Rusting wheel nuts is this a warranty issue?

gatvol · Apr 14, 2014

Plus 1 on the use of copper grease.

Even if you have a suitable mallet, it would be a brave, stupid or desperate man tw@tting the living daylights out of a stuck on alloy using the emergency jack that comes in the boot

I carry a can of tyre foam for such eventualities, although one did prematurely discharge in the boot of my merc leaving a white sticky discharge that took some removing. The missus was to blame, being a bit ham fisted with it.

The plastic nut covers are the sensible move here as well. VIP discount, then smg.

ChrisandPenney52 · Apr 14, 2014

deedee said:
My caravelle didn't come with nut covers. I bought some as ours went rusty.
They fit fine on the latest style Sportline alloys but are too wide to fit on the mk2 sportline wheel.

Is there any downside to putting covers on already-rusty nuts? I must say they sound tempting

gatvol · Apr 14, 2014

Don't think so.

Shame that vw build quality is akin to 1980s lancia these days.

deedee · Apr 14, 2014

I don't think rusty nuts are a problem, they just look a bit crap. The covers pop on fine, and come off fine using the ring pull tool.
Shame they don't fit on the older sportlines as I use those for summer.

Sparky1804 · Aug 6, 2014

I got VW to supply my wheel nut covers thanks to Stu.

Well, have travelled to Berlin and back last week and must have picked up a couple of nails in one of the tyres. So I thought rather than take the whole vehicle to the tyre depot (our Cali lives in a garage and no-one is touching it!!!) I would take the deflated tyre off. Well - there is no way this could have been done on a roadside. The wheel was rusted onto the mounting. It took a great deal of effort and a rubber mallet to get it off...... :crazy

This is really strange as the Cali is a year old, done less than 5000 miles and had a lowering kit fitted by VW only a month ago!!!!!! As I said it also lives in the garage.

So my plan is to call my local dealer to get this sorted. I cannot believe how corroded the wheels and their mournings are. Not particularly impressed.

I will update further when I have some more news.

cozmo1589 · Aug 6, 2014

Sparky1804 said:
I got VW to supply my wheel nut covers thanks to Stu.

Well, have travelled to Berlin and back last week and must have picked up a couple of nails in one of the tyres. So I thought rather than take the whole vehicle to the tyre depot (our Cali lives in a garage and no-one is touching it!!!) I would take the deflated tyre off. Well - there is no way this could have been done on a roadside. The wheel was rusted onto the mounting. It took a great deal of effort and a rubber mallet to get it off...... :crazy

This is really strange as the Cali is a year old, done less than 5000 miles and had a lowering kit fitted by VW only a month ago!!!!!! As I said it also lives in the garage.

So my plan is to call my local dealer to get this sorted. I cannot believe how corroded the wheels and their mournings are. Not particularly impressed.

I will update further when I have some more news.

I too had a real terrible job removing the wheels off my 4 yr old Cali. They all needed a good 10 minute bashing with a rubber mallet. Now I have cleaned all mountings with a wire brush and smeared copper grease around where the wheel centre holes sit so as to eliminate the wheels from corroding onto the brake discs again. My Cali too lives in a garage.

gatvol · Aug 6, 2014

Copper grease is a good move. I first encountered problems like this with vw alloys in '99 on a mark 3 golf. I know all alloys can do this, but vw has been the worst of all my cars in the past 20 years - Nissan, land rover, merc, Volvo, Toyota.

One would have enormous problems getting a vw alloy off by the roadside unless you have prepared in advance by using copper grease. The impact required by a rubber mallet could knock the Cali off the tool kit jack anyway, or damage the vehicle's bodywork, and a minor problem could become a major one.

I know that this has its detractors. But I always take a can of tyre foam with me as the last resort for eventualities like this. A flat tyre in rural Spain that can't be removed, would really give you a headache.

I don't know whether you can get run flats for calis, but if car suspension is not designed for the harsher ride of run flats, it can ruin the suspension set up.

Sparky1804 · Aug 17, 2014

Well - you were all right. Dealer said not a warranty issue and wanted £100 to apply copper grease. I went to Halfords, got a great 'Pritt Stick' style allocator and 40 mins later job was done. Cost me £6.

It did get hairy on the drivers side front (which was the worst) as it could easily have come off the jack!!!

Anyway now all done so hoping this will not be an issue in the future.

WelshGas · Aug 17, 2014

The "Slime" repair kit with electric compressor is the way to go. Can be washed out of tyre for permanent repair.

beardie · Aug 17, 2014

My worst alloy experience was with a ford. Watched the car rocking on the ramp as a rubber ended sledge hammer was used with as much force as was possible (full swing) to try and dislodge the rear wheels. Tyres had done about 80k over 4yrs from new. They eventually came off. The reason is down to regular servicing never taking wheels off to check brakes. Not even a major service. I was advised to avoid copper grease as it can contaminate the brakes pads and then you will need new pads. The tyre fitter said this is another good reason to fit new tyres to the rear - makes sure all the wheels come off more regularly!

briwy · Aug 17, 2014

One way to loosen wheels if they are stuck to the hub is to leave the wheel bolts in but untightened and lower the vehicle to the ground on the jack. This will sometimes break the seal and is a lot easier than clouting the wheel from behind with mallet. Sometimes even driving it few feet will loosen them as well.