Burnt oil smell. How to clean oil spill?

[Lahj Bawls]

I'm probably not the only one who has been sloppy and spilled some oil on the engine. I did this recently and the stuff I spilled on the exhaust manifold really stinks.

Will soap and water work to clean the burnt oil smell on the engine? What is best (to clean the engine compartments with)?

Also is there anything to be be careful of... like, should I be carefull not to spill water on the spark plug wires or is this pretty well insulated.

TIA

 

[labman]

I usually wipe up what I can and endure the smell which quickly goes away. Ordinary soapy water doesn't cut oil that well. One of the cleaners, Gunk, etc. designed to clean the exterior of the engine should do a good job. If you have Simple Green or another general purpose cleaner, that should work too. When you hose things off, keep the hose away from the ignition and other electrical parts. they are sealed, but don't push your luck.

 

[SteveD2]

Simple green is a pretty good engine cleaner. Spray it on while the engine is warm (not hot) and let it soak for a while. Then spray it off with a hose. Try to stay away from the distributor and anything else electrical. If you get them wet your car probably won't start, but everything should be fine again once they dry out.

 

[Chris B.]

409 cuts it pretty good. I use it to clean up oil all the time. You might notice the oil turning puprle when the 409 hits it. I don't know why it does this, must be a chemical reaction?

 

[bootlegger_1]

Try engine starting fluid. Just be sure the motor is cool. Spray it on and the oil and the smell will disappear. This works on various things from oil stained clothes to oil spots in the driveway.

 

[pepper32]

For cleaning engines or oil spots on concrete use a mixture 50% vinegar and 50% lemon scented ammonia. Inexpensive and smells good too.

 

[Lumberg]

quote:

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Originally posted by pepper32:
For cleaning engines or oil spots on concrete use a mixture 50% vinegar and 50% lemon scented ammonia. Inexpensive and smells good too.

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let's see here....vinegar is an acid. Ammonia is a base. Seems like you should just choose either one or the other. What's the point of combining the two?

 

[brianl703]

I use Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner (the kind that comes in the spraycan).

It works great for cleaning engines. It breaks the oil up.

 

[pepper32]

Lumburg, don't know how or why it works. Learned the trick in Germany where solvent was hard to requisition from the supply chain. Old First Sergent taught it to the company.

 

[evoid]

My hot tip for this job is brake cleaner , removes oil spill very quickly

 

[Kestas]

Castrol Super Clean.

 

[Matt_S]

Just be careful if you use brake cleaner (or anything else for that matter) that the manifold is cool. You don't want to set the car on fire.