Ford Aftersales Services
Car Maintenance
Thank you for your attention and use of Ford cars, and we expect that you can enjoy the driving. Cars of different brands have different operation and structural characteristics. Based on past experiences, we find that some complaints or dissatisfactions are generated due to not understanding the design and structural characteristics of the car or incorrect operation skills. To avoid these misunderstandings, we specially prepare this car use guidance, which introduces some key function characteristics and some general knowledge on car use. We would like to remind you that the information in this guide is only for your reference and this guide cannot replace the Car Owner Manual. We recommend you to carefully read the Owner’s Manual. You can get detailed information of your car from the Owner Manual, especially the information about standardized operation of the car and driving safety.
It is expected that this car use guide can help you to know more about Ford cars and become a car use expert.
Battery maintenance
Generally the battery size is measured by electric capacity. The electric capacity indicates the capacity released when a fully charged battery is continuously discharged under certain current till the termination voltage. Generally it is represented by AH. When the battery is replaced, a battery, for which AH is smaller than that of the old battery, shall not be used.
To extend the service life of a battery, you shall develop a good driving habit and remove unnecessary electric appliances from your car. In the case of short daily mileage or the long-period night driving, the battery shall be charged regularly. In addition, a battery jumper wire shall be placed on the car. If the engine cannot start, you can start the engine via a jumper wire.
In addition, if it is difficult to start or the lamp light is not sufficient, the battery shall be specially detected at a 4S shop and the battery shall be taken out for full charge maintenance. Otherwise, if the battery operates under the lack of electricity state for a long period, the battery will be damaged, thus the battery’s service life is reduced much.
Key: Do not use the sound system and lights when the engine does not start. After parking, make sure that all doors and the trunk are closed and prevent interior lights or the trunk lights from consuming the power of the battery. Lock the car in time and make the car enter the sleeping state, which is the most power-saving mode in anti-theft monitoring.
If you travel outside and will not use your car for a long period, it is recommended to remove the cathode of the battery and prevent slow discharge from full power loss.
If the battery loses power, the battery will be damaged.
Tyre maintenance and use
The tyre pressure gauge is adhered to the center pillar of the left front door.
The excessive use of tyre, incorrect driving habits and improper braking will wear down all or partial tyre treads. If improper solvents are splashed onto the tyre, it will lead to deterioration and expansion of tyre rubbers. Damage and cutting of side tyres will severely affect the basic functions of a tyre. If these cases are discovered, it is recommended to check or replace the tyres at 4S shop.
Before a car is used, generally tyre conditions shall be checked. Front and rear wheels are exchanged properly according to recommendations of a 4S shop in daily maintenance. The four-wheel positions shall be detected and regulated regularly. The tyres with too shallow tyre treads shall be replaced. The best tyre function can be kept based on above maintenance and you can use your car without any worry.
In addition, a spare tyre can only be used in case of an emergency and cannot be used for a long period. The car speed shall be controlled and shall not exceed 80km/h under normal circumstances.
In addition, too high tyre pressure will reduce comfort. On the contrary, too low tyre pressure will increase the oil consumption. If the left and right tyre pressure is different (one is high and another is low), it will lead to running deviation of the car.
Maintenance of car paint
It is recommended to regularly maintain the car paint. The following recommendations will assist you to keep the car paint under the best state.
Car cleaning
Regularly clean the car, especially in coastal area and areas where salt or chemicals are included in air or on roads.
Please clean the car with warm water or cold water.
If it is difficult to clean sap, insects, guanos, stains or pitch on the road with clean water, please use diluted soapy water or proper detergents and wash with clean water.
Automatic car cleaning
It is recommended to use a brushless automatic car cleaning device. Some water may rush into the car during the operation of a high-pressure automatic car cleaning device. Before the car enters an automatic cleaning device, fold the outside rear view back.
Manual car cleaning
After the car detergents are used to wash a car, please wash the car with enough clean water and wipe the car by using soft leather or other soft wiping materials.
It is recommended to completely clean and check the car chassis regularly (especially after the rainy season) where the corrosive materials (e.g.: salt) are rich.
Before any detergent or polishing agent is used, please carefully read the operation instruction and all warning information on the product label.
Gasoline drops splashed onto the body paint or guano dropped onto the body surface shall be cleaned or removed as soon as possible. If these adhesive materials are not cleaned, they will damage the paint surface.
Waxing and polishing
Before a car is waxed and polished, it shall be cleaned and dried. It is recommended to increase waxing and polishing frequency properly where industrial dusts, dusts, heavy rains, salty air, insects, and guano are frequent or when a car is frequently parked under a tree.
Scrape
It is recommended to prevent objects such as keys, watches, rings, belt buckles, branches, or stones from directly scraping the body paint and damaging the paint surface.
