Hi there, I was proud f my cleaning job on my wheels until I realized that I might have made a rookie mistake

I dry-cleaned the wheels using Griot's Heavy Duty Wheel cleaner, which did an OK job on the actual wheels but made a total mess on the the rotors... Definitely dirtier and not as clean and shiny-ish as they used to be ... there's definitely some residuals from the spraying that went thru the wheels ...

Everything has dried up now ...and haven't drove the car yet since this happened about a week ago...
Should I be concerned of a brake failure or squeals ?
Any idea on how to fix this without removing the wheels ?
Shall I re-apply the cleaner but rinse it thru properly this time ?
Shall I just try to wash it out with water only ?
Non of the above and just have someone look at it ?

Any clues much appreciated ...
Thanks in advance !
Click to view attachment

What.... Maybe flush with a lot of water, let dry, then drive. Maybe


Matt

This is a cosmetic issue only. Griot's Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner is some heavy duty stuff. it uses sodium thioglycolate to attack the iron oxide in brake dust. But your rotors are also made of iron and will have iron oxide embedded in them as well. it is this compound that turns red/violet as it dissolves the iron oxide.
In order to avoid etching on the rotors, which is what you now have, it is best to pull the wheels from the car for cleaning.

You can use another acid like phosphoric acid (rust remover) on the rotors to even the finish or you can take the wheels off and go at the rotors with some steel wool.

Bottom line, next time you want to deep clean your wheels with the heavy duty stuff, take them off first.

Former automotive brake engineer.

Go drive car.

As a current and former automotive brake user, I concur lol!