Undercarriage Washing

[Uditha88]

Hi Friends,

1. How frequently do you get ur car undercarriage washed by a service station or not at all?

2. Is it bad oiling car under carriage(one service station told so??), do you do so?

[Sumiya]

Hi Friends,

1. How frequently do you get ur car undercarriage washed by a service station or not at all?

2. Is it bad oiling car under carriage(one service station told so??), do you do so?

Hi Uditha

usually for me it is not regular depending on the condition on under carriage

oiling is good as it reduces rust possibility, but it tends to attract ,more dust into the under carriage

thanks

regards

sumith

[Watchman]

you dont need to wash it per se... if you spray oil over the mud/dust layer it creates protective coat that keeps rust away... better than washing and spraying oil cos if its just oil its more likely to come off...

[Uditha88]

Hi Uditha

but it tends to attract ,more dust into the under carriage

So it means oiling to protect from rust might cause more rust?

So is it enough washing with water?

Other few question that I would like to get answers:

1. Is it good to wash the engine room?

2. Any of you have take a step like greasing vehicle's door for better protection from corrosion/rust?

Many Thanks

Edited November 22, 2010 by Uditha88

[Sumiya]

Hi Sumith,

So it means oiling to protect from rust might cause more rust?

So is it enough washing with water?

Many Thanks

Hi Uditha

i think, enough

that is my experience, different people might have different ideas about this

thanks

regards

sumith

[Pericles]

So it means oiling to protect from rust might cause more rust?

So is it enough washing with water?

Other few question that I would like to get answers:

1. Is it good to wash the engine room?

2. Any of you have take a step like greasing vehicle's door for better protection from corrosion/rust?

Many Thanks

One said Dust, the other said Rust.

And thats engine bay. And personally, I don't like washing it with water.

[slcamel]

One said Dust, the other said Rust.

And thats engine bay. And personally, I don't like washing it with water.

Most of the people (whom i met @ service stations) says that the Oiling the Undercarriage will harm some of the boots/rubber covers; joint boots; bumpers etc. cos; some service stations dont go for good products/oils to wash your undercarriage to protect from corrosion/rust. But; some says its just enough wash the Undercarriage with Water.

so i'm lost too... seeking the some advices here as well.

[harshansenadhir]

Most of the people (whom i met @ service stations) says that the Oiling the Undercarriage will harm some of the boots/rubber covers; joint boots; bumpers etc. cos; some service stations dont go for good products/oils to wash your undercarriage to protect from corrosion/rust. But; some says its just enough wash the Undercarriage with Water.

so i'm lost too... seeking the some advices here as well.

Spot on about harming rubber boots and parts. Further, I have never washed the engine nor under carriage of my 406 for more than 4 years, nothing bad happened to the car and it doesn't have any corrosions. Only replaced the links and suspension parts about 3 years back and though they say links fails frequently that didn't happen on mine, probably last long due to no oil and kerosene ?

[Ripper]

I'd say just washing off with water is fine on the under carriage stuff... wouldn't recommend any oils at all

I actually try to wash the under carriage a bit at home once a week or so cos the truck tends to attract a lot more mud

On the engine bay...you should never ever let the service station guys pressure wash your engine bay.

for some reason station guys just love to wash the engine...

On my diesel... when the bay is too dusty etc...i'd just use a hand sprayer thing with diesel to take top layer of gunk/dust/dirt etc off..

And then spray a detergent to take the diesel off..

worked wonders so far

But it's quite labor intensive... at least a half a day job costing about 3-4 long neck lions

[heavyD]

I'd say just washing off with water is fine on the under carriage stuff... wouldn't recommend any oils at all

I actually try to wash the under carriage a bit at home once a week or so cos the truck tends to attract a lot more mud

On the engine bay...you should never ever let the service station guys pressure wash your engine bay.

for some reason station guys just love to wash the engine...

On my diesel... when the bay is too dusty etc...i'd just use a hand sprayer thing with diesel to take top layer of gunk/dust/dirt etc off..

And then spray a detergent to take the diesel off..

worked wonders so far

But it's quite labor intensive... at least a half a day job costing about 3-4 long neck lions

Is that to clean your system or the vehicle's?

[slcamel]

On my diesel... when the bay is too dusty etc...i'd just use a hand sprayer thing with diesel to take top layer of gunk/dust/dirt etc off..

And then spray a detergent to take the diesel off..

For Patrol cars; is that ok to do the same with kerosene and use some car shampoo to remove the gasoline from the engine?

[Ripper]

don't use kerosene ever...it messes up rubber stuff...

diesel has cleaning properties and is a lot softer on rubber stuff...

plus it's not inflammable and relatively cheap also

[maliths]

Hi,

Never spray oil on the undercarriage because as others have mentioned this will harm any rubber items (boots, bushes, etc). Mineral oils actually will attack rubber so and seals, bushes etc will degrade. Its best just to wash the underside and leave it at that.

