Cleaning And Care Of The Vehicle - Mercedes-Benz 450 SL 1980 Owner's Manual

Cleaning and Care of the Vehicle

In operation, your vehicle is sub­
jected to a great amount of varying
external influences which, if gone
unchecked, can attack the paint­
w ork as well as the underbody and
cause lasting damage.
Such damage is caused not only
extreme and varying clim atic con­
ditions, but also by air pollution,
road salt, tar, gravel and stone
chipping. Grease and oil, fuel,
coolant, brake fluid, bird droppings,
tree resins, etc. should be imme­
diately removed to avoid paint
damage. Frequent washing, how­
ever, reduces a n d /o r elim inates the
aggressivity and potency of the
above adverse influences.
Special car-care measures may be
necessary to deal with unfavor­
able conditions; for example, near
the coast, in industrial areas
(smoke, exhaust emissions),
or during w inter operation.
You should check over your vehicle
from tim e to time fo r stone chipp­
ing or other damage. Any damage
should be repaired as soon as
possible.
In doing so, do not neglect the
underside of the car. A prerequisite
for a thorough check is a washing
of the underbody follow ed by a
rustproofing treatm ent.
Your vehicle has been treated at
the factory with a wax-base rust-
proofing in the body cavities.
A fter every engine cleaning you
should have the engine com part­
ment rustproofed. Before rust-
proofing, all control linkage bush­
ings have to be lubricated with
hydraulic oil (check with your local
MERCEDES-BENZ dealership for
recommended brands).
We have selected car-care products
and com piled recomm endations
which are specially matched to our
vehicles and which always reflect
the newest in technological stand­
ing. You can obtain MB car-care
products at every MERCEDES-
BENZ service station.
Scratches, corrosive deposits,
corrosion or damage due to negli­
gent or incorrect care cannot
always be removed with the car-care
products recommended here. In
such cases it is best to seek aid at
your MERCEDES-BENZ service
station.
The follow ing topics deal with the
cleaning and care of your vehicle
and give im portant " how -to" in­
form ation as well as references to
recommended MB car-care
products.