It is Possible to Wash a Vehicle Too Much??

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Northwoods

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Not exactly a detailing question but more related to vehicle washing. I recently had to replace the complete brake system on my winter Accord… 4 calipers, rotors, and pads all the way around. They were really corroded and in bad shape. I did this in 2019 and 2022 and now again in 2025. I only put on 10-12,000 miles per year so that means every 3 years or about every 32,000 miles, I have to replace the entire brake system. That seems far too frequent to me??? My summer vehicles I put on far more miles 60-70k+ before replacing the brakes (maybe have to replace pads one time).

This Accord is my winter work commuter vehicle so 90% of the miles are put on during the winter. I live in the upper Midwest and we have really long, cold, winters and they use a TON of salt on the roads. The roads all turn crystal white in color when dry and the salt spray gets all over and in every nook and cranny on vehicles… I CAN’T STAND IT!!! I’m lucky I have a heated building where I can spray off my vehicle. I do this very frequently during the winter months, maybe 2-4 times per week for 4+ months. I really flush the undercarriage, wheel wells, and suspension as best I can with heated water. I only do a soap wash about once a month, other than that, it’s just water rinses to get the salt off but I soak everything really well. After spraying off, I leave the car in the heated building until dry at the end of the day.

Could these frequent washes/rinses have anything to do with the excessive corrosion on my brake system components? I didn’t think there was such a thing as washing a vehicle too much other than maybe effecting the paint, but it sure seems I should get more than 32k miles out of a brake system before it’s so corroded it needs to be replaced?? Could it just be the salt alone causing it? Most other people don’t wash their vehicles a fraction what I do during the winter and they don’t seem to need to replace brakes like I do. Does anyone have any experience to add???

Thanks!!!
 
Where are the brake parts bought from, curious?

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The set this week NAPA and before that OReilly, Can't remember before that.
 
Northwoods said:
The set this week NAPA and before that OReilly, Can't remember before that.
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I wonder if the quality has gone down since that "thing" put alot of business' out of business and lower quality ones took their place

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Honestly, that sounds like a really good way to leave salty water in the nooks and crannies of the brake components. I doubt sitting in a cold warehouse for the day is going to really get things dry, and then you are out in the salt with it again. So yes, in this instance, it may be that you are adding to the problem with the washdowns.

I remember it being said that people with heated garages had more corrosion to their cars (here in the rust belt) than people that parked their cars outside, the reason being that when you brought your car in the garage the salty slush melted instead of staying frozen (plus more corrosion at the higher temp).
 
Thanks for the feedback. So maybe I'm better off leaving the salt spray on the vehicle and not rinsing it off so frequently?? I've also heard about heated garages causing more corrosion than being left out in the cold as well. I would have to say out of all the lovely things winter brings with it, I dislike salt on the roads the most!!!!
 
The mag chloride brine is the worst. As someone has pointed out on another forum, the mag chloride is also (corrosion) active at lower temperatures than regular road salt, as well as being able to wick into places (like between spot welds on sheet metal seams) that other salts don't.

All that being said, if I had the opportunity to do what you do, I would probably be doing it also. I realize this is at your work, but maybe you could use one of those salt neutralizers that are brought up on here from time to time, or maybe leaf blow the brakes thru the wheel spokes.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
The mag chloride brine is the worst. As someone has pointed out on another forum, the mag chloride is also (corrosion) active at lower temperatures than regular road salt, as well as being able to wick into places (like between spot welds on sheet metal seams) that other salts don't.

All that being said, if I had the opportunity to do what you do, I would probably be doing it also. I realize this is at your work, but maybe you could use one of those salt neutralizers that are brought up on here from time to time, or maybe leaf blow the brakes thru the wheel spokes.
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Brake Buster has that anti-corrosive chemical in it too

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Northwoods said:
Thanks for the feedback. So maybe I'm better off leaving the salt spray on the vehicle and not rinsing it off so frequently?? I've also heard about heated garages causing more corrosion than being left out in the cold as well. I would have to say out of all the lovely things winter brings with it, I dislike salt on the roads the most!!!!
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Maybe a touch-free wash with underbody twice a week would be good, this way it dries on the way home, worth a shot

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Do you know how hard the water is that your using to rinse the salt off? It could be a factor.
 
Northwoods said:
This Accord is my winter work commuter vehicle so 90% of the miles are put on during the winter. I live in the upper Midwest and we have really long, cold, winters and they use a TON of salt on the roads. The roads all turn crystal white in color when dry and the salt spray gets all over and in every nook and cranny on vehicles… I CAN’T STAND IT!!! I’m lucky I have a heated building where I can spray off my vehicle. I do this very frequently during the winter months, maybe 2-4 times per week for 4+ months. I really flush the undercarriage, wheel wells, and suspension as best I can with heated water. I only do a soap wash about once a month, other than that, it’s just water rinses to get the salt off but I soak everything really well. After spraying off, I leave the car in the heated building until dry at the end of the day.
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I think this is the problem. Water activates the corrosive properties of the brine solution. Spraying water isn’t removing all of the brine and what’s left behind is able to start working its magic all over your Accord. If you’ve got a garage I’d take up weekly rinseless washes with an acidic rineseless wash and as stated by @Klasse Act, I’d use brake buster on my wheels to remove any corrosive material. I believe it was a Rag Company video in which I saw them put a vehicle on tire ramps and sprayed Brake Buster on the undercarriage before using an undercarriage cleaner.
 
