That is what I have achieved with a backbox still original at 16 years.
That's pretty impressive, madf!
My S60 (petrol) is still on its original complete system at 8 yrs old, but at 143,000 miles, it's not exactly spent its life doing short journeys. I do wonder how much longer it will go on though. Same for the battery, which is also the original.
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I cheat with exhausts: once the original aluminised coating shows signs of wear, I cover with heatproof paint. Takes all of 5 minutes.. every 2-3 years.
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madf - what sort of paint do you use?
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Why bother to do anything with an exhaust on a petrol car? Y0ou can fettle and pretty it up all you like but its rotting from the inside faster than the outside. Granted a diesel is a different matter.
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I just use any heatproof paint I have in the garage: current was bought at a motor factor a decade ago!....
I do the same with sons' 106s: despite what AE says, systems rust at welded seams and tend (note choice of word) to break there first on petrol cars.. so I treat there first.
It works on petrol cars as well as sosns tend to drive longish journeys and exhausts warm up dispelling internal moisture.
When we had an old syle Mini, exhausts lasted 2 years (pattern mild steel) or 4 years (s steel pipes). SO a waste of time... but that was on cars which did very very short journeys averaghing less than 2 miles.. Our diesel 106 has survived that for 16 years.
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I'm waiting with baited breath for the rain to come and wash the roads down, remember 2 weekends ago we had the oversalting process that occurs every year in Northants in the spring with little or no chance of a ground frost and that salts still there in the gutters waiting to coat everything again.
Frustrates me no end, i want the roads salting when its needed (at 3am not 7.30am by the way), not to suit someone's agenda....
I'm itching to fully wash the undersides of both the motors and get cracking with the wax-hoyle, paint, shutz gun, grease and the new super heatproof paint i got from Holdens for the front section of the exhaust, and the cheaper (chimenea) paint i got for the slightly cooler rear end....exhaust is going to be black this year for the hell of it.
Keep seeing the rusty stains from the rear leaf springs, going to find it hard to resist greasing them up..;)
Doubly annoying as i'm off this week thank goodness, but should i fully clean them today it will doubtless rain before they are fully dry and i want to do them both when i get the wax-hoyling going.
I fully agree with the sentiments about all fur coat and no nicks....for some reason i cringe when i see lovely clean (too often by the cowboy supermarket/filling station jokers though, and thats a paintwork time bomb for many IMO) cars and look inside the sparkling alloys and observe rusty stains and encrusted salt all over the discs, calipers and hubs.
I'm definately using pervy latex gloves this year for the exhaust painting, last year i painted myself more than t'exhaust and felt distinctly unwell for some days after..;)
EDIT i'd still love to see a whole shoal, flock, fleet of grease nipples on the ball joints etc, clean em off and pump the grease in till that wonderful spitting sound of gease rings out.....miss that..;)
Edited by gordonbennet on 06/04/2009 at 12:38
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What's the recommended way of cleaning the underside of a car?
I would be a bit wary of using a high pressure jet sprayed around underneath and into the wheel areas, but maybe a more gentle stream of water would be OK?
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agree with the O.P.
Got some funny looks at the car wash the other week when hosing the underside of the banger- I didn't do the top at all. Re-doing the underseal now. Will look at the exhaust paint tip- cheers for that..
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Washing the underside?
Meself, i like to drive the car for some time in the wet, hopefully 2 or 3 wet days continuous to soften the stuff, then i go through a local ford several times to really get some nice clean water over those hard to see places (swmbo takes great pleasure in creating tidal waves when doing the pick up like this.;)
Then i'll use a strong spray jet of water over the whole underside combined with washing the suspension (wheels off) and exhaust etc with soapy water and a hand brush then rinse off and only use the pressure washer where essential.
Having said all that i wash the underside every week when i wash the vehicles during the winter anyway (sometimes after heavy salting i'll wash underneath every couple of days), paying particular attention to wheelarches, brakes etc, a pet hate of mine i've lost count of the vehicles i've had to literally dig/chip the muck and encrusted salt out from such recesses...pure neglect on the previous owners behalf.
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Put bluntly, most of the above advice is unneccessary work and overkill.
Most bodies are galvanised.
Most brake lines are plastic coated.
Almost all vehicles have plastic wheel arch liners.
If you intend to keep cars 10 years.. then fine. (I do).
Personally I hose wheel arches in winter, go under car once a year .. and that is it.
As my cars are 6 and 16 years old, with minimal rust and oiginal brake lines etc... I have some real world experience.
