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Wheel Rust

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by mielikki_eo, Dec 18, 2003.

  1. mielikki_eo

    mielikki_eo New Member

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    Yipes! I noticed rust on my wheel this morning. (At least I think it is rust.) Anyone else have that? (The car is not quite 2 weeks old with around 3-400 miles on it...)

    I never noticed how you can see right into the insides of the wheel through the outer part. Is that normal or am I missing a part?

    (OK, I'm probably using the term wheel incorrectly here. If someone wants to correct my terminology, that'd be okay with me!)

    See attached photos. (I shrunk them down to 100K each. Is that still too big? Maybe I'll see how much smaller I can get them and replace them...)
     
    #1 mielikki_eo, Dec 18, 2003
  2. mielikki_eo

    mielikki_eo New Member

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    #2 mielikki_eo, Dec 18, 2003
  3. Middle_Age_Moment

    Middle_Age_Moment Guest

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    Is that your brake rotors we're seeing?
     
    #3 Middle_Age_Moment, Dec 18, 2003
  4. mielikki_eo

    mielikki_eo New Member

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    Apparently so. Ammiel said it's normal and it will get rubbed off next time I drive the car. He said "When you finish a drive look again and they will be bright and shiny."

    Then he also said "Don't look again after they have been standing esp. after a rain." :) That sounds like good advice for me!
     
    #4 mielikki_eo, Dec 18, 2003
  5. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    That happens to my MR2 sometimes also. Leave the Emergency Brake, I guarantee it'll come off quick :)
     
    #5 Danny, Dec 18, 2003
  6. PriusDreamer

    PriusDreamer Member

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    I don't even have my prius yet, but I can thick of one reason why this might happen. The prius is very different from every other car on the road. One major difference is that given very judicius use of the brake pedal you may never actually have the brake pads touch the rotors (the regenerative braking will stop the car, not the traditional brake system). As a result of this, where as you would normally never accumulate rust because the brake pads are constantly "cleaning" the rotors. This may niot be the case in the Prius. As a test, I would recommend doing a few very hard stop so that you absolutley use the calipers and pads to stop the car. If the rust is gone or significantly reduced, I would recommend you occassionally brake a little more forcefully to stop this accumulation.
    Good luck and keep us informed on the outcome.
     
    #6 PriusDreamer, Dec 19, 2003
  7. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Even still, the pads are in slight contact with the rotors at all times unless you do some slalom driving to push them away.

    There's nothing different about Prius vs. other cars. Most all rotors will rust on the swept area. There's no way to protect this kind of metal since it's being slowly worn away by braking. Some cars will have cadmium or other metal plating on portions of the rotors to keep the unswept area from rusting, but that's generally an asthetic thing more than a functional thing.

    In short, it's no biggy.

    hope this helps,
    -Rick
     
    #7 HTMLSpinnr, Dec 31, 2003
  8. Atoyot

    Atoyot New Member

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    Normal, no worries

    Yup, it's a normal thing, and all the vehicles I have owned have done this. No biggie, but then again I live in Houston, Texas and it is so humid here that rust is a normal sight. I'm guessing if you lived in Arizona or somewhere with a very low humidity that you wouldn't see this type of thing happen. We have to buy treated lumber for everything down here just because normal wood will rot away within 3-5 years.

    Atoyot
     
    #8 Atoyot, Jan 1, 2004
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