Washing under wheel arches

[st4]

I noticed as I washed my car (after a post by Jay) I looked for where the wheel arch liner meets the wheel arch, and sure enough on the MB it doesn't protect against dirt from getting trapped behind the wheel arch.

I found I could get most of the dirt out, but was amazed by how much dirt there was caked on in between the end of the liner and the arch.

Should one do this regularly, and even with a galavanised body, should I expect rust?

 

[Dieselman]

A galvanised body will only rust once the paint and galvanising have worn through, but yes it is advisable to clean the arches periodically.

 

[Sp!ke]

I'd go one stage further personally.

My arches are starting to blister and I really regret not cleaning them up inside and periodically painting the inside lip with some protective gloop of some kind.

 

[glojo]

I'd go one stage further personally.

My arches are starting to blister and I really regret not cleaning them up inside and periodically painting the inside lip with some protective gloop of some kind.

Hmmmmm Paint on arches

 

[nickcc101]

When i wash the car i have always washed under the wheel arches. Surprising how much cr?p gets under there. Even more important during the winter with grit and salt on the road.

 

[glojo]

When i wash the car i have always washed under the wheel arches. Surprising how much cr?p gets under there. Even more important during the winter with grit and salt on the road.

The thing that scares me is how we wash these areas. A number of members use pressure washers and that is something I would never allow near my car, but an ordinary hose might have problems washing away very hard, baked on road debris?

What does the panel suggest?

Regards
John

 

[Dieselman]

A high flow, medium pressure washer is ok if used sensibly, it won't lift sound paint. If the nozzle is held too close it could blow it off if there is a chip.
the under-body paint should be strong enough to stand this, after all it's meant to stand stones being thrown up by the wheels.

A regular hose will do if you use a brush or fingers after allowing the mud to soften.

I'm always amazed by how poorly the Mercedes arch liners fit, they don't protect the whole surface and have gaps and the edges rub the paint.

If anyone want to bother an excellent coating is cavity wax mixed with bitumen paint, it's called Shutz in the trade but if you make your own you can vary the amount of bitumen to make it more or less flexible.

 

[gurpz]

I'd go one stage further personally.

My arches are starting to blister and I really regret not cleaning them up inside and periodically painting the inside lip with some protective gloop of some kind.

Waxoyl is highly recommended for that, only really worth aplying after the entire arch is crisp clean though.

 

[grober]

I noticed as I washed my car (after a post by Jay) I looked for where the wheel arch liner meets the wheel arch, and sure enough on the MB it doesn't protect against dirt from getting trapped behind the wheel arch.

I found I could get most of the dirt out, but was amazed by how much dirt there was caked on in between the end of the liner and the arch.

Should one do this regularly, and even with a galavanised body, should I expect rust?

You may be able to elongate the wheel arch liner mounting holes slightly to get the liner right against the inner surface of the wing- there may be a flexible rubber edge to the liner to make a more effective seal.

Removing caked on road dirt -a high proportion of which I suspect is brake dust- is difficult. Since its abrasive any vigorous brushing to remove it may start to damage the paint underneath especially in that wing edge lip. Best approach is saturate the dirt with water as much as possible first to soften it before trying to remove it by gentle scrubbing or fine spray pressure washing. Best tool I have found for dirt removal and subsequent waxoil or similar rust proofing material application on the wing lips are old tooth brushes.Damned if you do--- damned if you don't sort of situation.

 

[Will]

Removed all four wheels from one of the 190s a few months back. Cleaned each wheel inside and out off the car, and cleaned right under the arches/suspension.

A bit tedious, but a satisfying job. Good to see everything underneath was pretty much as it should be, although I did find a missing grommet and a loose bolt for one of the mudflaps Not unreasonable for a ~ 20 year old car I guess.

Wondering if it's still worth waxoyling/shutz etc on this car, bearing in mind it's minimal annual mileage and that it's garaged and rarely driven in the rain?

Will

 

[NW_Merc]

Wondering if it's still worth waxoyling/shutz etc on this car, bearing in mind it's minimal annual mileage and that it's garaged and rarely driven in the rain?

Will

I suppose it depends on how proud you are of the car and if you feel you'd be able to fix it if rust was to start setting in. Waxoyl is very good at protecting your car, alas the decision is up to you, but with salt on our roads it doesn't take long for tin worm to take hold.

 

[grober]

I would definitely waxoil the wheel arch wing lips after cleaning out the dirt since they are not usually cleaned effectively by casual wheel arch pressure washing- need to be approached from inside to outside direction. Once corrosion has set in there all you can do is slow it down a bit with waxoil and the like.

 

[Dieselman]

I'd use Bilt Hamber or 3M wax as opposed to Waxoyl.

 

[Dieselman]

there may be a flexible rubber edge to the liner to make a more effective seal.

Surprisingly not. The plastic jut buts up to the inside of the wing.

 

[grober]

There is on the w124 part no 47
http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.as...717.412413&CT=F&cat=15T&SID=88&SGR=015&SGN=01
I suppose you could possibly fashion something from frameless window sealing material but probably not worth the effort unless you were a perfectionist.

 

[Dieselman]

Shame they still rust there though..

Here's the W211. They just have a serrated section at the edge to flop against the wing.
http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.as...GM=716.604&CT=F&cat=64U&SID=88&SGR=015&SGN=01

 

[jaymanek]

i always wash mine out but be careful using your fingers there can be sharp edgs behind there.. i use an old washing up sponge and a hard brush if things are really bad..

 

[Dieselman]

i use an old washing up sponge and a hard brush if things are really bad..

Are we still talking wheel arches here.?

 

[NW_Merc]

Are we still talking wheel arches here.?