EO tire/wheel cleaner seems to have messed up my wheels

M

mikebai1990

New member
So on my recent trip to California, I was ecstatic to come by a Carquest, which is nowhere to be found near my house in NY. So I went in and bought some things, including DG 901 CWC and the Eagle One Tire/Wheel Cleaner. I've heard very good results and reviews of the EO cleaner and for $5.00, I decided to try it out.



So this morning, I decided to try it just on one wheel/tire to see how good it was. I didn't have time to finish the other wheels. I sprayed it on the tires, and WOW the black stuff instantly oozed out. I was absolutely amazed, as something like Simple Green would never produce results like that!



So then I proceeded to spray it on the wheels and see how well it would clean the 16-year-accumulated brake dust stuck in the holes of my wheels. Nothing special this time, maybe because I didn't really let it sit that long. I just sprayed my entire wheel, waited a bit, and tried scrubbing it with an old microfiber towel that I had relegated to tire/wheel cleaning. Nothing special. I rinsed the whole tire/wheel with water and used my MF to wipe the wheels and tires again.



After a while, I came back, and my wheels looked weird. I went up and I was shocked to find that the cleaner messed up my wheels! This is what it looks like:







Thinking that maybe I didn't get all the cleaner off, I rewet it and tried to clean with the MF again. Once it dried, same thing. Here's a comparison of the front wheel, which I did not clean (I washed it, but didn't use the cleaner).







So now, my question is what happened and why did it turn out like this? What can I do to correct this problem? The car is a 1993 Acura Vigor, and I'm pretty sure that the wheel is clearcoated. It seems like (I'm not sure) that the cleaner ate through the CC or something. Can you guys help me out? Thanks.
 
...it is spotting that is common when using a sodium hydroxide based cleaner on bare aluminum...metal polish is your next best friend to remove the spots...
 
yea Eagle One is basically drain cleaner. A weak solution of sodium hydroxide.



I never use wheel cleaners. I'll use straight soap before I resort to them.



Some people have good luck using a solution of ONR.



Time to do some metal polishing.............
 
Was this the black bottle of EO Wheel Cleaner?. I picked up several bottles a few years back when Sears were clearing out their EO products. If I recall that stuff was "very" acidic. Sorry to see that happen to your wheels.
 
I use it once and had the same problem. Had to use a AIO to correct it and never use it again. Been using Meg's all wheel cleaner and so far no problems, brought about 10 bottles last month at Advanced Auto when it was buy one get one free. And now they have Eagle one wheel cleaner on sell this month.
 
I use Eagle One and love it, but like the other guy said, the EO "A to Z" wheel cleaner may say safe for all wheels but most people are afraid to use it.
 
Ah.. I see. I guess I'll have to get some metal polish and polish it out. The wheel wasn't that hot. Under the sun, but not that hot. Now I have to figure out how to clean the tires without making contact with the wheel...



Pat, the bottle was silver, not black. Also, I think I should remember to use some gloves next time :)
 
I use EO AWTC and love it. I'm in the process of stripping the cc off my aluminum rims(it was failing and I'm going to wetsand them) so if you still have trouble I can see what the EO does to my 'naked' rims, I have some Nevr Dull Wadding Polish that I can use to try and polish them after. If your's are cc the wadding polish wouldn't work though..
 
To me, it almost looks like it dried somehow. Sorry to see that happen, Mike :( . EO Tire cleaner has worked great for me, but then again I don't have the same situation as you do.



I'm thinking of just using it for tires now, although inevitably, some will get on the wheel.



Can you feel anything?
 
mikebai1990 said:
I sprayed it on the tires, and WOW the black stuff instantly oozed out. I was absolutely amazed, as something like Simple Green would never produce results like that!
Click to expand...



mikebai1990 said:
After a while, I came back, and my wheels looked weird. I went up and I was shocked to find that the cleaner messed up my wheels! This is what it looks like:
Click to expand...



Theres the thing... simple green is a lot less harsh than EO's wheel cleaner (or most wheel cleaners for that matter) thats why I've stuck with SG and a brush for as long as I have... best results and little to no risk of damage.



Perhaps try applying a coat of your preferred wax to try and mask the damage if you can't find a way to get it out.
 
Yea, I guess SG is a better way, but I never seem to be able to get out nearly as much black ooze out. I don't know if you've tried it, the the black stuff just immediately comes out.. It's insane! Dylan, what concentration of SG do you use?



Ashish, I'm not exactly sure whether I can feel anything. It seems like maybe I felt something with my fingernail, but I don't know if it's psychological :) Maybe I'll try cleaning it more thoroughly (dunno, maybe try Simple Green on it? :)), then try claying, and then try some polishing.
 
mikebai1990 said:
Yea, I guess SG is a better way, but I never seem to be able to get out nearly as much black ooze out. I don't know if you've tried it, the the black stuff just immediately comes out.. It's insane! Dylan, what concentration of SG do you use?
Click to expand...





Just depends on how bad the wheels are... for my personal vehicle I cut it WAY down b/c theres not much to get out, but if its bad enough on a customers I'll use it at 100% undiluted strength.



My regiment is like this:



Spray the wheel wells, spray the tires, let soak for a moment and scrub both w/ a coarse brush. Rinse with heavy stream from the hose.



Then spray the rim and immediately hit it with the boars hair brush, rinse thoroughly. For any small crevices that the BH brush doesn't get to on the first pass I use the 'stream' setting on the spray bottle, get the SG in there real well and use the brush again or a mf towel folded over a flexible piece of plastic (I have an old putty knife I use for this purpose)... in situations where I've gotten desperate I've even resorted to cotton swabs to get gunk out of the hard to reach areas.
 
I have that happen on the wheels on my 91 Accord sometimes if I let the wheel cleaner run down the wheel. Those are clearcoated wheels and I can 99% guarantee it is the same clear coat I have on mine. A little of whatever polish I have laying around usually takes it all right off without much fuss.
 
jnmttu, yea a 91 Accord should be quite similar in terms of technology at the time. I'll try some polish.



Dylan, maybe I'll try the SG again in the future. Nevertheless, I think I'm gonna finish using up my EO cleaner first.
 
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