[jooology]

I got a gallon of Meg's Wheel brightner and diluted as instructed 4:1, sprayed it on my rims, and watched the dust dust fall off. In addition, I also sprayed the disc brake as well. I then rinsed the rims and the disc brake. After about 15 mins of washing the car, I then noticed that my all my brake discs were orange like it got corroded. I then decided to dilute the wheel cleaner some more and sprayed on the brake discs, waited 30 seconds, then rinsed. 2 mins later, turn orange. At this point I'm puzzle. I had no other choice but to wipe each brake disc with my microfiber. My question is what the heck happened here? Was I not suppose to use this on the brake disc? Did i not dilute it enough? Anyone have experience using this product? Detailers please help me out.

[L~R~G nor cal]

Originally Posted by jooology

I got a gallon of Meg's Wheel brightner and diluted as instructed 4:1, sprayed it on my rims, and watched the dust dust fall off. In addition, I also sprayed the disc brake as well. I then rinsed the rims and the disc brake. After about 15 mins of washing the car, I then noticed that my all my brake discs were orange like it got corroded. I then decided to dilute the wheel cleaner some more and sprayed on the brake discs, waited 30 seconds, then rinsed. 2 mins later, turn orange. At this point I'm puzzle. I had no other choice but to wipe each brake disc with my microfiber. My question is what the heck happened here? Was I not suppose to use this on the brake disc? Did i not dilute it enough? Anyone have experience using this product? Detailers please help me out.

It happens to all disc's. Its almost like rust, but it comes right off when you drive the car. But if your dics were hot, that is not good.

[BK]

Originally Posted by L~R~G nor cal

It happens to all disc's. Its almost like rust, but it comes right off when you drive the car. But if your dics were hot, that is not good.

+1 Spray just plain water on them next time and you'll see the same thing happens. It's rust, and it comes off with the first swipe of the brakes. No worries.

FWIW, you don't need to use wheel cleaner on the disks, anyway. Save it for the wheels.

[jooology]

Thanks guys I really appreciate it.

[SpecC]

mine are orange too cause of it... i'm just going to use regular car soap from now on

[btrav1226]

have you ever washed a car before(not at a car wash)? it happens even when you just wash the wheels with water, but if u are used to going to a tunnel wash or laser wash you wont notice because by the time you get out of the car you will have probably already used your brakes thus removing the orange.

[TRICKE90]

It's just surface rust. Drive the car & use your brakes a few times and it will disappear.

[Chris J]

try to stay away from wheel acids or these types of wheel cleaners. They can actually do harm to your brakes or wheels because the acid never fully gets washed away. This has caused several problems on high end vehicles braking systems. The next time the wheel gets wet it just reactivates the acid and it continues to eat the metal. Try wheel cleaners from p21s products which are non acid and wont eat or etch the metal. They are a little more expensive but its better then ruining your rims or brakes over time.

[BayerischeMW]

this is very usual where the water is hard.

[JOYRIIDE1113]

Originally Posted by Chris J

try to stay away from wheel acids or these types of wheel cleaners. They can actually do harm to your brakes or wheels because the acid never fully gets washed away. This has caused several problems on high end vehicles braking systems. The next time the wheel gets wet it just reactivates the acid and it continues to eat the metal. Try wheel cleaners from p21s products which are non acid and wont eat or etch the metal. They are a little more expensive but its better then ruining your rims or brakes over time.

Correct. Acids never fully wash away, and is not something you want to expose to a surface a lot, let alone yourself. When all else fails and no amount of elbow grease removes anything, thats when I reach for wheel acid.

As a tip, make sure to follow the surface with PH-Neautral wash soap and mitt. By doing this, you neutralize the acids and prevent them from re-activation like Chris J mentioned.

Good tip Chris. Sometimes a little elbow grease is better than going with a stronger product!

[TRICKE90]

If you are using a wheel cleaner that you "wash away" the brake dust without scrubbing, it's almost a guarantee that its to harsh. It can harm the clearcoat or paint on aluminum wheels. Anytime you get bare steel (unless its a stainless or tool steel) or cast iron wet it will oxidize almost immediately.

[Sam12345]

goodluck