Rim corrosion

P

P5w3kids

Member
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2003 P5
Over the past few months I've been having a very hard time with the chrome alloys on my wife's 2002 PT Cruiser. They've corroded so badly around the valve stems that 5-7 pounds of pressure is lost per day. End result is I'm going 50-50 with Chrysler on a new set of rims. I'm not entirely happy about this--in my mind wheels should last longer than tires--but there's only so much time I have to spend yelling at customer care reps.

Relevance for this forum is I'm now noticing corrosion on my 2003 P5's non-chrome rims. The finish is peeling off around the inner edge of each spoke, and I'm seeing an increasingly large amount of bubbling on the inner faces of the spokes (but not on the outer face). Not good.

Has anyone had problems with these rims? These were the ones added for 2002.5. (Oh, the irony, since I was just debating in another thread whether any changes for 2002.5 might affect reliability.)

Chrome rims should be even worse.

On the other hand, the ability of the tire and valve stem to seal might not be affected if these wheels tend to corrode in the places I just mentioned and not where rubber contacts the wheel. On the PT wheels the bad spot was the valve stem seat. So we *might* end up with ugly wheels that at least manage to hold air.

Note: Initially I thought that the PT and P5 rims had the same manufacturer because they have the same M-like symbol on them. But this was incorrect.
 
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the "m" symbol has nothing to do with whether they're made by enkei or not... it's just some sort of certification stamp (I don't even know what it means)... the P5 wheels are made by hitachi anyway
 
Really? I just had a tire shop tell me yesterday that it was an Enkei symbol. But that was probably because the only aftermarket rims they sell with the symbol are Enkei.

I had noticed that Enkei used a different symbol on its site and ads.

So I better go correct my initial post. Still concerned about corrosion after the bad experience with the PT.
 
I just sanded mine down and painted them. They hold air fine of course. The bubbling was pretty bad so it would be too much work to repolish them.
 
You might just tell Dodge to eat doodoo and go get aftermarket rims instead. My wife's dodge shadow rusted from the inside out, and then from the top down after the paint flaked off.

I have heard of the P5 wheels paint flaking off, and being replaced under warranty, like without a hassle even. A rarity with a lot of dealers. I think the corrosion warranty is like 5 years or something, and am unsure if the wheels are included. Might want to check that out, or head over to tirerack and scope out some spiffy rims.
 
I had the same problem with my wheels. I have a 2003 Pro5, and I actually went to the dealer to buy parts, and I just asked them to look at my wheels. The guy took one look and said "Yeah, we can warranty those!". So, I got four new wheels under warranty because of that. Im still under my bumper-to-bumper, so I dont know how they covered it.

My parents also have a 2002 Pro5, and their wheels are doing the same thing (same wheel design). Lots of bubbling on the spokes of the wheel....

If you are in warranty, go ask! It worked for me!
 
It's just the paint coming off, the rim itself should be fine. I have the same problem, but the dealer wouldn't cover it under my warrantee because it was "cosmetic". So I say **** em. I'll get another set of rims and keep the stockers for winter.
 
My MP3 rims are made by Enkei (says Enkei on them :)) Im pretty sure my old MP5 rims did aswell
 
my 03.5 stock chrome wheels dont say enkei on the back. alot of honda oe wheels are and say it on the back. but ive so many oe wheels come in my shop with corroded wheels that leak, p5 esp. the best bet would be to get aftermarket wheels IMO.
 
I conducted a survey of my site's members, found this problem more on some makes (Chrysler, Ford, Nissan, maybe Hyundai) than others. With Chrysler, the worst, it might happen to 20%. I had only one Mazda owner report wheel corrosion that led to air pressure loss.

Totally related to salt on the roads. It's rare in places where they don't put down salt.

I'm just still shocked that it happens at all. I've just never had this problem before, and assumed that the wheels would last as long as the car. Apparently not.

Just cosmetic is one thing, not holding air is a potential safety issue. I know, I ended up stuck on the shoulder on I44 with a blown tire four hours after inflated it to 40 pounds. I learned the hard way that air loss with this issue varies by distance as well as time.

Then I couldn't get the tire off because the Chrsyler dealer had way overtorqued the lug nuts. AAA guy ended up using a pipe on a 4-way iron. If you cannot trust a dealer to properly tighten a lug nut, what can you trust them to do?

I don't want a repeat with my P5.

Corrosion warranties only cover body panels. The BtB might do it, but I think it has an exclusion for cosmetic issues. But would this problem be considered cosmetic under the terms of the warranty? Sounds like different dealers define the term differently.
 
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I got this big time...no doubt due to the salt here

But I am out of warranty...so time to strip and paint!
 
I am 100% certain wheel corrosion can lead to air loss from my first hand experience with my 2002 Mazda Protege5 (P5). I live in NY, and after 7 winters, I experienced this problem. Another thing I heard from the guy at Sears is dogs urinating on the tires can also reduce the life of the rim. One can remove the tires and place the corroded rims on the front while the car is on jacks, apply gas to spin the rims, and file the rim to resurface it till it's smooth.

On my car, it was not worth it. The paint on the rims were all peeling. They're not too appealing looking. The fact that I don't have a garage made my car's life take on a quicker aging process. Having a garage sure would prolong the life of the paint.
 
Enkei makes or owns racing hart or something like that. All mp3/msp rims have the enkei stamp on the back of one of the spokes. Can't believe nobody has asked the question of why somebody would even want a pt cruiser... as far as the p5 rims have them powder coated itl last way longer
 
I'm pretty sure the "m" symbol there are referring to is the Japanese alloy certification stamp. All alloy wheels are made to that standard (or higher) so it's on a lot of wheels.
As for corrosion On wheels, it happens. Especially when using the same set year round.
Chrysler's wheels are notorious for corrosion, I probably fix one a day for corrosion related air leaks.
^^ wouldn't recommend that method to fix your wheels lol
 
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