Rust behind alloy on wheel hub

[MikeJFR]

Hi,

I have recently bought a 6 month old leon 1.8 FR DSG and am loving it. I found this forum a great resource so thanks all very much!

One issue though...I've just noticed behind each alloy on the hub there is considerable rust. Is this a common fault and want can be done to fix. The dealer I bought from are pretty much refusing to do anything as they say it is a common fault, not covered by warranty and that it is purely cosmetic...I've only had the car a few days!!! I would post a pic but can't until I've reached 15 posts.

Cheers
Mike

 

[morini]

Hi,

I have recently bought a 6 month old leon 1.8 FR DSG and am loving it. I found this forum a great resource so thanks all very much!

One issue though...I've just noticed behind each alloy on the hub there is considerable rust. Is this a common fault and want can be done to fix. The dealer I bought from are pretty much refusing to do anything as they say it is a common fault, not covered by warranty and that it is purely cosmetic...I've only had the car a few days!!! I would post a pic but can't until I've reached 15 posts.

Cheers
Mike

Yeah, it's common and drives me mad too. When giving the car it's main once yearly detail I take the wheels off, clean up hubs and paint them with black hammerite.

Pain in the backside.

 

[MikeJFR]

Done a quick search online on how to deal with and painting does seen the best option...my local seat dealer however seems to think that this would invalidate the warranty!

 

[morini]

Done a quick search online on how to deal with and painting does seen the best option...my local seat dealer however seems to think that this would invalidate the warranty!

Tell him he has to sort it out for you then. Simples.

 

[MikeJFR]

Tell him he has to sort it out for you then. Simples.

I did...they said it wasn't covered by warranty. To be honest the dealer has been awful so not surprised that they are offering to do nothing.

 

[morini]

I did...they said it wasn't covered by warranty. To be honest the dealer has been awful so not surprised that they are offering to do nothing.

So, he won't fix it under warranty, but if you choose to do it yourself it will invalidate your warranty. Classic.

Bloke sounds like a right muppet. Name and shame I say.

 

[marks_leon]

Its horrible, its not just Seat either its VAG in general. I have to take my wheels off every few months to keep onto of it, I then coat them it ACF50 do a search and it will shop the rust.

 

[MikeJFR]

I spoke to seat uk customer services and they said that if I were to paint the hubs and then that paint was to flake and cause a brake failure then that would invalidate the warranty. Highly unlikely I know. I think I'll just see how I get on or how bad it gets.

Other than that the 1.8FR DSG is awesome.

 

[tony323ci]

The hub you talk about is part of the brake disc pretty normal on most cars for it to go rusty best bet is to whip the wheel off give it a quick rub with a wire brush and a coat of hammerite smooth silver job done

 

[marty_34]

I did...they said it wasn't covered by warranty. To be honest the dealer has been awful so not surprised that they are offering to do nothing.

dealer sounds like whats commonly referred to as a bellend! if you just got the car and they aren't helping if it were me id hand the keys back and say im rejecting the car

wouldn't stand for them being a bunch of morons when you clearly paid thousands of pounds for a car

 

[bigbadjay]

Typical dealers.. What a sh!tty response to get. Fook them i say

If you use hammerite which is good for this job, use it with paint thinner so it goes on better. Its too gloopy otherwise

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[ma9mwah]

you'll pretty much get the same experience from all manufactures/dealers. Its a consumable cast iron/steel part, it will rust.

 

[marty_34]

Typical dealers.. What a sh!tty response to get. Fook them i say

couldn't agree more, forget they rely on our custom to stay in business

 

[keithjeb]

Typical dealers.. What a sh!tty response to get. Fook them i say

If you use hammerite which is good for this job, use it with paint thinner so it goes on better. Its too gloopy otherwise

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Go look at any car in the next car park you pass, if its more than a year old, regardless of brand (exotic carbon braked stuff excepted), there will be rust on the disc, which is what OP is commenting on. It isn't a fault, its a known feature of the material brake discs are made out of. Having a separate carrier arrangement made of a different material has all sorts of issues, not least you have to deal the fact during heavy braking in winter conditions you've got a 300+ degree heat difference, which is a pretty decent change in size.

 

[Budgie325]

you'll pretty much get the same experience from all manufactures/dealers. Its a consumable cast iron/steel part, it will rust.

This.

 

[arreruk]

My Mk5 Ibiza Cupra was the same and I was told same by dealer "it's common with this car" etc etc. Wheels didn't fall off so wasn't that bothered. Never noticed it on any other of my motors though. Not a show stopper by any means.


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[Subc]

If you don't want to paint it, wire brush and get some copper slip grease and rub it into the metal like polish so it only colours it, keep it away from braking surfaces.

 

[MikeJFR]

My car is only 6 months old so am quite surprised to see rust behind every wheel. As mentioned the dealer has been pretty awful so this was the icing on the cake. They even failed to let me know about a kerbed alloy...but they have agreed to have that wheel refurbed. At the end of the day though I'm still happy with the car. Spent yesterday cleaning, claying, applying sealant and waxing and it's looking great! Will post a pic once I'm able to.

 

[simonali]

I spoke to seat uk customer services and they said that if I were to paint the hubs and then that paint was to flake and cause a brake failure then that would invalidate the warranty.

What about rust flaking off?

 

[niggle]

Please stop worrying about rusty brake disc bells. They are a service item and will need replacing anyway (and probably sooner than you think). It's a bit like worrying that your air filter is starting to look a bit grubby even though it is still flowing air quite satisfactorily.

Our Golf Mk5 is on its second set of discs. Both this set and the original set fitted at the factory have some kind of aluminised or galvanised coating and therefore have not suffered from the rust problem reported here on the Leon Mk3. I guess that SEAT are using non-coated discs to save a few pennies? If VW/Audi are still using the coated discs then I guess this could be an option for SEAT owners when time comes for the discs to be replaced.

I used to use anti-seize paste on the disc bell faces to stop alloy wheels from sticking to the discs until a Charted Engineer pointed out that brake disc and wheel are designed to be mounted dry on the drive hub. The reason given was that any reduction in friction on these interfaces could lead to the shear forces on the wheel nuts/studs exceeding the designed limit.