Cleaning And Care Of The Vehicle - Mercedes-Benz 190D 2.2 1984 Owner's Manual

Cleaning and Care of the Vehicle

In op e ra tio n , y o u r v e h icle is su b ­
je cte d to a great a m o u n t o f varying
external in flu e n ce s w h ic h , if gone
unchecked, can a tta ck the 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
tions, b u t also by a ir p o llu tio n , road
salt, tar, gravel and stone ch ip p in g .
Grease and oil, fuel, co o la nt, brake
flu id , bird d ro p p in g s , tree resins,
etc. sh o uld im m e d ia te ly be rem oved
to avoid pa 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), or d u rin g w in te r o p era­
tion.
You sh o u ld che ck y o u r veh icle from
tim e to tim e fo r stone c h ip p in g or
o th e r dam age. A ny dam age sh o uld
be repaired as soon as p ossible to
prevent the sta rt o f c o rro s io n .
In d o in g so, do n o t n e g lect the
und e rside o f the car. A p re re q uisite
fo r a th o ro u g h ch eck is a w ashing
o f 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 v e h icle has been treated at the
fa c to ry w ith a w ax-base ru s tp ro o f-
ing in the 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 or recom m ended
by MERCEDES-BENZ because of
the p o s s ib ility o f in c o m p a tib ility be­
tw een m aterials used in the p ro d u c ­
tio n process and oth e rs a p plied
later.
A fte r every e n g in e cle a nin g you
sh o u ld have th e en gine 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 ­
ings have to be lu b ric a te d w ith hy­
d ra u lic o il (ch e ck w ith y o u r local
M ERCEDES-BENZ de a lership fo r
re com m ended brands).
We have selected car-care p ro d u cts
and co m p ile d re co m m en d a tio ns
w h ic h are sp e cia lly m atched to our
ve hicle s and w h ic h always re flect
th e new est in te c h n o lo g ic a l stand ­
ing. You can o b ta in MB car-care
p ro d u c ts at every MERCEDES-
BENZ service s tatio n .
S cratches, co rro s iv e deposits, c o r­
ro sion o r dam age due to n e glig ent
o r in c o rre c t care ca n n o t always be
rem oved w ith the car-care p ro ducts
re com m ended here. In such cases
it is best to seek aid at yo u r
M ERCEDES-BENZ service station.
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 ation as w ell as references to re­
com m e n d ed MB car-care products.