Cleaning Wheelwells

[gt40_guy]

Hi, I would really appreciate any light that could be shed on a particular product I picked up today. I will be cleaning the grime from my wheelwells and Meguiars APC is not readily available to me. I picked up one of Auto Glym's products - "Engine and Machine Cleaner" which is a waterbased degreaser suitable for applications to metal, plastic and rubber and is supposed to be safe on painted surfaces. It is applied via spray and then hosed off. Anyone have any experience with this product and is this suitable for cleaning my wheelwells?

Thanks in advance

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Cleaning Wheelwells

Here's a description I found on this product doing a quick Google search:

Autoglym engine & machine cleaner is a powerful, non-corrosive cleaner for engines, components, wheels and machinery. Simply spray on, brush and hose off to rapidly dissolve oil, grease, grime and traffic film from all surfaces.
It works as a combined detergent and degreaser. Harmless in contact with plastics, rubber, paintwork and metal, it cleans the complete engine bay quickly and safely. Autoglym Engine & Machine cleaner is solvent free, water based and bio-degradable.
Also use to clean anodised, non original or specially plated wheel finishes.

Sounds to me like it's probably a good product for your intended application. Seems a lot of people like either APC or one of the Meguiar's Detailer line degreasers. I'm assuming that since you can't get APC in your area that Super Degreaser and/or Safe D-Greaser are out of the question for you as well. If so this would seem to be a good choice. Pick up a toilet brush at your local grocery store as they seem to fit those tighter spaces real well.

[gt40_guy]

Re: Cleaning Wheelwells

Thanks Mike. My only other issue now is that here in London we still got a hosepipe ban, which maybe a bit of a problem. So I dont exactly know how im gonna wash away the loosened grime from the wheelwells without the neighbours complaining.

[bernard78]

Re: Cleaning Wheelwells

I don't know bout you guys but I do have some bad experince with wheel cleaners. So now I don't use them anymore. I just wash the whole car and at the end stage I'll use the balance car shampoo the clean my rims and wheels. My problems was maybe I use it too much or something? It coz my disc brake calipers jammed up coz it cleans till theres to lubricant or grease at all. And it might even soak into the whole disc brake caliper. You know the mechanic usually put some grease into the pump of the disc brake calipers. To lube the pump caliper. I'm not sure though, but now it's been a year plus, my brakes has no problems now. I guess maybe I over clean it, I think. Hehehe.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Cleaning Wheelwells

Thanks Mike. My only other issue now is that here in London we still got a hosepipe ban, which maybe a bit of a problem. So I dont exactly know how im gonna wash away the loosened grime from the wheelwells without the neighbours complaining.

Could you spray the cleaner into the wheel wells, scrub with the brush, then just dunk an old rag into a bucket of clean water and wipe the wells down? That should do the trick.

I don't know bout you guys but I do have some bad experince with wheel cleaners. So now I don't use them anymore. I just wash the whole car and at the end stage I'll use the balance car shampoo the clean my rims and wheels. My problems was maybe I use it too much or something? It coz my disc brake calipers jammed up coz it cleans till theres to lubricant or grease at all. And it might even soak into the whole disc brake caliper. You know the mechanic usually put some grease into the pump of the disc brake calipers. To lube the pump caliper. I'm not sure though, but now it's been a year plus, my brakes has no problems now. I guess maybe I over clean it, I think. Hehehe.

Ah, yes, but our friend from the UK is asking about cleaning the wheel wells, not the wheels themselves. For the record though, two of my cars have painted wheels with a polished lip and I wash them just as you described. I also wax them regularly to help with cleanup.

[gt40_guy]

Re: Cleaning Wheelwells

Hmmm, not the most affective way I suppose, but I can't think of too many other methods either. The best way I can think of is to jack the car up and remove the wheel itself, then I should be able to use a watering can to get rid of most of the grime. But then again thats gonna take too long so I might just go with your suggestion Mike. Any other suggestions anyone??

[MaximusZTS]

Re: Cleaning Wheelwells

Thanks Mike. My only other issue now is that here in London we still got a hosepipe ban, which maybe a bit of a problem. So I dont exactly know how im gonna wash away the loosened grime from the wheelwells without the neighbours complaining.

I fill up a spray bottle with water and just keep spraying until it is all clean.

[gt40_guy]

Re: Cleaning Wheelwells

Unfortunately i dont think that would work very well in my case as the car is old and the previous owners seriously neglected it. Thanks for the suggestions guys, keep em coming.

[hondacrazy]

Re: Cleaning Wheelwells

a great time to clean the wheel wells is when you rotate your tires-if you do that yourself.

[noswirler]

Re: Cleaning Wheelwells

now this is just what i do ,may not be for everybody,but ahh a good can of krylon black(flat or glossy)and some tape ,makes em look brand new

[Accumulator]

Re: Cleaning Wheelwells

gt40_guy- While I haven't used that particular product, Autoglym stuff is generally very good and I've used a scad of other, similar products for jobs like this (I always do a full detail of the wheelwells of the used cars I buy and some are just hideous when I start).

Pull the wheels, that's the only way to really do it right. Rinse out the loose stuff first with a brush and plain water. Let the product dwell as long as you can without letting it dry. Agitate with the brush. Dunk the brush in a rinse bucket and keep agitating, this'll rinse it out as well. When it gets clean enough, switch from the brush to a sponge (one you don't care about ).

Also consider the use of solvents, especially for thick, greasy messes. You can probably find some Wurth CleanSolve if you search around for it, or a bodyworks/paint supply place should have something.

I'm not a big fan of painting them, but rather I'd treat the wheelwells with some kind of undercoating, but not something that stays as tacky as Waxoyl. Wurth makes a good product for this too.

[mh68]

Re: Cleaning Wheelwells

The way I clean my wheel wells is I spray them with the only non-meguiars product I use, sorry Megs, Wesleys Bleche White, and scrub them with a long handled brush. I do them the same time I use it on my tires and then rinse well, let them dry and then spray them with ASD and they look great!

Mike

[gt40_guy]

Re: Cleaning Wheelwells

Thanks guys. I guess if I want to clean properly I gotta lose the wheels.

Accumulator, do you clean the brake disks while you're at it? What would be the best thing to use for that? Methylated spirits? and what should I avoid? Oh and what kind of undercoating should be applied?

mh68, ASD?? apologies for my ignorance.

Thanks again guys I appreciate all the help

[mh68]

Re: Cleaning Wheelwells

mh68, ASD?? apologies for my ignorance.



Sorry, it's All Season Dressing from the detailers line. I just got it and it works great! Hyper Dressing(HD) is great for engine compartments but the ASD seems to give a more uniform appearance and hopefully will last thru a couple of rains. Before I found the detailers line, I used to use Hot Tire Shine on the wheel wells but the detailers line is more economical.

Mike

[gt40_guy]

Re: Cleaning Wheelwells

thanks Mike.

Actually I just checked the valeting range on Meguiars UK online store. It seems they got ASD and APC in stock now. I was positive they didnt have APC before. However I dont have the cash to spare for the two right now. Considering the amount im getting, and the quality of the product the prices are pretty good APC £12.43 and ASD around £23. Although the US prices are much cheaper, but its always like that. I probably will give these a miss for a while since I will have to fork out on the spray bottles and nozzles and stuff aswell. The Auto Glym Degreaser I got should do the job. I just need some dressing. Any ideas on what I could use from the enthusiast range? I might have some on my shelf already.

mh68, I dont have hot tyre shine, but did it work well?