Rust on painted alloy wheels

[yonyon]

Here's the situation: a guy drove around with his rear brake pads worn down to the metal. He's an older guy and I suspect his hearing isn't very good anymore. He kept driving around like this until one of the rear brake discs wore completely through. Once that happened he was able to feel that there was something wrong with his brakes. Now, he doesn't put a lot of miles on his car so as you can imagine there was plenty of time for a lot of iron filings to form a thick layer of rust on his wheels.

The brakes have been repaired since then but my boss also promised we'd try to clean up the wheels. I was not happy to hear that.

Anyway, it turns out that the boss man thought we could just use a little metal polish and rub the rust right off. I'm convinced that if we try that it will take a huge amount of time and the rust will act as a coarse abrasive and will destroy the paint on the wheels.

I picked up a 76 oz. container of super iron out on my way home today with the hope that this will get me out of wasting time ruining someone's wheels. A lot of you guys now tremendously more about both chemistry and detailing than I ever will so... any opinions or advice here?

Will it take the rust off? Will it damage the paint? If it could work should I brush on a paste or soak the wheels in a weak solution?

 

[demarpaint]

I recall a friend telling me that CLR worked for him. I haven't tried it, but it might be worth looking into.

 

[Kira]

Hello, If I read your cast of characters correctly: The boss wants to please this dopey old customer and you're an employee who has to get this accomplished for 15 cents.

My sarcasm means this: Tell the powers that be that the wheels need to be cleaned thoroughly and that softening the dirt is part of the process. If it's that bad, start with a power washer. Whatever powdered rotor and caliper is made of, it's all still just on the outside of the alloy wheel.

Don't just rub away at a mounted wheel and break your back. Remove a wheel and lay it flat on the ground so gravity works for you.

Dismount the tire and soak the wheel (face down) in penetrating oil if you have to.

It sounds like this cleaning job will be added to all your duties. Who is this ogre you work for? What dealership is this?

You make it sound like even if you get this done perfectly, they'll scold you for taking time to do it. Kira

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: Kira

My sarcasm means this: Tell the powers that be that the wheels need to be cleaned thoroughly and that softening the dirt is part of the process.
I can't really 'tell' the boss anything like that. He's very sensitive about that sort of thing. I have to lead him into a situation where he can discover it on his own and then tell me about it or make it so he can pretend he already knew that but I didn't.
Originally Posted By: Kira


If it's that bad, start with a power washer.
It is that bad, but unfortunately, I don't have a power washer. It sounds like a great idea though. Hmm....

Originally Posted By: Kira

It sounds like this cleaning job will be added to all your duties. Who is this ogre you work for? What dealership is this?

You make it sound like even if you get this done perfectly, they'll scold you for taking time to do it. Kira


Adding to my duties is not a concern so long as I can justify the time. I don't work for a dealership and perfection isn't needed. I would feel bad if I wrecked the guy's wheels for no good reason.

 

[JC1]

Yonyon,

I wouldn't want to take on the job. The customer sounds like he's got no clue. You are just asking for more trouble and the boss sounds like he wants to keep the customer happy. However the customer who drives his car until the brake it totally gone isn't the kind of customer that you want as your regular customer.

Wash the wheel and inform the customer that the wheel may be damaged, but that is due to abuse.

If the customer drove the engine without ever checking the oil and the engine blew up after it had no more oil, would your boss suggest you rebuild his engine for the customer for free?

Regards, JC.

 

[The Critic]

I think Iron Out will be your best.

A lot of detailers use Iron-X, which removes ferrous particles, but it sounds like Iron out is a similar product.

 

[yonyon]

In case anyone finds a similar situation I can report that this stuff worked as well as I had hoped. The sulfur smell was a bit stronger than I had hoped for.

Shop labor rates being a bigger part of the price than the chemical I used a lot of it, nearly half of the 28 oz. bottle mixed with warm water and poured it on and spread with a rag. There was no scrubbing so no scratching.

 

[Kira]

Hello, You said..." I can report that this stuff worked as well as I had hoped. The sulfur smell was a bit stronger than I had hoped for.

What stuff are you referring to? It looks like a copy wasn't pasted. Kira

 

[yonyon]

The stuff that worked:
Originally Posted By: yonyon

I picked up a 76 oz. container of super iron out