Faulty Tyre Stem Valve Warning Issued in US

A US importer warned consumers on December 9 that they should check the stem valves on their vehicle’s tyres, after it became apparent that 1.8 million Chinese made tyre stem valves sold in the country may prematurely weather and crack, resulting in a loss of tyre pressure. According to North Carolina based Dill Air Controls Products, the problem is with two batches of valves totalling about 198,000 units, but because the valve stems are not traceable by lot number after installation, the recall involves all valves sold between November 2006 and July 2007.

The snap-in rubber valve stems were manufactured by Topseal Automotive, a subsidiary of Shanghai Baolong Automotive Corporation, and imported and distributed under the “Dill ACP” brand name. This latest warning follows similar problems in the US involving tyre valves manufactured by Topseal; in October the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was investigating more than 1 million Ford vehicles after receiving reports of tyre leaks from faulty valve stems made by the Chinese company. The highway safety agency also opened a separate investigation in May into 23 million valve stems manufactured by Shanghai Baolong in 2006.