Washing your vehicle with a power
washer
Cleaning the exterior of your car with a high-
pressure power washer is safe as long as you
observe a few simple rules.
~
Before using the power washer, make sure
you have read and understood the WARN-
INGS¢ &.
in General information on
page 167.
~
Always follow the operating instructions for
the power washer .
~
Make sure that the jet on the spray hose
produces a "fan shaped spray".
~
Do not hold the spray nozzle too close to
soft materia ls.
When clean ing the vehicle with a power wash-
er
always follow the operating instructions.
This applies particularly to the
operating
pressure and the spraying distance. Maintain
a sufficient distance to soft materials such as
rubber hoses and sound/vib rat ion deadening
materia ls (particularly on the underside of t he
engine hood). Do not use a jet which sprays
water in a di rect st ream or one t hat has a ro-
tat ing
jet.
Wat er t emperatu re shou ld not exceed 140 °F
(60 °().
& WARNING
Never wash tires with a jet that sprays wa-
ter in a direct stream . This could cause in-
visible damage to the tires and weaken
them, even if the spray is from a relatively
long distance and for a short time . Dam-
aged and weakened t ires can fail and cause
accidents and persona l injury.
(D Note
To avoid damag ing your vehicle, always
make sure that there is sufficient distance
between t he spray head and soft mate rials
like rubber hoses, plastic parts and sound-
deadening mate rials. Never aim the spray
head at t he sa me point for a long time.
This also applies to cleaning headlights
and painted bumpe rs. Remember: the
Cleaning a n d protec t ion 169
closer the nozzle is to the surface of t he
mater ial, the greater the stress on t he ma-
terial.
Waxing and Polishing
Waxing
A good wax coating protects the vehicle paint
to a large extent against the environmental
factors listed under¢
page 167 , Washing and
even against slight scratches .
You can use a liquid car wax to protect your
paint as soon as one wee k after your vehicle
has been delivered.
Even if you regular ly use a
waxing process in
automat ic car washes, we recommend that
you manually apply a coat of wax to give the
paint extra protection, part icularly if water no
longer beads on t he clean paint .
Protect plastic body parts with car wax in the
same way as the vehicle body.
During warm weat her dead insects tend to
collect on t he front bumper and on the for-
ward area of the hood. They are much easier
to remove from paint that is waxed
often.
Polishing
Polish your vehicle only if the paint has lost its
shine and the gloss cannot be broug ht back
with wax.
If the polish used does not contai n preserva-
t ive compoun ds, t he paint must be waxed af-
te rwards.
& WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other information ¢
page 167.
(D Note
Do not use car wax on
- matte or anodized met al tr im
- rubber or rubber-like t rim.
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