Others
If your car will be parked outdoor for a long period, it is recommended to cover and protect the car body using the dustproof cover. When a car is parked outdoor for a long period, the car body may be coated by dust. It is recommended to clean the car with water and then slightly wipe it with a clean rag to prevent sand and dust on the paint surface or cleaning material from rubbing with the paint surface and leading to tiny wiping stains or scrape on the paint surface in case of body cleaning.
Maintenance of car braking
The brake disc is made of cast iron. If your car wades or is exposed to open environment for a long period (especially in rainy conditions), residual water or rain drops splashed onto your brake disc may lead to slight rust outside the brake disc. We recommend you:
1) After purchasing a new car, if the brake disc is slightly rusty, it is recommended to remove rust by driving and braking. If a foot pad is installed at the main driving position, enough movement space shall be reserved for different pedals to avoid interference between the pedal and the foot pad or insufficient space.
2) Occasional braking noises are normal and generally unnecessary to be worried. The system may occasionally or intermittently give out sharp noises or creak in case of braking during normal operation. Generally these noises are caused by environmental conditions, e.g.: coldness, heat, humidity, road dust, saline-alkali soil or muddy roads. After a car wades or drives at a field, please wash the car and remove residual water stains by using a cloth or driving.
3) If you travel outside for a long period, try to park your car at an indoor parking or cover it with a car cover to avoid rusty brake disk.
4) It is normal for the brake disc to have rust or slight groove after a heavy rain or parking for a long time.
5) Please regularly maintain the brake system according to recommendations in the Owner Manual.
Precautions
1) Car interiors shall be maintained in a timely, regular and long-term manner.
Timely - when interiors are dirty, some measures shall be taken for suppression and cleaning in time.
Regularly - at least one time every month.
Long term - maintenance for a long period can keep the interiors in a good condition, and reserve and increase the value of car in case of resale and lease.
2) Interiors are made of different materials, so proper maintenance methods shall be selected for different materials.
3) Some areas susceptible to stains such as steering wheel, safety belts, central console and side door plate of drivers shall be focused.
4) When the space inside a car is cleaned, doors and skylights shall be opened for ventilation.
5) Some cleaning agents on market may be harmful to car decorations or surrounding environment (contact or inhalation toxicity, flammability and strong acidity and alkalinity). Before they are used, carefully read and obey operation instructions. A hidden area made of materials same as the dirty area shall be tested to confirm that cleaning articles will not damage materials.
The following chemicals are not recommended：
When a detergent or polishing agent is used, it shall be confirmed that it does not include organic solvents or strong acid or alkaline liquids such as methylbenzene, gasoline, kerosene, ethanol and methanol.
6) Do not clean the dirt on the surface of interiors by using blades, hard brush or other sharp objects.
Textiles (ceiling, chairs and door trim)
1) Remove dust and loose filths by using soft brushes and vacuum cleaners.
2) For some hard or large stains, first slightly wipe with a rag to absorb stains as much as possible, soak the rag with pure water or soda water, wring it dry and completely wipe it (note: The rag shall be wrung dry).
3) Remove stains from the edge to the middle area.
4) If some hard stains cannot be completely removed, some mild soapy water can be used to repeat the above steps (the concentration of the soak water shall not be too high and the concentration can be gradually increased).
5) Clean with pure water to remove residual soapy water, remove residual water by using a vacuum cleaner or dry rag, and keep decorations dry.
6) Safety belt - Safety belts can only be cleaned and maintained with neutral sap liquid and clean water and kept clean and dry (bleaching and dyeing will damage the strength of safety belts and drying temperature shall not exceed 80℃).
Carpet (car carpet)
1) The car carpet is integrated with the car body, so it is not convenient to clean the car carpet, so moving foot pads are recommended.
2) If a foot pad is not too dirty, it is recommended to beat it outside the car. If the dirt on a foot pad cannot be easily removed, refer to cleaning and maintenance method on the basis of its materials.
3) If a carpet susceptible to stains, remove dust by using a brush and a vacuum cleaner prior to washing.
4) After the dust is removed, spray detergents properly (mild soapy water and soda water, clean it with a brush, and finally absorb residual detergents by using a clean rag.
5) Specially notice that a carpet shall not be soaked in water for brushing. Otherwise, binding of several layers of different materials will be destructed and the carpet will not be dry for a long period, which will affect use effect.
Leather (leather seats, etc.)
1) Remove dust by using a soft rag dipped with water.
2) If some stains are left, a soft rag dipped with some mild soapy water is used to wipe.
3) After the stains are removed, the leather shall be naturally dried.
4) Leather detergents and brush polish on sale for leather maintenance may lead to non-uniform leather gloss or affect specific touch of leathers, so it shall be carefully used.