Colin Whooten

I went to put air in my tires today and the valve covers were stuck on. They came off easily enough with a socket wrench, but clearly were corroded on. These were the factory stem covers (have N2 written on them). Is this to be expected? Anybody have a recommended replacement set that might not do this and looks nice? Amazon seems to be filled with cheap ones where people complain of the same thing.

leomio85

How were you able to get them off with a socket wrench when they're round caps? Mine are grey plastic and have no markings on them. Your dealer might have put their own on there and caused the issue. This was an issue with early TPMS stems when they were putting on metal caps that would corrode onto the stems. Some could be coaxed off by using some tongue pliers, but a lot of times, the cap would take the stem with it. It got to the point that if they were corroded on, I'd send them to the dealer as many were warrantying them due to the widespread issue. Since then, every automaker I've known has switched to plastic caps and I haven't heard of an issue unless someone uses aftermarket metal caps.

Moral of the story, use plastic caps. Also, there's absolutely no need to tighten the bejesus out of them. I've had plenty of plastic caps I've had to fight to get off as well due to being wrenched on there. It only requires to be snugged down to stay on there ... even the most gentle of grips is enough to torque them down enough to stay on. Once I feel a bit of resistance of it bottoming out, I stop ... and I've never lost a single cap.

Ted Kief

Dont use any tools they should only be finger tight

JB in AZ

If your stem caps refer in anyway to Nitrogen or N2, that was NOT put in your tires at the factory, and the caps were NOT installed at the factory.

NooYawkuh

Mine are grey plastic. CHEAP grey plastic.

Once I bought a set of nice, chrome plated valve caps, just to spiff things up a bit. Somebody stole them. People will steal whatever they can. Knew a guy who had his wiper blades stolen. Nothing special about them and they weren't even new. A pair of mostly worn $6 Anco wiper blades. We get in his car, he turns on the wipers and the bare arms are just scratching across the windshield.

People suck.

russianDude

I replaced my cheap ones with Acura aspec caps (accessory). Its $20, I know not cheap, but looks nice and well
made.

DriverOne

And you know that guy thinks he's all clever and "beating the system" by just getting his wiper blades for free. Imagine being a business owner and people are shoplifting off you.

JB in AZ

Sigh... I had a very questionable roommate in college who went out to start his car to find a dead battery. He looked around the parking lot, found another car that was a similar brand/year, opened the hood, and stole the battery! This was before hood locks. We were freshman in college. He was 18 years old. I lost track of him during that year, rumors were that he flunked out.

I once stole a small package of cookies from a store when I was in elementary school, (4th grade). A "Friend" of mine encouraged 3 of us to leave campus and go get "real stuff" to eat during lunch. We were all caught and our parents called. The store didn't press any charges, but I will never forget this, and have never knowingly taken anything that was not mine since.

DriverOne

Well, I would say that it's one thing to do something wrong if you're a kid -- although having a kid that age suggest leaving school when you're in elementary school is pretty mind-boggling to me and probably should lead to the old school ass-beating at home -- and another thing to do it as an adult. If someone's driving a car, they're old enough to know better and I don't cut them any breaks.

JB in AZ

What's interesting, is I don't remember what my parents' reaction or punishment delivered was. Hmmm.... of course that was a few (60?) years ago. Whatever it was, I knew what I had done was wrong.

But then I also "married" a girl in 6th grade during lunch! I had forgotten all about that also! She was very pretty, I have no idea where she is today or even the next year in 7th grade...my parents had moved to a different town.

DriverOne

Well, technically, if you were married at the time, you would have been an emancipated minor, lol.

jmhumr

Agreed. Hopefully the OP didn’t get gouged for stupid Nitrogen when the car was purchased.

As for replacement caps, I’d avoid the metal ones on Amazon and find the OEM accessory ones. Apply anti-seize grease when installing.

I’d frankly like to find some plastic Acura ones to avoid any hassle. I don’t know why people even make them out of metal - it doesn’t look that much better to risk ruining your stems.

russianDude

Dont know about chrome, but ASPEC ones are plastic and well made.
https://www.acuraoemparts.com/oem-pa...pl4200b?c=az0x

jmhumr

Nice, thanks! I saw those earlier but assumed they were metal since they’re also offered in chrome.

russianDude

This is how Acura ASPEC caps look like (if interested in getting them):

Colin Whooten

I didn’t pay extra, that’s just how my tires came. It’s weird that Acura delivered the car this way. Sounds like my short term solution of black plastic caps might be best for the long term too. The Acura ones look good, but not sure they are worth the headache as I’ll inevitably lose one I’m sure.

Madd Dog

No metal valve stem caps for me. Plastic only.

who needs metal to metal interaction when all the cap does is keep the threads clean?