Contents: Car wash ↧ Engine bay wash ↧ Care of interior trim panels made of… ↧ Caring for upholstery and carpets ↧
In order to maintain the marketable appearance of your car for as long as possible, regularly monitor the condition of the paintwork of the body and its fittings.
Car wash
The basis of car body care is regular washing and treatment with special protective compounds. You can wash the body at a specialized car wash (better by hand, without using mechanical brushes) or independently in places specially designated for this purpose.
To wash yourself, you will need a bucket and two brushes - a large one with long soft bristles (better with a long handle) for washing the body and a small one with hard bristles for washing the front and rear panels of the body and wheel disks, as well as several rags.
Warning: To prevent environmental pollution, wash your vehicle in designated areas equipped with a sewer or local treatment plant.
Helpful Hints: Before washing your car, clean the drainage holes in the doors and sills.
Do not wipe dust and dirt from the body with a dry cloth, as this may scratch the paintwork.
Do not use gasoline, kerosene, soda or sea water for washing to avoid damaging the paintwork, rubber and plastic parts of the body.
You cannot wash the body in frosty weather or drive a car with a wet body in frosty weather: when water freezes, microcracks may form on the paint surface.
1. We recommend washing the body in the shade, since if the paintwork dries quickly under direct sunlight, light spots will remain on the body. If possible, wash the body with water from a hose and a soft sponge.
2. Thoroughly wash the joints of body parts and welded seams, the rolled areas of door panels and the hood.
3. When washing the engine compartment, water should not get on the electrical components. We recommend using special products for cleaning the engine. After washing, blow air or wipe dry the electrical components.
4. It is better to wash the glass with a soft cloth dampened with water with the addition of washing fluid.
5. Wash wheel arches either with a water jet under pressure or with a hair brush. Wash the underbody with a hair brush at least once a year, preferably before winter operation, before restoring the anti-corrosion coating. Periodically wash the underbody and wheel arches in winter to clean them from anti-icing reagents.
Engine bay wash
Warning: To prevent environmental contamination, wash the engine and engine compartment in designated areas equipped with a sewer or local wastewater treatment plant.
During vehicle operation, dirt and oil deposits accumulate on the outer surfaces and engine components. In the engine oil pan area, they impair oil cooling, causing its viscosity to decrease and engine components to wear out rapidly. Abrasive particles accumulated near the engine oil dipstick can enter the engine crankcase each time the oil level is checked. Dirt and oil on engine control system components, electrical equipment, and high-voltage ignition system wires in the engine compartment create undesirable electrical circuits, especially in damp weather, which make it difficult to start the engine and cause interruptions in its operation. Finally, a heavily contaminated engine will not pass the technical inspection.
The cylinder head, cylinder block and engine oil pan are washed with special detergents that remove all types of dirt. Detergents purchased in the store can be divided into two groups:
- engine wash shampoos;
- universal products, for example, for washing engines and removing bitumen stains from the paintwork of the car body.
Among the available means, you can use washing powder or dishwashing liquid dissolved in water.
Warnings: Do not use gasoline to wash the engine, as any spark (even a static discharge between your clothes and the car body) may cause a fire in the engine compartment. Do not use open flames. Do not smoke or start the engine until all detergent residue has been removed from its surface.
If it is not possible to dry the engine after washing with compressed air, try to avoid water getting on electrical equipment, high-voltage wires, and ignition coils.
It is prohibited to start the engine until the cleaning agent or water has been completely removed from its surface: in this case, the risk of electrical equipment failure increases sharply.
It is preferable to wash the engine at special car washes. This is a standard service at most car washes: the engine is first treated with a special compound, then washed by hand, after which it is rinsed with water under pressure and dried with compressed air. After washing, you should check the serviceability of the electrical equipment and the engine operation.
Warning: When washing the engine compartment, do not allow water to come into contact with the generator, starter and engine control system components.
When washing the engine compartment at home, you will need a small scraper, a paint brush, and a toothbrush (for hard to reach places), a container of water or a garden sprayer. Significant dirt and oil deposits should first be removed with a scraper. If you don't have a scraper at hand, a screwdriver with a long handle or, better yet, a wooden spatula will work well to remove dirt and oil deposits. After washing, blow the engine with compressed air.
Helpful Hint: If you don't have a compressor, you can use a vacuum cleaner to blow compressed air onto the engine by connecting a hose to its outlet.
Care of interior trim panels made of polymeric materials
Do not use washing powders, caustic soda or gasoline-based cleaners to clean the interior trim. Regular soap and warm water are perfect for this purpose. Stubborn dirt can be easily removed with a soft brush (with water and soap).
Clean the panels as often as you wash the rest of the car body. After cleaning, to prevent oxidation and cracking, you can cover the panels with protective compounds for rubber and plastics. The same compounds can be used to treat the door seals of the body, rubber hoses, which are often destroyed by the environment. These protective agents are also suitable for treating tires.
Caring for upholstery and carpets
Clean your car's carpets and interior panels every three months (if necessary, this work can be carried out more often). To remove dust and debris, and to clean the mats, you can use a hard brush. After that, the mats and interior upholstery must be thoroughly vacuumed, especially along the seams and folds.
Stubborn dirt can be removed from the mats by treating them with household or car shampoos in aerosol packaging, following the manufacturer's instructions.
Some of the interior panels are covered with vinyl. There are many special cleaners and shampoos available for this type of upholstery. Follow the manufacturer's instructions and test a new composition on a hidden area of the upholstery before attempting a full cleaning to determine whether the cleaning agent will cause discoloration of the upholstery.
After cleaning, treat the vinyl upholstery with a protective compound.
Warnings: Before treating the seats, read the instructions for use of the product: not all compositions are suitable for treating seats, as they make them too slippery. Do not treat the steering wheel with protective compositions.