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engine oil spill

N

nosajnil

New member
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Location
Los Angeles, CA
i was topping off my engine oil, then i forgot to put the oil filler cap back on;-)
i drove all the way to school....then it started to smoke (i thought sth is terribly wrong), oil spill everywhere in the engine compartment

how do i clean those oil off?
brakleen?
 
use some purple power or whatever all-purpose solvent you can get, the brakleen will take the paint off things... spray and wipe as much off as you can and the rest will have to burn off.

if you don't want to drive while it is burning off, leave the car running with the hood open and watch the smoke until it's no longer there... you will never be able to get all of it... some of it will just have to dissapate by burning on its own.
 
it is slightly possible that it could catch fire... while the smoke is really bad and in the process of burning off i like to be watching with the hood open to make sure it all burns off evenly and doesn't cause any trouble.. basically you can let it burn off just keep an eye on it so it's under control.
 
Do so with a fire extinguisher handy. ;-)

Everyone should carry one in their car anyways, they are an extremely cheap life safety device. I keep one behind the passenger seat, easy to grab and run to engine compartment if need be.

As a tip, if there is already a fire burning in your engine compartment, be *very* careful opening the hood as it could easily flare up. Safest thing to do is call the fire department, tho you might lose the car.
 
orie said:
As a tip, if there is already a fire burning in your engine compartment, be *very* careful opening the hood as it could easily flare up. Safest thing to do is call the fire department, tho you might lose the car.
Click to expand...


+1

Ask me how I know... :oops:

"Look, it's a Volvo on Fire!"
 
I did that once, years ago. Only once. It will burn off and stop smoking/smelling eventually. I only drove about halfway to school (~3 miles) before stopping at a light and it started to smoke so I hopped out and found the cap sitting near the hood latch. Now I put the oil cap ON the hood latch.

Check the oil level at some point, after it has sat for a while. Wipe up any oil that may have gotten on the valve cover, hood, intake manifold, etc. That won't burn off, but will collect dust/dirt which is kind of messy after a while.
 
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