You can also try a dedicated salt removing product such as Salts Gone which is an easy spray on and rinse off product.

No matter what process you use, I would always do the final rinse with spot free or distilled water.
 
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Replacing calipers every 3 years seems excessive, as you noted. Curious if you have a picture of them or could you explain further on why you are replacing them. I.e. you really can't stand to see rust, or are they actually seized and not working correctly after 3 years? We have a Honda and it also has rusty calipers but they work just fine so I'm not replacing them.

I have noticed that non-OE parts often (not always) rust quicker than factory parts. Example- stock axles on our Honda didn't have a spec of rust on them at 150k miles but the aftermarket replacements were covered in rust within a year. German cars seem to do MUCH better with rust.
 
I can't imagine removing the ice melting chemicals via rinsing is causing your problems. It is more likely that the materials in the brake components are more likely to be the issue. Otherwise all the components of the Accord undercarriage would show the same condition.
If you don't feel the rinse water is enough then I would get some cleaning vinegar from Dollar Tree and put that (diluted) into a foaming pump sprayer and use that to neutralize the residue on your undercarriage/ brake components.

 
Why are you replacing the calipers, rotors and pads? Is it because they look bad, or is there actual structural issues in the parts? I've owned cars that had some pretty nasty looking components because of their exposure to all the elements, to include road salt, but they have never had any structural or performance issues. I remember our Toyota's calipers really looked bad after their first winter and I could never get them to look clean again, but they worked fine for another 250K miles. I've had plenty of brake rotors that got pretty rusty around the hub area, but were perfectly sound.

If the are failing that quickly, I'd take a hard look at the quality of the parts too. There is no way any of those components should be failing that quickly despite being subjected to harsh winter conditions. I wouldn't trust them in the summer, let alone the winter.

For a wash routine, I typically wait for the weather to get above/at freezing and simply run it though the touchless with an underbody spray. This works out to be about once a month. The cars do get dirty, but I don't have to worry about water freezing in a place it shouldn't and I've never had any serious corrosion issues; including my daughter's 13 year old Honda Fit.
 
Wonder if that Frothé stuff designed for salt from Ammo up in NY would be a good option. No experience but it seems like that foam would get where it need to be. Only problem would be the wiping behind the wheel.
 
Question do you service the brakes once a year. Which is take them appart and clean up all moving or sliding areas where the pads move on the calipers. If you do not there is a chance that you are experiencing premature failure to brakes sticking and wearing prematurily. Just a thought good luck
 
Sleper said:
Question do you service the brakes once a year. Which is take them appart and clean up all moving or sliding areas where the pads move on the calipers. If you do not there is a chance that you are experiencing premature failure to brakes sticking and wearing prematurily. Just a thought good luck
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Don't get me started on this. I wish Oneheadlite was still on here so we could have a good brake discussion.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
The mag chloride brine is the worst. As someone has pointed out on another forum, the mag chloride is also (corrosion) active at lower temperatures than regular road salt, as well as being able to wick into places (like between spot welds on sheet metal seams) that other salts don't.

All that being said, if I had the opportunity to do what you do, I would probably be doing it also. I realize this is at your work, but maybe you could use one of those salt neutralizers that are brought up on here from time to time, or maybe leaf blow the brakes thru the wheel spokes.
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They spray the mag chloride brine and spread rock salt often where I live. It's terrible for vehicles... I'm one of those OCD guys who HATES when the salt spray gets all over the vehicle and then dries into a thick, white, chalky crystal covering. I'm lucky I have access to a heated garage with water.

At the end of every winter I take it a step further and put my winter car on a hoist and then take heated hose water to the entire undercarriage trying to get rid of as much salt as I can.

I'm not familiar with salt neutralizers.
 
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Klasse Act said:
Maybe a touch-free wash with underbody twice a week would be good, this way it dries on the way home, worth a shot

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Touch-free might work when it's above freezing to allow it to dry some.... problem is we might go weeks without it getting above freezing temps. My normal routine is to show up around 6am at the shop, hose the car off, let it stay there in 50 degree inside temp to dry off until 5-6pm when I'm done for the day. This way it dries enough so that windows and doors do not freeze.

Dry salt roads are much better than wet roads, when the roads are wet the salt spray gets into and all over the entire vehicle!
 
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