Under carriage cleaning

Coleroad

Coleroad

New member
Spent hours today cleaning the undercarriage of the Buick. Long winter with not enough maintenance washing. Spring undercarriage wash was a bit longer this year. Thank goodness it doesn`t look bad after cleaning. The odd thing I did was put cmx on the muffler. You can see the muffler when walking up behind the car or following it. It`s a black muffler that quickly looks horrible. I guess I`ll see if it can take the heat and if it helps keep it cleaner.
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I used purple power degreaser in hot water. I don`t even know how many times I changed out the water and pp. A dedicated microfiber mitt. Various brushes, a wheel wooly I dedicated for this. 303 aerospace on the plastics. A full face shield, a creeper. One of my favorite tools for this is a dawn finger foam cup washer.
 
Boy, you and Accumulator. I don`t think I would do that unless I had a lift, I dunno.

I gotta ask what that skateboard wheel is that`s hanging off the back of the caliper in the first and fourth pics.
 
Coleroad- Good on you for cleaning it up down there!

Setec Astronomy said:
I don`t think I would do that unless I had a lift, I dunno...
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Well, you do what ya gotta do. Hey, if I were just leasing something I wouldn`t bother either, but they`re not making my preferred model-year vehicles any more so the current ones have to last and I gotta spot problems before they get serious.

That`s leaving aside the issue of whether I`d ever ask a Tech to work on something that`s dirty. I like to *think* I would if leasing, but I dunno...it just seems like going to the Dentist without at least using mouthwash. I know the techs who work on my stuff and I will not disrespect them in any way; they`re not getting dirty working on *my* vehicles just like my vehicles aren`t getting dirty (or worse) from being worked on.
 
Accumulator said:
Well, you do what ya gotta do. Hey, if I were just leasing something I wouldn`t bother either, but they`re not making my preferred model-year vehicles any more so the current ones have to last and I gotta spot problems before they get serious.
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You have a lot better setup than I do...I`d be on my back on my rough asphalt driveway to do it the way the OP did, I`m not arguing with the cleaning, I`m arguing with lying on my back under the car, if you know what I mean...
 
I inspect and clean ( if needed) my undercarriage once a year when I do the oil change and that’s with a lift. It’s still somewhat tedious work.
 
Coleroad- Looking closer, that`s nicely finished under there! Hasn`t gotten all surface-rusty. Oughta be pretty easy to keep it nice now.

Setec Astronomy- Well, I`m on a creeper so it`s not bad. But yeah..no argument, I`m really spoiled. Eh, guess I always have been since I`ve had decent garage facilities pretty much my whole life, was renting a shop ages before I moved into my own place..priorities, ya know ;)

Actually, while I probably sound like I have a Martyr Complex about it, it`s not hard work if you do it all the time. Once you`ve used a SprayWax/etc. a few dozen times things clean up differently, nice and easy with just a shampoo mix. It might be a *lot* of work time-wise, but it`s pretty *easy* work effort-wise. Nasty during the winter though...all that [stuff] raining down on you.

I`m still undecided about whether a lift would make it easier on me or not...never ended up using the one at my previous shop for this, but it was a two-post and it wasn`t in the wash bay. Eh, I won`t be getting one anyhow so I guess there`s no point in wondering. Hey, if the Mallett brothers could build all those cars without any lifts I can certainly clean mine without one.
 
Bill D- I`m surprised it doesn`t need doing more often! Maybe it`s the FLA Factor, seems that whenever my hood is dirty enough for a car wash the undercarriage is too, and usually the engine compartment needs *something* so I end up thinking I might as well just go whole-hog. Although I have skipped taking off any cladding in there a few times when I was in a hurry :o
 
My undercarriage components need to be polished about once a year and yeah, it must be a FL factor that allows it to go for so long.

My engine compartment gets a once-over with a Swiffer duster about every 100 miles or so. Noting that I don’t drive all too much.
 
I keep waiting for the Wash during which some of those areas turn out to *not* need doing, but it hasn`t happened yet :( And any time I skip them it`s just more work the next time, which kinda surprised me.

So far this year, all the road construction in my area has made for a lot of undercarriage work...mud/etc. in abundance, so bad I haven`t gotten out anything I like to drive yet lest I have more work to do (my wife`s daily will need washed anyhow, might as well just share it).
 
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