2001 Accord LX-V6 - weird wheel tuff

I have a 2001 Accord LX-V6 with standard wheel covers.

Situation 1:

About 2 months ago I noticed that the surface of the right front wheel
cover was peeling and losing its silver and clear coat coating in
spots outside the lug nut area. At first I thought I might have
scraped up against something, but I didn't remember having done so and
the flaking is happening as circles, not scrapes. The flaking
continues to get worse.

Now I have noticed that the flaking is starting to happen with the
remaining three wheel covers as well, although in this case the
flaking is happening right around the lug nuts and inside the H logo
at the center of the wheel covers.

This got me to thinking that this summer I started to use one of those
soft-cloth car washes that pulls the car through on a track and maybe
that is what is causing this flaking problem with the wheel covers.
(But why wouldn't I see a ton of other cars around with this same
flaking problem?)

What do you think?

Situation 2:

Yesterday I stopped by a hubcap shop to buy a replacement for the
right front. In the process of checking things out on my car I noticed
that the front lug nuts on both sides were so hot that I could hardly
keep my finger on them. The rear lug nuts were warm. I had been doing
about 15 minutes of highway driving.

Is it normal for the front lug nuts to get so hot?

Is it possible that something is up with my brakes which is generating
extra heat which is contributing to the wheel covers flaking?

My brake service has always been done at the dealer, and in informal
testing yesterday, when I put my car in neutral on a gentle incline it
rolled freely . . .

What do you think?


George

 

George,

For situation 2, it is quite noraml for the wheel nuts to heat up after
driving for a while. Part of the heat comes from braking and part from the
transmission. As a result, the front wheels' nuts are hotter the rear. I
once owned an Accord and now a Civic, and both of their front wheels' nuts
are hotter after some driving. The reason I first noticed that they are hot
is that I saw some smoke coming out from the inside of the front wheels
when I once washed the car immediately after a 20 minutes highway driving.

 

That would be my guess, too. Most of those automatic car washes use
very strong detergents, and when you drive into cool water with hot
wheels/hubcaps, it's bound to take its toll eventually. I bought a
few-year-old Nissan Stanza once - its hubcaps were similarly destroyed.
And I've seen a bunch of other cars looking like that on the roads as
well.

I always let my wheels cool off for at least half hour before washing
because they can get pretty hot at times. Drastic temp. changes (like
when you pour cool water on hot surfaces) aren't too good for the paint
finish.

Cheers,

Pete

 

i think you ought to take them off, lightly scuff sand, then repaint
with a silver paint made for wheel covers. theyll look good.

IMO, no. id jack up the front end, remove both wheels, and turn the
rotors by hand to check for dragging. id also check the condition of the
pads as well.