brake dust on wheels

[geoff]

Is ther something wrong with the pads on my car the amount of brake pad dust is unbelievable
it is so hard to remove despite washing the car every week
any thoughts a soapy sponge has always served me well up till now

[Fedorov]

Same issue here, washed it twice and used soapy sponge but already got well stuck-on black specks which even my new Meguairs All wheel cleaner can't remove with a toothbrush... think I'll have to resort to that tube of alloy cleaner polish I've got, can't remember the name, I'll dig it out and give it a mention...

[Hartside]

The build up of dust in a week is amazing. I'm finding it hard to remove with my Autoglym wheel cleaner as well. I used to just spray this onto my Toyota alloys and the dust would run off. With the Honda I can get it off with a brush as well, but it takes a bit of effort. After I clean them next time, I think I'll use some car polish on the wheels and see if it comes off easier after that

[elfa7]

I might not clean the car weekly, but I try to do the wheels. Does'nt take five minutes with a sponge and soapy water.
Helps to stop the build up of dust.

[geoff]

i must be me using the brakes to much the amount of dust i get
its honda's fault they have made a car that you want to drive just a little harder than some others
its put the fun back into driving

[Pottsy]

Try braking less for corners...

[geoff]

thanks pottsy
if i take your advice i will need to claim on the honda top up insurance i took out
thanks to all
a problem shared etc etc

[Pottsy]

No problem!

Seriously, the problem is caused by modern pad and disc material (amazingly a lot of the dust is disc powder). I've never used them myself, but EBC Greenstuff pads (and discs) will much reduce the dust and will allegedly give you nicer brakes.

This is not a Civic problem, just a modern car problem.

[jme1978]

To be honest I was a bit dissapointed at the amount of dust the breaks create - its up there with my old Focus!

Toyota have cracked it years ago - we had an '02 Avensis with the big disk brakes and it generated almost no brake dust at all.

Was considering changing to the Greenstuff pads but I've heard a few stories of exploding pads from the ffoc so I'm a bit warey - also the break assembley would be voided from the warranty too.

J

[richierich]

Get yourself some Maguiars alloy wheel cleaner (in a pink/purply bottle) it is brilliant, first clean of the car last night, over 1 month since delivery, spray the cleaner on to wheels, leave 15 seconds, wipe away with a bit of agitation in the corners, but a piece of cake to do, its the best alloy cleaner I have used, and, as a bonus, stings less when you get it in your eyes than the turtle wax extreme I used to use if the wind is gusty.

[steveking1000]

Honda have cracked it better..... the 17" Penta's are already painted the colour of brake dust. Problem solved.

[basegreen]

Originally Posted by steveking1000

Honda have cracked it better..... the 17" Penta's are already painted the colour of brake dust. Problem solved.

Yeah, they just go from matt to gloss grey

[DT]

I can recommend EBC Greenstuff pads and discs, had them on my Ford Puma due to brake pad dust problem. Also lasted longer first set of Ford pads and discs lasted me just over 12k miles, Greenstuff pads and discs lasted over 45k miles. Make sure you get the greenstuff, yellow and blue are illegal for road use in the UK. Will look to change to Greenstuff on my Civic when the pads need replacing. Just checked ECB's website - don't yet list 2006 Civic, not sure if the brake spec is the the same as any other Honda.

[civicsport]

I Took My Wheels off yesterday to give them a thorough clean and was disapointed to find that the inside of the wheel is not laqured, its just raw aluminium and is already starting to corrode, is there something i can coat them with???

[johnd]

Easy way to protect the wheels is to polish and then seal them using something like AG srp followed by AG egp, and a coating of wax will help to ,do it as soon as possible from new. And i think the cleaner richierich is talking about is Meguiars Hot Rims , which is a very good product and not acid based like many of the others , so its a lot safer on your alloys.

[Bart]

Civicsport,

That's very alarming to note that the alloys are not lacquered on the inside and are starting to corrode already!! What will they be like in 12 months time - how much warranty is on the alloys, 3 months?

Do you have a faulty set? Get Honda to take a look at them.

B.

[DanKo]

What's the best rotor/Pads that dont create this stupid Brake dust! Clean the wheel spotless, went out for abit, purposly went slow so not much breaking needed, got back home, and fine the wheel covered with this :@:@!!

Not happy.

Also yesterday replacing the front speaker, I find that Honda use this black stuff to stick that plastic cover ontop of the door back on, because the clip fell of, and inside the door, one of the main clip's have already snapped off...(N)

[allan40alt]

Last time I cleaned my wheels I tried 'Big Industrial Wipes' and found them very effective. They're for cleaning paint, adhesive, oil and more from hands tools and surfaces. You get 80 big wipes in a large yellow 'drum' container for around £5 from Halfords. Might be worth a try.

[geoff]

I spoke to my dealer and he looked at my wheels and said his demo is the same
Parts of the pad come off which are very hot and imbed themselves in the wheel
Now I would think this is a design fault
Any comments?

[Pottsy]

Geoff, your dealer is correct. But it's just a function of the materials used in modern pads - and the choice of materials is partly governed by the health and safety legislators. You can stop the marking by waxing the wheels after cleaning. Not a design fault though, all modern cars have these issues. Have a loook here:

http://www.autoeducation.com/carcare/wheels.htm