Help I think aluminum wheel cleaner ruined my wheels!!

[Agent 99]

I just used the meguiars hot rims aluminum wheel cleaner and rinsed and now look at it!
It won't come off. I even tried 409.

[Agent 99]

Re: Help I think aluminum wheel cleaner ruined my wheels!!

Anybody?

I'm freaking out. I'm at the DIY car wash and I just pressure sprayed the wheels. It's still there.

Do I sue meguiars? 2 front wheels are stained with this stuff as they are aluminum so I got the right product for my wheels.

[PPLd]

Re: Help I think aluminum wheel cleaner ruined my wheels!!

Anybody?

I'm freaking out. I'm at the DIY car wash and I just pressure sprayed the wheels. It's still there.

Do I sue meguiars? 2 front wheels are stained with this stuff as they are aluminum so I got the right product for my wheels.

Do you have Swirl X or Ultimate Polish?
How about Cleaner Wax?
Try a pea size dot applied by a foam applicator. They should come out.
If no, try Ultimate Compound or make a few more pass with some pressure.

Btw is that a Fairlady Z wheel?

[Showmob]

Why did you jump to sue meguiars... if those are factory wheels they will be painted or at least clearcoated aluminium. Call the meguiars help line before you start pulling the sue card especially for a set of factory wheels

[Agent 99]

Re: Help I think aluminum wheel cleaner ruined my wheels!!

Do you have Swirl X or Ultimate Polish?
How about Cleaner Wax?
Try a pea size dot applied by a foam applicator. They should come out.
If no, try Ultimate Compound or make a few more pass with some pressure.

Btw is that a Fairlady Z wheel?

Yep it's a Z.

Why did you jump to sue meguiars... if those are factory wheels they will be painted or at least clearcoated aluminium. Call the meguiars help line before you start pulling the sue card especially for a set of factory wheels

I panicked. Once I drove back to my "tunnel" I realized I have Claybar and quick detailer. I don't know which one it was or if it was a combination of both of them but it turned out great.


To be honest I don't know if I'll use that particular product again, but I have no issues with the rest of Meg's stuff.

[RPPM]

Re: Help I think aluminum wheel cleaner ruined my wheels!!

Were the wheels hot to the touch? It looks like either the wheels were hot, or the product dried on the wheels.

[Agent 99]

Re: Help I think aluminum wheel cleaner ruined my wheels!!

Were the wheels hot to the touch? It looks like either the wheels were hot, or the product dried on the wheels.

No. Around 8am this morning the car was moved to a covered wash bay in my apt complex. They were cool and had been sprayed with water the whole time I washed the car. I read the bottle directions, as this was only the 2nd or so time using it and let it sit only 15-20secs.

[RPPM]

Re: Help I think aluminum wheel cleaner ruined my wheels!!

Hhmm, strange, I don't know what could have caused that.

[Detailing by M]

Re: Help I think aluminum wheel cleaner ruined my wheels!!

Ok first off don't freak out.
Meg's guys are all at car shows today. It's a busy weekend for them.
I'm sure Mike will chime in tomorrow as he usually does on Monday mornings.

Personally I use Wheel Brightener which is a lot stronger then Hot Rims. With that I've never really had a problem due to the fact I test my products first to see if they are safe on new surfaces. So keep that in mind next time you try a new product.

On to your problem.
did you do all 4 rims at the same time? Something the label tells you not to do.
Are these "clean" streaks?
How long did you let it dwell on the rims?

Your rims should be Clear Coated and therefore repairable with some elbow grease and a rubbing compound.
So rub what ever compound you have on those streaks and get back to me with your results.

[Agent 99]

Re: Help I think aluminum wheel cleaner ruined my wheels!!

Ok first off don't freak out.
Meg's guys are all at car shows today. It's a busy weekend for them.
I'm sure Mike will chime in tomorrow as he usually does on Monday mornings.

Personally I use Wheel Brightener which is a lot stronger then Hot Rims. With that I've never really had a problem due to the fact I test my products first to see if they are safe on new surfaces. So keep that in mind next time you try a new product.

On to your problem.
did you do all 4 rims at the same time? Something the label tells you not to do.
Are these "clean" streaks?
How long did you let it dwell on the rims?

Your rims should be Clear Coated and therefore repairable with some elbow grease and a rubbing compound.
So rub what ever compound you have on those streaks and get back to me with your results.

Thanks. This is resolved though. And I did freak out!! But at the time the situation was "this stuff messed up the wheels" and "in less than 24hrs the car is being entered in a show" and "I've just spent 4 weeks restoring this car". Hope that makes sense.

I did call the number but it said they weren't there in Sundays so I turned to the forum.

All is well now. Clay and quick detailer fixed it. I don't know how but it did.

[DeepShineDetailing]

Re: Help I think aluminum wheel cleaner ruined my wheels!!

Thanks. This is resolved though. And I did freak out!! But at the time the situation was "this stuff messed up the wheels" and "in less than 24hrs the car is being entered in a show" and "I've just spent 4 weeks restoring this car". Hope that makes sense.

I did call the number but it said they weren't there in Sundays so I turned to the forum.

All is well now. Clay and quick detailer fixed it. I don't know how but it did.

What show? I'm in the Louisville area myself.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Help I think aluminum wheel cleaner ruined my wheels!!

Something doesn't add up here - this product has a pH of 7, same as water. It is completely safe to use on even bare, high polished aluminum wheels, anodized finishes, etc. You're running factory painted wheels here and as such should be perfectly safe using even our Hot Rims All Wheel & Tire Cleaner, which is far more aggressive than Aluminum Wheel Cleaner is. The fact that something as simple as clay and QD tells us that this was more a film on the surface than anything else. Did this happen to all 4 wheels or just one? Did you rinse all of them very thoroughly after spraying and agitating?

Had this been actual "damage" from a powerful product that etched or stained the finish, clay wouldn't have touched it. You would have needed a fairly potent paint cleaner or compound, or in the worst case, completely refinish the wheel. Again, since clay and QD cleaned this up so thoroughly and so quickly, this appears to be a residue on the surface as if the product wasn't rinsed properly.

Now, we fully understand your initial reaction to seeing this; every car guy we know would freak to some degree if this was staring him in the face after cleaning his wheels! But this is no more aggressive than soap and water so, like we said, something isn't quite right here. Can you please describe in more detail your process for cleaning all 4 wheels?

[coopstah]

Re: Help I think aluminum wheel cleaner ruined my wheels!!

This is just "Another Example" of why i not only stay ahead of the break dust but also using chemicals can be a disaster , if you stay ahead of the game and wipe your

wheels at least 3x a week when it comes time to wash your wheels soap and water does the trick just fine and there are no regrets.

However i'm sorry you went through that ,i too would have panicked ,you seem the type who is on top of things and very particular like me when it comes to your car ,

you resolved the issue, good for you Agent 99, what a relief.


Coop