L300 Rusty Wheels?

My two month old Saturn L300-2 has very Rusty wheel drums. I mentioned
it to my salesman at the time of delivery but he kind of changed the
subject. Is there anything I can do now to get this taken care of? It
makes my new Saturn look really bad. Anyone else have this problem, what
did you do about it? Thanks in advance, for any help on this!!

 

Remove wheels, remove drums, wire brush till as clean as possible (electric
drill attachment works well after using manual brush), then spray with
primer, and (black) spray paint, let dry, then re-install.

 

My L300 has disk brakes all around. Hmm.

 

Will it work for long? If I recall correctly, the drums tend to get fairly
hot when used as intended. Paint may bubble and flake off after a few brake
applications.

 

Will it work for long? If I recall correctly, the drums tend to get fairly
hot when used as intended. Paint may bubble and flake off after a few brake
applications.

 

I kinda figure 4 wheel disk also maybe he means the hubs on his rotors.
follow same advice. Remove wire
brush etc. primer high temp engine enamel.

 

It will if you use an appropriate coating - there are caliper paints which
will work for brake disks or drums. High temperature paint for gas grills
would probably work as well.

 

I should have said they were all wheel disk brakes. And the drums I was
talking about were the ones where the Wheels attach to the car. I
thought about this long and hard, and then with a little help from
Saturn Headquarters we got the Dealer to do the right thing and fix the
rust problem. Well they did a great job on it, they took all the rust
off, and painted all the bare metal black. I was very happy with the
results and I am glad they decided to fix it. I just hope it will last!

I can't believe I am the only L300 owner with this rust problem. It
seems like the factory missed a step in their Corosion Control on the
Wheel Drums. Did I get the only L300 with Rusty wheels? Or do most L300
owners just ignore this rusty wheel problem?

 

My LW300's rotors are rusty also - I just ignore it. I have never owned any
vehicle where that part of the rotor or even drum brakes were painted from
the factory - and they all rust almost immediately anywhere but in the
desert. The problem is, nowadays the aluminum wheels allow you to see more
of the rotor/drum, and that is why it is noticeable. You were lucky it was a
Saturn and the dealer attempted to make you happy - most manufacturers would
have just said it was normal and told you to get lost. It really doesn't
cause any harm - just looks crappy. If you watch, even the braking surface
will rust slightly in a matter of hours in wet weather. It has to do with
the optimum alloy for long life and heat/abrasion resistance. Why the
non-braking surface doesn't come painted or rustproofed from the factory?
That I can't answer. You can purchase trick rotors that are any color you
want!

Dana

 

'01 LW300 with alloy wheels. Perhaps the bright wheels keep one from
noticing any rust. the only rust I do see is on the brake rotors (4) when it
has been sitting for a while in damp weather. Once the car is driven, that
polishes right out.

What did bother me was a rumble as I back out of my driveway and cut the
wheels. Always seems to do this one second rumble at every engine start. Now
that I think about it, is probably the ABS performing a test.

Oppie

|| I can't believe I am the only L300 owner with this rust problem. It
| seems like the factory missed a step in their Corosion Control on the
| Wheel Drums. Did I get the only L300 with Rusty wheels? Or do most L300
| owners just ignore this rusty wheel problem?
|
|
|
|

 

I did try to ignore the Rust problem, but that is hard to do when every
othere car you look at does not have this problem! And it being a new
car did not make me feel any better about all the rust. And it seemed to
get worse everyday, so I felt that I had to do something about it. And
it was not easy getting the Dealer to fix this, as I said I had to get
help from Saturn to convince them that I was very unhappy about all
this. Now I am very happy I did say something, and I do not have to look
at the Rust everyday!! I do not know why they do not coat this part with
some anti- corosive so that it will not Rust. It would make the car look
a lot better if it did not have all of that Rust on it!! It just might
increase Sales too! Thanks!