a letter! Replace all of the valve stems if you think they are cracking or you possibly had the defective ones installed!

[mac]

Four new Michelin tires and valves were purchased at Sears 10/1/06. First valve failure 9/20/08. Second valve failure 10/7/08. Third valve failure 11/1/08. Fourth valve replaced at the same time. (I finally figured it out!) Although these tires are rotated and balanced every six months, we received NO NOTICE of this failure and I don't recall even seeing it in my Consumer Reports print version. We paid to have tires "repaired" twice and today paid Sears for the tire that got damaged from riding on the rim for some distance. (That would be the second valve failure but then Firestone didn't tell us about the tire damage.) This has been expensive, inconvenient, plus I was treated very rudely by Sears personnel today, one of whom had never even heard of the problem with these valves. This article states that this could effect more than 30,000,000 tires!!! Why isn't our government forcing these people to advertise this issue before someone else gets killed? It was nearly me this time!

[Craig]

To the gentleman who has his original 20 year old tires and valves on the Corvette: you really should do some research and you will find that all reputable tire manufacturers recommend replacing tires when they reach 10 years old, regardless of tread depth. They DO deteriorate internally and are definitely NOT SAFE to use. But it's your car, you decide.

[TR]

Several people have said it, what will it take for Americans to stop buying things made in China.

Several people have said it, they'd be willing to pay more for something not made in China.

I ask, what will it take for American Retail outlets to sell things not made in China?

I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart because, among a lot of reasons, they've abanadoned their sales model "made in the USA" in favor of "cheap garbage made in China makes us rich".

Twice recently I went to Target to buy a specific item. One was a sugar bowl. The other was a pizza cutter. In both cases Target had at least three items to choose from. In both cases all of Targets items were made in China.

It doesn't matter what consumers are willing to do if our retailers won't accomodate us.

So what will it take?

Nothing short of a Country-wide universal boycott of everything made in China and a Country-wide boycott of stores that do not at least carry a non-made-in-China alternative.

[SE]

I had just returned from a nearby town the other day and I had stopped to get gas. When I was about to leave, a guy yelled to me that I had a flat tire. I was surprised, I hadn't even noticed! The tire suddenly lost pressure while setting at the pump. I took my car to Discount tire where I had purchased the tires and they replaced the valve stem and supposedly replaced the others as well.

[steve]

Ive just checked my 2008 escape and it has 2 cracked tire valve stems but the dealer knows nothing about the recall and say there is no recall for my vehicle. Im going to take it in anyway, shouldn't they replace all 4?

[Doug]

Calm down. Yes, this is a serious issue. If you percieve this to be a life threatening issue, you should consider taking a driving course or two.
For the young lady who is complaining about the $200 in road service fees, I strongly suggest you learn to use a jack and a lug wrench.
Flat tires happen, people.
Sometimes they happen for reasons that cannot be blamed on defective equipment, and sometimes they happen beyond the reach of "road service."
By all means, check your valve stems..but for crying out loud, learn how to handle your vehicle in a blow-out situation, and learn how to change your own tires!

[Sabina]

I have a 2007 Honda with metal valves (as pictured in the Dill procedure to inspect document) and a wireless air pressure monitoring system. Does this mean I am safe from this problem?

[Cie]

Where can you take your car in the Maryland area to have the tires inspected for free to see if the stems and tires are good and not on any recall listing. If it's not 1 thing it's another!!! But I am glad that this information is being given so that no one including myself will get hurt hopefully.

[Emily]

This is a serious problem. I am a 20 year old girl who drives a honda civic and just got 3 tires a year ago. Last week I was driving 70 mph on a major highway and suddenly got a flat tire. It cost me $100 dollars to get a tow truck to come, not to mention I ran the risk of a serious accident. I went to Sears and had them look at my tire and they informed me I had a faulty valve stem and that it was known to happen in tires that were produced in around 2005. He replaced the valve stem for free informing me it was covered by the manufacturer. I asked him to check the other tires since I was concerned the same thing could happen again. When looking at one of the other valve stems it popped of after being touched and that tire went immediately flat- so he replaced that one as well. Today I was driving down the same major highway and got a flat AGAIN. The 3rd tire in 3 weeks- another $100 to get my spare put on! Not to mention the 2nd time I was at risk to be in a serious accident! I don't understand why I wasn't informed that this could happen- wouldn't the manufacturer have been liable if I had been hurt? Also, I'm out $200 dollars on road side assistance fees because of faulty valve stems I could have been informed about previously. Wouldn't it benefit the manufacturer to inform consumers BEFORE bad things happen. My last question is- if the valve stems are replaced- can it happen again? Or am I safer getting new tires? If so should they be covered by the manufacturer?

[Gina]

Today my husband & I went tire shopping for my Toyota Corolla. We called one tire store and visited 3 others, all national chains. What we were specifically asking each company was: "Where are the valve stems made?" We knew about the recall and didn't want anything chinese. The answers we got were not very helpful, to say it in an understated fashion.

