CAR MAINTENANCE
188
Should prevailing use of the vehicle
be under one of the following special-
ly heavy conditions:
– trailer or caravan towing;
– dusty roads;
– short distances (less than 7-8 km)
repeated and with external tempera-
tures below zero;– frequently idling engines or long
distance low speed driving (e.g. door-
to-door deliveries) or in case of a long
term inactivity;
– driving in the city;
carry out the following checks more
frequently than required in the Service
Schedule:
– check front disk brake pad condi-
tions and wear;– check cleanness of locks, bonnet
and boot and lever cleanness and lu-
brication;
– sight inspect the conditions of: en-
gine, gearbox, transmission, pipes and
hoses (exhaust - fuel - brakes), rubber
parts (boots, sleeves, bushes, etc.);
– check battery charge and fluid lev-
el (electrolyte);
– visual check on various drive belt
conditions;
– check and replace pollen filter, if re-
quired;
– check and replace air cleaner, if re-
quired.
HEAVY-DUTY
CAR MAINTENANCE
211
Only use genuine products when
touching up the paintwork (see the
“Technical specifications” chapter).
Ordinary maintenance of the paint-
work means washing it. The frequen-
cy you should do this depends on the
conditions and the environment the
vehicle is driven in. For example: areas
with high level of air pollution, roads
sprinkled with road saltwash, parking
under trees which drop resin. In these
cases, wash your vehicle more fre-
quently.To wash the vehicle properly:
1)wash the body using a low pres-
sure jet of water;
2)wipe a sponge with a slightly soapy
solution over the bodywork, fre-
quently rinsing the sponge;
3)rinse well with water and dry with
a jet of air or a chamois leather.
When drying the vehicle, be careful
to get at those parts which are not so
easily seen e.g. the door frames, bon-
net and around the headlights where
water can most readily collect. You
should leave the vehicle out in the
open so that any water remaining can
evaporate more easily.
Do not wash the car after it has been
parked in the sun or while the bon-
net is hot: it could take the shine off
the pain.Outside plastic parts must be cleaned
following the usual car washing pro-
cedure.
IMPORTANTIf you wish having
the car washed at an automatic wash-
ing station remove the antenna from
the roof to prevent damaging it.
Where possible avoid parking the ve-
hicle under trees; the resinous sub-
stances that certain species of tree
shed dull the paintwork and increase
the possibility of rust forming.
IMPORTANTBird droppings must
be washed off immediately and with
great care as their acid is particularly
aggressive.
Detergents pollute wa-
ter. For this reason, the
vehicle must be washed in
an area equipped for the collec-
tion and purification of the liquids
used while washing.
