Detailing Under the Hood

Detailing Under the Hood correctly can bring in extra business
for a Detail Shop, which often does wholesale detailing for new
car dealerships with trade-ins or used car dealerships with a
never-ending stream of hap hazardly detailed cars from the auto
auctions. One thing many detailers do not pay enough attention to
is the Battery Box, Battery, cables and terminals. When a car
buyer looks under the hood and sees the battery is covered with
greenish-white residue they are hardly impressed. When the car
does not start either it is a little tough to sell. Also a light
film of battery acid on the out side of the battery can be enough
to cause a 2% negative charge and slowly drain the battery. You
can get an extra ten dollars for a battery cleaning.

If you wholesale detail price is hovering around $65.00 you will
find that for an extra $10.00 that most dealers are willing to
pay for it. When customers come in on a retail level we often get
$15.00 for battery and terminal cleaning. You do not need very
many supplies to do this. A plastic terminal wire brush cleaner,
a metal brush with a wood handle, air hose, safety glasses,
one-half inch wrenches, loctite battery protector and sealer, an
empty water bottle with a pot sip cap, one gallon container of
distilled water, some solid gloves and some baking soda. A tray
to lay your equipment on is also a good idea. If you do this on a
retail detail advise the customer that they will need to reset
everything afterwards. Clocks, etc.

In a motor home many things will need resetting. First thing to
do is to remove battery and clean battery tray with baking soda
and water, while this is cleaning itself spray some water on the
battery and sprinkle baking soda on it, then dry it off using the
air hose or you can spray degreaser on the sides and top of the
battery and wipe it off. Then wire brush clean the posts, remove
them if you think you need to, and obviously you do not want to
touch both posts at the same time. Then spray the battery with
rubber dressing and wipe off.

If you have removed posts put them back on. Check water and fill
up evenly with distilled water. If it is a sealed battery and you
pop the tops, clean underneath before adding the water if needed.
Usually they do on used cars. Put caps back on and then
re-install battery and then look at the cables to see if they are
damaged and if so clip them and re-attach cables after cleaning
terminals as close as possible to the ends. If you have to
replace the terminals then that is a $10.00 additional cost.

By Lance Winslow