MalithS

[Mikee]

I own a brand new maruti alto. I have heard that maruti has no undercoating layer as Japanese does and need undercoating. my question is, do Japanese vehicles really have a such layer? i have not applied any undercoating to my car and just did the regular services. I think they have applied oil on the undercarriage. So is it ok even not to apply oil in a car like alto where its said that the undercarriage is easily corrosive? Guys who use maruti, pls share your experiences. Thanks in advance

[Scooter]

Washing down the underside of the car now and then is probably a very positive thing. I use a low water pressure on the Gerni and a cheap was 'n wax shampoo in the soap dispenser, then rinse off with plain water - again on low pressure. Why wash? It removes the mud and dust that otherwise retain moisture up against the vulnerable seam and crevice areas of the vehicle.

I've been around cars long enough now to see that vehicles rarely rust from the outside in....the rust usually commences in the seams and the cracks and crevices of the vehicle where road moisture penetrates, remains and creates the correct oxidation conditions for rust to start. The lack of paint in those areas and the spot welds just make places that rust loves. And because the rust is in the seams etc we don't see the problem until the damage is done.

So what can we do? I've sworn by Fish Oil application for many years. That stuff really creeps and penetrates and then dries into a protective film. And it's cheap. You can buy it in bulk, shove it in a cheap pump oil can, get up under the car and pump it into all the drain and other holes you see underneath. While you're there, pump the oil up into the door bottoms through their drain holes.Then get up under the wheel arch areas and treat all the seams and crevices there.

Up top and back in the day-light, take off the sill plates, or rummage around under the carpet looking for existing holes, or even drill a couple of holes if you have to, and then pump away into the sill areas. Losening the door light switches can allow you a nice place to spray oil into the B pillars Have a wander around the boot/dickey area with the can in hand.

.

Then get a couple of the Fish Oil spray aerosol cans and pull the door linings and the water protection sheets and spray the interior of the door panels.

The car will drip for days, the stink will make your eyes water and your wife/gf scold, but you wont't see any rust on your beloved for a long long time.

[CARBON B4]

Your fish oil treatment seem to be quite extreme, maybe better if you deep fried your car,....

Although rust is a big issue on older cars, this is not much of a issue unless you stay close to the sea. Most of the modern car manufacturing process involves making most parts rust free for at least 10 to 15 years..

Wrt the engine bay, I spray on a degreaser and wash it off with low pressure water . Its some unknown brand found at super markets, quite cheap. but it says it protects rubber parts ,

[Scooter]

Yeh, you're right Carbon, "THE TREATMENT" is a bit of a chore and, Gawd, the hands and overalls do stink of fish (but not the chips!) for days afterwards!

[JadeyBlitzen]

reading the older posts I realised most service places are exaggerating about the oiling side effects. sure oils have a tendency to eat into rubber overtime but that depends on the type of rubber and the oil. either way the bushes are pretty robust and can sure stand a thin layer of oil.

the bottom line is most places don't have permission from the authorities to use these oils as they are located in urban and/or upmarket areas. cos this oil get carried with the wind and ends up on everything in that environment. not to mention peoples lungs. so god bless the workers who spray them onto your car.

and marutis really don't have undercoating as standard and oiling them will actually help the rubbish steel the cars are made of (which come from melted down scrap metal) survive an extra couple of months or so.

and don't worry about the oil harming the undercoat because most if not all of them are water based so those two don't really react.

[vimuthf]

Guys!

Sorry for bringing up on an old post..

I'm hoping to wash the underside of our new car since there were too much mud which I saw today while getting done a patch. Hoping to go to the attidiya auto miraj. Your views are highly appreciated. It's a Peugeot 307.

[Harshitha]

Undercarriage washing is not a thing to do frequently unless there is lot of mud and other stuff hangs underneath. I prefer to maintain a proper body under coating whenever possible and try not to spray oil as there are lot of rubber stuff are mounted and it tends to tear apart while it moves. If you can manage to keep oil away from each and every rubber parts and spray only to the body, then it's fine. But it is very frustrating thing to do. Oil in fact attracts dirt though. So the best way is to maintain a proper protective under coating. Probably a under body protective paint with a brush would do the trick.

[tcfern1]

Most reputed service stations clean the engine bay by applying degreasers and then with water for hybrid cars.is this ok?

[Rookantha]

Hi,

Just going through the topic and want share my experiences. At A*W they use a special chemical for underwash? so far it has not caused any issue? what is your idea?

Rookantha

[tiv]

The place I go to use a special spray-on shampoo, probably de-greaser added as well, the thing sorta droops away and dries up, they blow the residue with some compressed air, cleans almost to 75% , this is on the engine btw.

I don't see any problem with conventional undercarriage washing as the engine and vital electronics are shielded from water spray during driving anyway, the old school oil spray afterwards is not done of course.

Edited October 6, 2015 by tiv