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Maintenance
Finish damage repair
Deep scratches or stone chips in the
painted surface must be repaired
promptly. Exposed metal will quickly
rust and may develop into a major
repair expense.
✽✽NOTICE
If your vehicle is damaged and
requires any metal repair or
replacement, be sure the body shop
applies anti-corrosion materials to
the parts repaired or replaced.
Bright-metal maintenance
To remove road tar and insects, use a tar remover, not a scraper or
other sharp object.
To protect the surfaces of bright- metal parts from corrosion, apply a
coating of wax or chrome preser-
vative and rub to a high luster.
During winter weather or in coastal areas, cover the bright metal parts
with a heavier coating of wax or
preservative. If necessary, coat the
parts with non-corrosive petroleum
jelly or other protective compound.
Underbody maintenance
Corrosive materials used for ice and
snow removal and dust control may
collect on the underbody. If these
materials are not removed, acceler-
ated rusting can occur on underbody
parts such as the fuel lines, frame,
floor pan and exhaust system, even
though they have been treated with
rust protection. Thoroughly flush the vehicle under-
body and wheel openings with luke-
warm or cold water once a month,
after off-road driving and at the end of
each winter. Pay special attention tothese areas because it is difficult to
see all the mud and dirt. It will do
more harm than good to wet down the
road grime without removing it. The
lower edges of doors, rocker panels,
and frame members have drain holes
that should not be allowed to clog with
dirt; trapped water in these areas can
cause rusting.
WARNING
After washing the vehicle, test
the brakes while driving slowly
to see if they have been affected
by water. If braking performance
is impaired, dry the brakes by
applying them lightly while main-
taining a slow forward speed.
