rob588

Hi,

Went to wash the Scoob today and washed the wheels with the usual cleaner. After hosing the wheels down I found that they were covered in black spots. Tried again with traffic film remover but it would not touch it. Any ideas of something stronger that I can buy as it is making the wheels look ****.

Cheers.

BT52

I always use Autoglym's wheel cleaner.
Great stuff.

PSI3

Tar spots, try Auto-Glym intensive tar remover.

JAMES BUSHELL

MER (as seen on TV! )

I swear by it!

It's great for getting off Tar stains, bird crap, etc....

Fantastic for polishing the car also.

£10 for a big bottle and lasts for years!

James

JoeyDeacon

I would try and avoid Autoglym's wheel cleaner (or any of the acidic wheel cleaners infact) as it is far too harsh. If you have a car with the 4 pot calipers you will find the black paint will soon turn a nice white/grey colour.

MarkCSC

Had my car washed by a profesional valet company the other day he used this stuff called Autostyle Ali Cleaner. Not sure if it is available to the public but my wheels have never looked cleaner. I normally use Autoglym

Chip

Sounds like the Wax Wizard is called for here. Mr Underwood where are you.

Seriously though be careful as some of the more powerful cleaners can damage the laquer on the wheels.

Cheers

Chip.

Jza

Do you know Joey, i used the Autoglym stuff and sure enough they went grey!!!!

Any ideas how i can get them back to black?

Is it worth hassling my dealer about?

Jza

JoeyDeacon

Also don't leave the Autoglym stuff on for too long otherwise it will give the wheels a nice yellow tint. Even if you scrub the wheels every time you wash the car it will still take months to come off. Luckily I didn't find this out on the Impreza!!

My best advice would to be to only use car shampoo and water and use a soft nylon brush. You should also wash the wheels as often as possible as it's the brake dust that is left on for ages that eats into the Alloys. I have been told that if you wax the wheels it will make them MUCH easier to clean (Not tried this mself yet).

The strange thing with these acidic wheel cleaners is that it seems the wheels become "addicted" to it. Once you have used it once it makes the wheels even harder to clean the next time and hence you have to use it again and again....

I don't think the dealers are going to want to know if you tell them what this stuff has done to your brake calipers. If you used a scouring pad to wash your car would you expect them to repair the scratches??

rob588

Thanks for all the repies.

I don't think the black spots are actually tar. The face of the wheels are spotless, it's behind the spokes of the wheels that the spots appear. I have tried all different types of wheel cleaners and they just will not touch it. I can only think it is from the break pads perhaps?.

Any ideas?.

Rob 588.

SuperGlue

I have used Autoglym's resin polish on the wheels it removes tar and grime that can not be removed by washing alone. Also it makes it a lot easier to clean the wheels as nothing seems to stick to them i.e. brake dust

Terry

pslewis

MER??? NOOOOO!!!!

You know its watered down Brasso dont you??

Pete

IFG

If you leave the dirt and brake dust on you won't notice the black spots. Works for me every time

mhains

Brake pads are made of several components including, carbon fibres, metal filings, synthetic graphite, kevlar and resins. When wet, the brake dust turns acidic. This mild acid can and will damage the finish of your rims. Extremely hot metal filings from the pad and disc can also damage the wheels finish. Your may believe that you have tar on your rims, but this can be adhesive from the pads, and it is very difficult to remove.

Judging from what you say it may well be the adhesive rather than tar. There is no easy solution. Many products are acidic and damage the rims over time. I do not know the products availble in the UK, but a call to the Wax Wizard would get you a quick answer (although he is shut for another week or two I believe).

There are some things you can do to reduce a recurrance. First, once the rims are clean give them a coat of wax. Second, wash the rims regularly, every 2 weeks or so. Thirdly, between washes give them a wipe down with a rag to reduce the amount of brake dust and grime on the rims - this only takes a few minutes.

regards

Michael H

Peter L

I got the clay block stuff off Wax Wizard to remove tar spots form body work. He said that it cn also be used on wheels. I haven't tested this yet, but am planning to do so this weekend and will let you know.

Peter