Cleaning And Care Of The Vehicle - Mercedes-Benz 190 D 2.2 1985 Owner's Manual

Cleaning and Care of the Vehicle

In o p e ra tio n , y o u r v e h ic le is sub­
je cted to a great a m o u n t of varying
external in flu e n ce s w h ich , if gone
unchecked, can a tta ck th e p a in t­
w o rk as w ell as the u n d e rb o d y and
cause lasting dam age.
Such dam age is caused not o nly by
extrem e and varying c lim a tic c o n d i­
tion s, but also by a ir p o llu tio n , road
salt, tar, gravel and stone ch ip p in g .
Grease and oil, fu e l, co ola nt, brake
flu id , bird d ro p p in g s , tree resins,
etc. sh ou ld im m e d ia te ly be rem oved
to avoid p a in t dam age. Frequent
w ashing, how ever, reduces an d /o r
e lim in a te s the aggressiveness and
p o te ncy o f the above adverse in flu ­
ences.
M ore fre q u e n t w a sh in g s are neces­
sary to deal w ith unfa vo ra b le c o n d i­
tio n s ; fo r exam ple, near the ocean,
in in d u stria l areas (sm oke, exhaust
em issions), o r d u rin g w in te r o p e ra ­
tio n .
Y ou sh o u ld check y o u r veh icle from
tim e to tim e fo r sto ne c h ip p in g or
o th e r dam age. Any dam age should
be repaired as so on as possible to
prevent the sta rt o f c o rro s io n .
In d o in g so, do not n eglect the
und e rsid e o f the car. A pre re q uisite
fo r a th o ro u g h ch eck is a w ashing
of the u n d e rb o d y fo llo w e d by a
th o ro u g h in sp e ction . Damaged
areas need to be re-undercoated.
Y o u r ve hicle has been treate d at the
fa c to ry w ith a w ax-base ru s tp ro o f-
ing in th e body ca vities w h ic h w ill
last fo r th e life tim e o f the vehicle.
P o s t-p ro d u c tio n tre a tm e n t is nei­
th e r necessary n o r recom m ended
by M ERCEDES-BENZ because of
th e p o s s ib ility o f in c o m p a tib ility be­
tw een m ate rials used in the p ro d u c ­
tio n process and oth ers applied
later.
A fte r every e n g in e c leaning you
sh o u ld have the en g ine c o m p a rt­
m ent re -ru stp ro o fe d . B efore rust-
p ro o fin g , all c o n tro l linkage bush ­
in gs have to be lu b rica te d w ith hy­
d ra u lic oil (check w ith y o u r local
M ERCEDES-BENZ dealership fo r
recom m en ded brands).
We have selected car-care p ro d u cts
and co m p ile d recom m e n d a tio n s
w h ic h are s p e c ia lly m atched to our
ve hicles and w h ich always refle ct
the new est in te c h n o lo g ic a l sta n d ­
ing. You can o b ta in MB car-care
p ro d u c ts at every MERCEDES-
BENZ dealer.
S cratches, c o rro sive deposits, c o r­
rosion o r dam age due to n e g lig e n t
o r in c o rre c t care ca n n o t always be
rem oved w ith the car-care pro d u cts
recom m ended here. In such cases
it is best to seek aid at your
a u th o riz e d MERCEDES-BENZ
dealer.
The fo llo w in g to p ic s deal w ith the
cle a n in g and care o f y o u r vehicle
and give im p o rta n t " h o w -to " in fo r­
m a tion as w ell as references to re­
c om m ended MB car-care pro ducts.