Tar/Brake dust Imbedded in wheels?

[imported_DieselMDX]

I just detailed my G/Fs accord and the wheels have basically not been cleaned on about a year. The wheel is a combination of polish/painted surfaces (2005). I washed the wheel with dawn and brush twice and the wheels are still filthy. Tar and brakedust is basically caked into the wheels.





I usually take care of my cars so i have never had this problem. What do you recommened to use to clean the wheels? i have a PC but i think it would be difficult to get to certain areas of the wheel.



Any help would be appreciated.

 

[imported_themightytimmah]

Stoner's Tarminator on the tar, S100 Gel wheel cleaner and a brush for the dust. I personally use Meg's Wheel Brightener, but it carries a lot of risks with it and I would not suggest it for an inexperienced user.

 

[imported_DieselMDX]

what type of risks?





thanx for your help

 

[Bigpoppa3346]

Wheel Brightener can etch some types of wheels, plus if you inhale it, expect to be gagging for 5 minutes.

 

[imported_DieselMDX]

damn that is not fun, that s100 looks promising

 

[imported_paradigm]

tarminator or any decent bug/tar remover. if it's really thick...try straight up mineral spirits. for chunks, use a plastic razor blade.

 

[Juztang]

Another vote for Tarminator. After the wheels are clean Poorboys wheel sealant would be a good choice.

 

[imported_memnuts]

Have you tried claying and removing some of the embedded stuff? Claying will also mildly polish the surface that it is applied to.



This procedure normally works great for painted/clearcoats wheels along with a good cleaning.

 

[Accumulator]

Yeah, another vote for the clay :xyxthumbs



I'll sometimes use undiluted APCs or wheel cleaners as the clay lube for this. Yeah, it dissolves the clay pretty fast but it seems to work OK. I've had surprisingly good results on the back sides of older wheels, really nasty areas that'd never been cleaned before.

 

[backwoods_lex]

I did my girlfriend's wheels a few months ago and used the OTC turtle wax polish with the green label. The wheels were pretty awful from brake dust and rust. The TW polish did a fantastic job of cleaning the wheels and did it twice as fast as the clay magic I used. I wouldn't use it on the paint, but great stuff for wheels (and only $2.50). It was like night and day.

 

[tom p.]

Trying to clean severely neglected wheels is a losing battle. While you can improve the appearance, long-term damage has likely occurred. As already suggested, try claying. I would follow up with a polish of some sort. I suspect you've got a lengthy project ahead.



There's no substitute for weekly cleaning.



Good luck.

 

[imported_Lightman]

Trying to clean severely neglected wheels is a losing battle. Good luck.

I would have to agree. I did a detail on my dad's g/f's 2000 A4 a few months ago, and her wheels had brake dust/grime actually BAKED into them it would seem. I tried clay, aggressive compounds, brushes, full strength degreaser with brushes, nothing would touch the stuff. Apparently something went wrong with her brakes, smoked the pads in like 5k miles, and literally got the wheels/dust so hot they bonded. I evenually had conceeded that the clear that may have been on the wheels is history and as bad as the wheels looked, I took to them with a wire brush and some polish. The stuff came off without too much complaint with the metal wire brush..however of course that left a lot of scratches in the wheels. The powerball mini and some various polishes brought it back to a reasonable look, but now they will require more frequent maintenance etc... Arggghhh Tom you couldn't have said it better - no substitute for weekly washings.

 

[imported_DieselMDX]

Well now that I am taking care of the car and this will not happen again. I am going to get some p21 and see how that goes.





thanx for all the help

 

[imported_memnuts]

Thanks guys!!!

Now I know I am sick. I wipe my wheels down after every use at the end of the day. In side and out.

 

[imported_DieselMDX]

Thanks guys!!!

Now I know I am sick. I wipe my wheels down after every use at the end of the day. In side and out.

LOL I have done that for a while but just the outside, never the inside.





On nice days i wipe them down in between drives (had 20" chrome at the time)

 

[Accumulator]

SOme other stuff I've tried occurred to me since last posted on this thread, and since we've moved on to some pretty aggressive measures anyhow...



Bug sponges and the softer Scotchbrite pads (the ones for nonstick cookware) can help.



Before resorting to the wire brush that Lightman had to use, try a Dremel with a "fiber brush" (I think that's what they call it), the nonmetallic brushes that come in three styles. I used one of those to remove some never-coming-off stuff from the back sides of some wheels. Not saying it won't do *some* damage, but it's nothing like a brass brush.



Sigh...I used to wipe off my wheels but I ended up getting marring from it Now I wash the wheels on the "good cars" same as their paint, with the foamgun and BHBs for the initial passes. I sure seem to get marring easily when I don't resort to overkill-gentle methods :nixweiss Luckily, with all the layers of sealant I have on the good wheels I can let 'em get pretty nasty and they still come clean with just shampoo mix.

 

[imported_DieselMDX]

thanx for your help accumulater