Remember your parents, favourite auto guru, or co-worker warning you about using household products on your vehicle? Never use dish-washing detergent to clean your car, or a kitchen scrubbie to clean bird crap off your windshield are two of the more popular ones. But there are some home product hacks that can actually work better on your vehicle than purpose-made goods on your auto-parts store shelves.
CLR Calcium, Lime and Rust Remover Smart auto techs have found that this handy product is better at unclogging vehicle HVAC heater-cores than almost anything on the market. Those cores (small radiator-like units) that are located behind the dash can easily get clogged with scaling, engine debris and other materials. When this happens the amount of heat they put out can be drastically reduced, leaving drivers and passengers with chattering teeth on frosty commutes. In less than an hour of contact time in most cases, CLR can restore heater cores to normal flow. Any easy way to test for a partially blocked core is to locate the feed and return lines (usually located next to each other on the engine side of the firewall) and to feel them with your bare hands with the engine warmed up, running, and the HVAC turned to full heat. If there is a noticeable difference in temperature between the hoses, the heater core is likely partially plugged.
Ivory soap We can be excused for not worrying about flying insect infestations in the dead of winter, but spring is coming. There are a few popular species that tend to play havoc with the painted body panels on our rides. These winged pests secrete a very strong and damaging liquid that can easily and permanently discolour and mar almost any type of automotive finish. Getting these spots removed as quickly as possible is critical to minimize the damage. That’s where Ivory brand hand soap comes in. The stearic acid content of this bathroom staple can neutralize certain insect secretions, thus terminating the chemical reaction. After a car-wash, simply dampen a microfiber cloth with water and dab a small smear of soap onto the cloth and then onto to the bug stains. Wait a few minutes and then thoroughly rinse things off.
