781
Maintenance
Exterior care
Exterior general caution
It is very important to follow the label
directions when using any chemical
cleaner or polish. Read all warningand caution statements that appearon the label.
Finish maintenance
Washing
To help protect your vehicle’s finish
from rust and deterioration, wash itthoroughly and frequently at least once
a month with lukewarm or cold water.
If you use your vehicle for off-road
driving, you should wash it after each
off-road trip. Pay special attention to
the removal of any accumulation of
salt, dirt, mud, and other foreign mate-
rials. Make sure the drain holes in the
lower edges of the doors and rocker
panels are kept clear and clean.
Insects, tar, tree sap, bird droppings,
industrial pollution and similar
deposits can damage your vehicle’s
finish if not removed immediately.
Even prompt washing with plain water
may not completely remove all these
deposits. A mild soap, safe for use on
painted surfaces, may be used.
After washing, rinse the vehicle thor-
oughly with lukewarm or cold water.
Do not allow soap to dry on the finish.
APPEARANCE CARECAUTION
Do not use strong soap, chem-
ical detergents or hot water,and do not wash the vehicle in direct sunlight or when thebody of the vehicle is warm.
Be careful when washing the side windows of your vehicle.Especially, with high-pressure water, water may leak throughthe windows and wet the inte-rior.
To prevent damage to plastic parts and lamps, do not cleanwith chemical solvents orstrong detergents.
WARNING - Wet brakes
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.
783
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.