Of course, IF you buy a car whose maker paints it badly: Ford or Mercedes... then tough.
First chose the correct maker.
(Peugeot and Toyota in our case)
Avoid: Jaguar, Ford, Mercedes, Vauxhall, and Ranault (plus modern PSA cars) and Nissan.. if you want a long lasting reliable car...
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If you intend to keep cars 10 years.. then fine. (I do).
So do i thats why i do it, not saying anyone else should, most normal car buyers don't know there's an underside, luckily here some of us care, hence the thread and the varied opinions which are all valid.
Few cars made over 10 years ago will be galvanised, and salt gets behind those plastic liners.
AE,
there's some interesting discussions on another forum i use where very expensive cars as low mileage as 40K are having 'sealed for life' bottom ball joints replaced.
Those same cars had sealed for life gearboxes a few years ago till they went wrong, despite the makers insisting all was good they don't follow that route anymore.
Maybe you're thinking of cars like the moggie or marina with dreadful threaded joints which regularly would collapse, a poor design at best and destined to wear out if neglected.
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EDIT i'd still love to see a whole shoal flock fleet of grease nipples on the ball joints etc clean em off and pump the grease in till that wonderful spitting sound of gease rings out.....miss that..;)
Oh for GS! You will be saying that cars should still have points that need to be adjust every 1000miles and changed every 6K. And why not gap the plugs every 6 as well.
Grease nipples on balljoints! HUH. Tell you what we dont see these days is cars at the side of the road with one wheel hanging off - Thats what grease nipples bought you.
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Tee Hee ! Glad my Mondeo can't read. It might develop some automotive form of hypochondria if it could. It still labours under the delusion that it is a well built, rust free utterly reliable car. Stranger still, the 14 other Fords which I have had and run to high mileages have been equally misguided. I'm certainly not going to tell it.
Must just be luck apparently......
;-)
Edited by Humph Backbridge on 06/04/2009 at 13:36
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my wifes v40 year 2000 volvo is on its original exhuast (2litre petrol)
and the battery is also the original.
.
in the mean time i;ve had a new battery on my 2003 impreza and the exhuast joints on the subaru are not to healthy, not blowing, but covered in flakey rust...the volvo on the other hand looks like its about 6 months old. huff.....
haha
.
rememeber seeing one of those fred dibna programs once, when he used to take down old factory chimneys. and on one occasion there was a lovely mk2 escort sat directly in the path of this chimney, the guys in question all asked who owned the car and tried to get it moved, it the end it turned out that the owner of the car had washed and waxed the car and kept it nice but it was rotten underneath and failed its mot.
the charges where then set off and said chimney errr squashed this old car....
great to watch on telly...
.
paul.
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Grease noipples on balljoints? Rubbish design. One blockage and that's all the greasing a waste of time unless, dismantlked and cleaned.
Modern cars are so much better. And yes I did my share of maintenance and rebuilding 40 odd years ago.. I for one do NOT want to go there again.
If Fords are so good, why do I see all these rusty Pumas and Fiestas? And Mondeos?
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Like I said, luck of the draw obviously.....15 times......
;-)
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Anyone want a pic of the waterproof grease on the subframe three years after application?
;-)
I`ve only used a normal hose to wash the underside and engine bay - although I do use a sponge and detergent on the latter - before re-applying WD40, in Winter. The van`s only been out a handful of times without being rinsed off immediately underneath with a hose, under salt conditions.
I use one of those big blue bristled `yard brush` looking things from Halfords for washing. Dunking it in a large bucket of either cheap asda £4.99 shampoo or hot fairy liquid solution (unbeatable for black streaks on white non laquered paint) Never a sponge or mit and never polished - as a consequence no swirl marks or scratches on the paint. Not that I`m bothered about the upper bodywork paint - beyond its integrity.
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I recently bought a Bosch pressure washer for use around the garden ,garage etc. With it came a lance that can be adjusted from 0deg. to about 45 deg. It`s perfect for washing underneath the cars. I don`t even have to bend down,(well ,not much).
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I am not sure but when I had my car serviced they put greese on the brake pipes as he seemed to think they are original but still in very good condition, the greese should stop them failing come MOT time.
I am the opposite really I do wash the bodywork but don't are about polish but I do pay attentiont o the bits underneath. People may think my cars are always going into the garage (the next jobn is to have the coolant changed and brakes bled) but having spent just over £1k on a car I want it to last for a few more years.
The big sad thing is I spent more on treating my cars right than I do on myself :(. As soon as a car makes a funny noise it goes into a garage yet soon as I make a funny noise I put it off.
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