How to clean these corroded wheel centers?

D

dekeman

New member
Hello all,



Thanks to all for the helpful posts I've used in getting my neglected Protege back looking good. I'm getting ready to put summer wheels (aluminum w/clearcoat) on and am cleaning the daylights out of the inside surfaces. Lots of chunks of tar from the previous owner who just absolutely criminally neglected this vehicle. Also a lot of brake dust that Eagle One A2Z really cut through- thanks for the tips! WD-40 is powering through the rest of the tar spots and some of the brake dust, and I now have another can of brake cleaner spray to try to get the rest of the embedded brake dust off. Learned my lesson on the first wheel with 0000 steel wool. Oops. :wall



What I'm discovering now, though, is that she apparently didn't rotate the tires. Mazda had a problem with rotor hubs rusting badly, and actually had a dealer TSB to paint them to halt the rusting. You can see all the corrosion and rust sticking to the inside center of the wheel. See below:



wheel-001sm.jpg




wheel-002sm.jpg




wheel-003sm.jpg




There is rust as well as some kind of corrosion on the metal. I'm figuring the moldy-looking spots are brake dust that has etched into the back of the spokes and the back edge of the wheel itself. The etching isn't as much of a concern as that corrosion. Any ideas?
 
Ok, now that the mods have finally figured out that I'm not a spammer and the post has finally shown up, I'll try this again. Any ideas?
 
I don't know about the corrosion but a (super duty) Magic Eraser might be the ticket for those smaller spots of baked on dust.
 
Ok. Yes, the "mildewy" looking spots are etched brake dust, unlikely you'll be able to do much more than that without an acid wheel cleaner, and that will only remove the brake metal from the etching, not remove the etching. In the hub area it looks like you have a combination of rust transfer from the hub, and galvanic corrosion of the aluminum from the dissimilar metal contact. You don't want to sand this surface as it needs to remain true to the pilot diameter. My recommendation would be to paint the hub as per the TSB, and wire brush the wheel (in the hub contact area) to remove loose rust and alumimum salts, then coat with some lithium grease when you reinstall the wheels to provide some moisture and galvanic couple isolation.
 
Thanks. The hub was painted by the dealer as per the TSB, but I guess when I reinstalled the wheels, that corrosion re-transferred because there's some rust on the rotor hub again. I will spot-paint the rotor hub and take your advice and wire-brush the wheel center. Will report with results.
 
If you do paint, make sure that the paint dries fully before reassembly. If you do not wait, you will have the wheel "glued" to the hub. When you do get the hub/wheel separated, you will have paint missing from the hub and you are back to square 1.



I suggest you wire brush the rust/paint from the hub/rotor real good. I have had good luck with a mini die grinder with roll-lock 3m pads. If the area is beyond what the wheel covers, then paint it and let it fully dry.



Then I would coat that area with the silver Never Seize. That stuff rocks! Just don't get it on your hands/clothes and don't make a mess with it. It will definitely help that rusting!



Let us know how it goes, what you did and what happens.
 
I used a wire brush, then applied some WD-40 to break some of that corrosion. The worst two wheels are a lot better, and WD-40 and #0000 steel wool took care of a lot of the inner edge brake dust etching. I got a lot of the etching off the inner spokes, just enough that I can live with it. I still have to spot-paint the rotor hub, and take a pic for you guys, but it's a lot better. Thanks for the advice!!
 
Oh- planning on using some Turtle Wax Ice to seal them- maybe two coats. I'm not waiting for mail-order stuff to come in, and am not convinced it's a better option. I'm anxious to get these Blizzaks off my car since I want to sell them (to save on further wear). What do any of you think about the sealer choice? Will it be effective or am I wasting my time?
 
dekeman said:
Oh- planning on using some Turtle Wax Ice to seal them- maybe two coats. I'm not waiting for mail-order stuff to come in, and am not convinced it's a better option...What do any of you think about the sealer choice? Will it be effective or am I wasting my time?
Click to expand...



I dunno fromTW Ice, so I can't say if it'll work well or not :nixweiss But if you want to prevent a recurrence of the nastiness you do need to protect the back sides of the wheels and clean them regularly.



