Brake Dust Stuck on Wheels

Hey everyone.

I have a set of 17" 7-Spoke Mercedes wheels that were powdercoated metallic silver a few months ago. I recently started cleaning them with Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner and scrubbing with various brushes, but no matter what I do, there are some spots of brake dust on the faces and on the spokes that will not come off. Almost seems like the dust stained or somehow bonded into the finish. I partially blame my father who tried cleaning them with a harsh chemical degreaser while the wheels were "warm", but that may or may not have anything to do with it.

I will post photos as soon as I can.

What would you guys suggest I try to do to get rid of the black spots? I really want these completely clean so I can wheel wax them and keep them protected in the future.

Thanks!

 

There is a good chance what you see is not brake dust.

 

What exactly do you mean by that? It seems very much like a black stain of some sort

 

It could be black powdercoat. The powder is extremely difficult to get out of the spray guns and there could of been some black left in the spray gun and mixed with the silver. It happens a lot. After you post some pics it could be easier for us to give you an answer

 

Thanks for the reply. I will post pics as soon as I get a chance to clean the wheels up so you can see the actual spots. I'm pretty certain that it isn’t black powdercoat because the wheels were perfectly silver when I got them back, and have been for quite some time. I only noticed this after my dad was trying to scrub the wheels with a cloth and some sort of degreaser. It seems like either brake dust baked itself on there, fell into the "pores", or there was some kind of weird chemical reaction that might have stained the finish.

 

Can you feel the spot with your finger? Or is the surface smooth.

 

Smooth if I remember correctly.

 

Just found this thread on VWVortex, the stains look very similar. http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5783504-Stains-on-wheels

 

If that's what it looks like, it's from the chemical degreaser. Sonax will react and turn purple if it actually is brake dust. Sounds like it's time to ask Dad for some money to get them re-powdercoated :/

 

Yep agreed with darkstar. You can try using a polish by hand but it doesn't budge then get to powdercoating.

 

Thanks for the input. They're not worth the money to have refinished again so if that's the case I'll live with it. Hopefully it'll polish out.

 

Hi everyone. Just got a chance to wash one of the wheels and take a few pics. Here's the damage:

Before washing:


After washing:


Used my two favorite products :cig: :


Here's the damage. This would not scrub off with a brush or wipe off with a cloth. It feels smooth to the touch:




Hope this helps. I'm going to try polishing it later today with some sort of compound and see if it helps any.

 

Yeah that is a severe stain from the degreaser. Powder is very strong stuff but it is sensitive to chemicals. Like I said before try using a polish, not a compound, and see if it removes anything. Oh and tell dad not to touch the car again. Lol

 

Have you tried a mild or aggressive clay bar yet? If your going to polish I would clay first.

 

:bat: Hey now...dads' are special and typically receive a pass card. This rim staining was recently brought-up in another thread, I believe that Phil and others suggested polishing the stains out.

Take a look at this thread: Sonax Full Effects Stain Wheels?

 

Thanks again for the input guys. I tried polishing one small spot with a wool pad on a rotary air tool that I have and it seemed to help a little, but it's just very tough to get into the tight areas. I'm going to try my clay bar before I go any further with the machinery.

 

Well, also it is not hard by any means to do a GOOD home powder coat job. you could always consider that route! Or you could always not powder coat, but spraypaint them...