At the place we called, they said that they could 'do some research' (they didn't even know what brand they used) and we could call back someday in the near future. The stores we visited were even LESS helpful. The first place we visited, they guy acted like he'd never heard of the recall issue, and he said that they were certainly american-made and that a 'little part like that wouldn't be made in China'. I told him that almost all valve stems ARE made in China, so could he please let me see the valves they would be using. He met us out in the garage area and showed us valve stems with no writing on them at all. "How about the box?", I asked. He said they don't come in a box, nor a bag. No packaging?? Finally, he gave me a phone number of some guy who he said would know. So we called it from our cellphone and the man said this:
...There is only one company which still manufactures valve stems in the USA: Schrader. He said that his tire company did NOT use those and they were definitely Chinese-made.

The next place we went to was another chain. The front desk guy said he was '95...96...98% sure' that they were made in the USA. But he wouldn't go ASK anybody installing the tires out back!! I made it clear that if we weren't 100% sure, we couldn't buy tires from them. He said we should call back tomorrow. At least they had heard about the recalls. We were leaving when we caught the eye of a tire installer, and we decided to ask him what country the valves are manufactured in. He said he didn't know, but they were made by a company called Schrader. Woo hoo! Pretty good news! But why couldn't the desk-dude just ask them? It's like nobody cares.

Because we still had to hit the 'membership warehouse' anyway, we went into their tire room. The associate said he didn't know where the valves they use were made. Again, we had to press to get an answer. He went out to the installation area, and when he came back, he said that they didn't list where they were made, or the company who made them. "They don't come in a package", he said. My husband & I thought that was really unlikely to be true. Products just don't *appear*, they come IN SOMETHING. He did say they were supplied by Michelin. So we had to assume they would be chinese.

So, tonight I have been trying to research Schrader, but I can't find out too much. The company seems to be owned by a British company now.

I mainly wanted to post that it is extremely difficult for consumers to find out which brand of valve stem is being furnished, and its country of origin. It shouldn't be hard to get a straight answer out of these places. They either know it's chinese (and don't want us to know) or they don't know/don't care. Isn't there a law that says goods need to be labeled for country of origin?

[Bryan Morgan]

Just had to replace a tire valve on a Bridgestone truck tire with 60000km on it(2004 truck). Fortunately for us the valve blew while we were at a rest stop or who knows what would have happened to us while trying to negotiate our truck, camper and boat at highway speeds!!! I specifically asked the GM dealer if there had been any issues or recalls and was given a "not to my knowledge" answer. I'm going back to the dealer on Monday armed with this info. I will ask for the valve type and then get all valves replaced by the best ones available. "Not a happy camper".

[Alan]

Responding to Terry Warp's comments below - I took
my Jeep back to the tire dealer, who replaced the
cracking valve stems, charging me for the new ones.
The cracking stems were Dill 413s, installed in late
2005. The tire store owner made the same ludicrous comments
that rubber deteriorates, and that I should expect to
replace the valve stems every four years or so.

I had just inspected the stems on my 1988 Corvette,
which I purchased new, and which still has the original
tires. They were in perfect condition - absolutely
like new. This took the wind out of the tire shop owner's
sails in front of a store full of customers listening
to the conversation. Of course tire dealers don't want
to admit to the problem! There is no way for them to
recoup their costs for replacing the defective stems
from the Chinese company - or from Dill, who will
probably be forced into bankruptcy. That's the problem
with free trade.

Having said that, Terry may be talking from experience.
If the Chinese have had the valve stem market cornered
for the last ten years or more, then it may indeed be normal
for valve stems to require replacement every few years.
It didn't used to be this way, as evidenced by my 20-
year old tire valve stems.

Everyone reading this blog should inspect their tires
and,if they have cracking valve stems, start raising
hell with their congressmen about Chinese crap. If
the defective stems were installed prior to the August-
November 2006 time frame that Dill claims the problem
is limited to, you should report this to the NHTSA
Office of Defect Investigation through their website.

[BEN HADD]

ON MY WIFE'S CAR, A 2008 FORD ESCAPE, SHE HAD A MONITORING LIGHT CAME ON THAT A TIRE WAS LOW. I CHECKED THE VALVE STEM ON THE TIRE. IT WAS CRACKED AND LEAKING AIR. I'LL HAVE ALL THE VALVE STEMS REPLACED IN THE MORNING. APPARENTLY, NEW CARS HAVE THE DEFECTIVE STEMS ALSO.

[Alan]

I am a rubber chemist with many years of experience
formulating compounds. Ozone inhibitors and ant-
ozonates are standard components of any rubber
compound subject to ozone exposure. No U.S. or
Canadian company would dare ship products that didn't
meet ASTM and other testing standards. To do so
would be a death sentence for them. American
companies that engage in such sloppy practices would
be hounded out of business by regulatory agencies and
plaintiffs' attorneys. This should be a wake-up call
that Chinese companies, by and large, have no integrity
or concern for product safety. I hope Dill is forced
out of business for their greed.

I just inspected the tire stems on my Jeep Grand
Cherokee. Three of them are cracking and showing
signs of obvious ozone deterioration (I have run
hundreds of ozone resistance tests during my career,
so I know what to look for). They were installed in
October of 2005, so the problem obviously isn't
limited to stems produced in 2006. I plan to
contact the NTSB with this information, for all
the good that will do.