I seal the back sides of my wheels with ~ 6 layers of sealants that are known to layer (and I've proven that layering to myself conclusively). I use Klasse Sealant Glaze or FK1000P. Six layers will last a long time if I clean them with shampoo mix. Four layers will last a while but not nearly as long. Fewer layers last a relatively short time IME.



So IMO the mail-order stuff *might* be a better option after all.



Glad you got things cleaned up nicely, and I'd be trying to *keep* them that way ;)



SR20det said:
I would coat that area with the silver Never Seize. That stuff rocks! Just don't get it on your hands/clothes and don't make a mess with it. It will definitely help that rusting!
Click to expand...



Yeah, I use a different (and cleaner, IMO) anti-seize for that and it works well for me too. I just use a little dab/thin layer of it, sorta surprising how little you need if you're after a purely functional effect (wheels not getting stuck as opposed to wheels staying like-new).



I used the silver version for years, but finally splurged on the white, cleaner, product because that silver anti-seize is just such messy stuff.
 
Ok here's the before:

wheel-002sm.jpg




and after:

wheel-after-002sm.jpg




I took a wire brush to the corrosion and rust, first dry and then using WD-40 with the brush to cut through. Also took some brake cleaner spray and 0000 steel wool on the spokes. It's better- just good enough that I can live with it. I'll use some silver anti-seize on the surfaces, because it's what I have available. I'll use it sparingly and apply a thin coat. Now the issue is deciding if I want to go through the trouble of sealing them, or just deal with the brake dust until next year when I'll have more time to get them sealed properly. At this point I just need to get them onto the dang car. :wall Really getting tired of trying to make up for someone else's auto-apathy.
 
Man, I know how you feel...I was supposed to put my friend's summer tires on last weekend...but that would mean I need to get them cleaned up and sealed (groan).



PS You're not reading this, are you Jr.?
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Man, I know how you feel...I was supposed to put my friend's summer tires on last weekend...but that would mean I need to get them cleaned up and sealed (groan).



PS You're not reading this, are you Jr.?
Click to expand...





Yes, I am, Setec!
 
Accumulator said:
I dunno fromTW Ice, so I can't say if it'll work well or not :nixweiss But if you want to prevent a recurrence of the nastiness you do need to protect the back sides of the wheels and clean them regularly.



I seal the back sides of my wheels with ~ 6 layers of sealants that are known to layer (and I've proven that layering to myself conclusively). I use Klasse Sealant Glaze or FK1000P. Six layers will last a long time if I clean them with shampoo mix. Four layers will last a while but not nearly as long. Fewer layers last a relatively short time IME.

So IMO the mail-order stuff *might* be a better option after all.



Glad you got things cleaned up nicely, and I'd be trying to *keep* them that way ;)







Yeah, I use a different (and cleaner, IMO) anti-seize for that and it works well for me too. I just use a little dab/thin layer of it, sorta surprising how little you need if you're after a purely functional effect (wheels not getting stuck as opposed to wheels staying like-new).



I used the silver version for years, but finally splurged on the white, cleaner, product because that silver anti-seize is just such messy stuff.
Click to expand...



geees dude 6 layers and i thought i can be extreame. lol ill try that next time!!! tanks for the advice!
 
dekeman- Those cleaned up well considering what you were working with. IMO at some point you just say "good enough". Hey..it's the back side of some used wheels ;)



setec astronomy- Heh heh, you're *busted* :p



bufferbarry said:
geees dude 6 layers ...
Click to expand...



Heh heh, yeah..but believe me I wouldn't put one minute into this that wasn't necessary ;) I like doing them up once and then just washing/claying/FK425ing them for a long, long time. By the time I take them off to mount the winter wheels they're a bit past-due for a redo, and sometimes I do a quickie job on them when rotating, but I do try to stretch it out so I'm only doing a big job on them once a year if possible.



Three layers will often suffice for winter, but just doing one or two can make for a real PIA cleanup.
 
I'm on coat #4 of Liquid Glass on my wheels. This is after all the cleanup, mounting and balancing new tires and spot painting the curb rash. The lady that had this car before should be in jail. I'm just sayin'...



Will be done just in time to take the car to the shop for the alignment in the AM. Thanks to all for your help!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top