Wheel cleaning problem

[quikzilver]

I have my car, Peugeot 206 for three years now and ever since, I have had great difficulty in cleaning the inside of my factory wheels. Unlike the outside, whch is smooth and clear coated, the inside is roughly machined (circumferential machining marks) and appears to be coated with a flimsy layer of coating and certainly not clear coated.

I have tried a large variety of wheel cleaners, which all promise a lot, but do not appear to be up to the task of cleaning my wheels. Although they all are able to remove the majority of brake dust, grime etc. black specles remain on the inside (which only gets worse over time ).



The only thing that appears to be working is to remove the wheel and clean it using Blue Yel (strong acidic and probably not so friendly fo the environment) but it only works when the wheels are removed so I can throw all my anger at it .

Do any of you pro's have any advice what to use best to clean this? I already tried #36 and Hot Rims, but these do not appear to do the trick.

[gb387]

Re: Wheel cleaning problem

Sounds like the inside of your wheels are very similar to mine and can be difficult to keep clean because of the machining or lack of. I have found once you get behind on cleaning your wheels it is very difficult to clean them without removing the wheel from the vehicle. Now I know there are strong cleaners out there but I have never cared for them and would rather remove the wheel and start fresh.

Here is what I have to do once a year to keep my wheels looking good: Wheels ~ the extra step....

[gorin002]

Re: Wheel cleaning problem

i have to do the same am afraid to put wheel off
or you need to lift you car up to reach the inside the wheels

[quikzilver]

Re: Wheel cleaning problem

@gb387

Nice write-up. The only thing is, that I also tried claying, but it had no effect whatsoever. Please note, that the picture is showing the wheel after washing with NXT Car Wash (which is also the same result as I get when using a wheelcleaner like Hot Rims). This works teriffic for cleaning the wheels EXCEPT for these pesci black spots/stains.

I guess about 4-6 months ago, I did my "anger expression training" on these wheels using everything I could trow at it, including Blue Yel wheel cleaner, strong (which at it's least dillution rate still required a fair amount of elbow grease). After that applied 2 coats of Wheel Wax. Since then, I only used NXT Car Wash to wash the wheels (especially did not use a wheel cleaner to prevent damaging the wax coat). This was the second time I had performed this excersize (removing the wheels and do a thorough cleaning job) but imo it went more difficult to remove the black spots as it did the first time.

Please note, that taking of the wheels is not the biggest issue. The issue is that it seems to become more and more difficult to clean the inside of the wheels.

[gorin002]

Re: Wheel cleaning problem

that right same problrem here clean wheels inside
if you put car on the bridge way to put car up be easyer next to take wheel off

[gb387]

Re: Wheel cleaning problem

@gb387

Nice write-up. The only thing is, that I also tried claying, but it had no effect whatsoever. Please note, that the picture is showing the wheel after washing with NXT Car Wash (which is also the same result as I get when using a wheelcleaner like Hot Rims). This works teriffic for cleaning the wheels EXCEPT for these pesci black spots/stains.

I guess about 4-6 months ago, I did my "anger expression training" on these wheels using everything I could trow at it, including Blue Yel wheel cleaner, strong (which at it's least dillution rate still required a fair amount of elbow grease). After that applied 2 coats of Wheel Wax. Since then, I only used NXT Car Wash to wash the wheels (especially did not use a wheel cleaner to prevent damaging the wax coat). This was the second time I had performed this excersize (removing the wheels and do a thorough cleaning job) but imo it went more difficult to remove the black spots as it did the first time.

Please note, that taking of the wheels is not the biggest issue. The issue is that it seems to become more and more difficult to clean the inside of the wheels.

This is after cleaning, I was thinking before!?!?

I know Meguiars has Wheel Brightener in their detailer line but I have never used it... maybe someone else will chime in with their thoughts.

[quikzilver]

Re: Wheel cleaning problem

Suggestions anyone?

[Tom Claessens]

Re: Wheel cleaning problem

The wheel brightener is stronger than those wheel cleaners found in the consumer line.

I haven't come across a set of wheels that didn't turn clean after application of WB (maybe two or more applications are needed).

Good luck!

[quikzilver]

Re: Wheel cleaning problem

Guess, when it comes to wheel cleaners, WB will be my last (if not only)resort.

Today, I tried All Metal Polish (saw it being recommended on serveral wheel cleaning questions) on a small area and results are promissing to say the least.

I know AMP also leaves some kind of protective layer (try it on oxidising metals like silver or copper and you'll see the difference). If I can get that to work, I guess I'll be fine.

I can recall having used AMP during previous wheel cleaning attempts but then it did not seem to work at all. I guess, at that time the surface was either wet or greasy.

[Chex]

Re: Wheel cleaning problem

this one's a little risky so my suggestion to do this one is to wax all the painted rim surface since peugeots have rims like that.

Wax the rim and try to get an acid based metal cleaner. that should work most of the problem, and finish it with a metal polish like the one you're using.

if you don't want an industrial strength product try to get Automagic's Spoke wheel cleaner. it's acid based, but I can't tell you what to expect since i havent used it.

Hope this helps and good luck