Help w/ Stubborn Little Dark Spots on Wheels

C

CottyGee

New member
I'm not sure what these little 'dots' are on the wheels on the driver's side wheels... But they're just plain STUBBORN! Can't get 'em off...



These are the factory wheels on my '05 Chrysler 300C - a chromed aluminum spoke wheel. I believe (but am not positive) that these wheels are clearcoated...



These spots are slightly larger than the head of a pin, and are a dark grayish type of color. They've been on the car for about 10 days now...



Last weekend I noticed them when I was detailing the wheels. I tried washing again with Gold Class shampoo. Then I tried mineral spirits, some "name brand" bug and tar remover, alcohol, and finally today, after another wash session, Wurth Tar Remover.



None of these have had any effect at all. There are probably like a dozen or two little pinhead spots on the front wheel and maybe half that number on the rear wheel.



What ideas and suggestions do you learned folks have for me?? I've got some The Perfect Shine brand detailing clay on the way. I have never worked with clay, but I was thinking this might be the next logical step, since I'm apparently not going to be able to disolve these dots.



What say you??
 
Wait until your clay arrives, same thing happened on my rims, clay took it straight off, you said you had used a tar remover, how long did you let it sit? what did you use to try and remove the spots?
 
you said you had used a tar remover, how long did you let it sit? what did you use to try and remove the spots?
Click to expand...
I tried washing again with Gold Class shampoo. Then I tried mineral spirits, some "name brand" bug and tar remover, alcohol, and finally today, after another wash session, Wurth Tar Remover.
Click to expand...
I didn't let any of it sit on there that long. I used cotton balls last weekend, and tried putting the soaked cotton ball on one of the spots for maybe a minute or so, then aggressively "scrubbing" with the cottonball. When the spot hadn't changed one iota, I figured the spot wasn't gonna be disolved by what I was using.
 
I had success in removing tough stains ( including tar) with Megs Extra All Surface cleaner and soft toothbrush then wiping off with terry towel. Or use your inder finger wrapped with terry towel scrub it with VM
 
The clay should get it off. I have a bww and mercedes and you know how the wheels get with brake dust...I have used just about everything to get it off but no luck. I remembered reading on the forum somewhere that Dave Bynon suggested to try claying. Absolute magic! A little elbow grease is requred but it works.
 
Thanks for the reply Mick. FWIW, I'm confident this isn't brake dust. But hopefully the clay will take it off without damaging the presumed clearcoat on the wheels.
 
I love using clay on the rims when all esle fails. Sometimes you get that caked on brake dust that tar removers don't do any justice for, but the clay helps. It doesn't sound like a chemical reaction that won't come out being that you said you were able to lighten it somewhat. You seem to be careful with your wheels so I doubt it was something that heat from the brakes forced some reaction to occur. I also recommend trying the clay and see what happens. Do u have any pics at all?



Nick
 
Okay... Here are some attempts at pics. VERY tough to capture!



Each file is about 500K in size...



Pic1

Pic2

Pic3



I tried to enhance these as best I could. It was tough!



Let me know if you guys make anything out of all this... :bow
 
Well, got some clay and tried it today. No joy. Didn't seem to do anything. Now I'm not sure what to try! Maybe rubbing compound?? I've got some ancient Dupont rust colored stuff sitting around, I think.



Suggestions??
 
But...



Aren't my wheels clearcoated?? I thought about metal polish, but figured it was for metal not "paint" (clearcoat).



??
 
I would try the metal polish as chrome rims are not usually clear coated. I do not remeber reading that the 300c chrome rims being clear coated. Ask if your rims are clear coated on 300cforums.com or dodgemagnum.net.



Did you try using a wheel cleaner such as A2Z?



Eric
 
I didn't get an answer to my post on the 300C forum, but I did run across where they were talking about them being clearcoated, and worrying how they'd fare in the winter areas where they use gravel on the roads.



So, I'm pretty sure they're clearcoated. IIRC, the owners manual says they are... Hafta double-check.



As for what I've tried, I think I posted everything - which is just about everything I can think of in terms of trying to disolve the spots. Now I'm thinking I'm gonna hafta abrade them to get rid of them...



FWIW, I *DID* buy some Mother's Chrome Polish (or something along that title from Mothers).
 
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