Ugh....used oil everyplace in my truck..ideas?

This was not my Tacoma, but my old CJ with no carpet.

the story; picked up a free parts washer from a local guy on CL. Was maybe 1/2 full with god knows how old diesel infused with grease etc.

I’ll save you the stupidity but it tipped over and the entire rear tub head covered. I dunno, maybe a gallon or two or more. After some cursing I hit up Napa and bought some speedy dry type stuff. Glorified cat litter? Left it on everything for a week. Yesterday I shop vac’d it out and it did a pretty good job! BUTTTTTTT naturally it still stinks to holy hell and there are simply places the speedy dry could get in to like seams etc.

I’m here for advice for the next steps.

my thought was use my pump pressure garden sprayer and coat it all with hot water and dawn detergent. Then maybe put it up on my ramps and rinse it out. Worried a pressure washer will just spray oil all over.

Stupid mistake but here with my tail between my legs for some advice from smarter people!!

 

I don't have anything specific, but I know the Detail Geek on YouTube has dealt with oil and grease and may be helpful.

 

Hey thanks I’ll watch! Don’t wanna make it worse that’s all lol #sodumb

 

I wish I could remember the video because I'd post a link, but he did a vehicle with motor oil on the inside.

 

I use starting fluid. It is an amazing solvent that will break down the oil then you can soak it up with old shop towels.

 

A couple gallons? It honesty may be worth pulling up the carpet so you can clean and dry underneath. Otherwise the smell will linger. Vacuum shampoo or steam clean carpet and upholstery. Tornador air sprayer with 50/50 simple green does great but particles will get everywhere if you use inside the vehicle. They are ideally good for a whole interior clean such as headliner down or in a hard to reach area. Use ventilation and good luck.

 

Thankfully it’s just the bare metal tub. So no carpet or that would have just been horrible. Steam clean is a great idea I wonder if I can do that in the metal seams.

 

ugh I should learn to read! I’d say try a degreaser. Purple power works well if diluted well you shouldn’t worry about paint being removed. Simple Green for general purpose but can also be hard on paint if not diluted. Kerosene in a squirt bottle works well with sludge and tar. Or you can try dawn dish soap and warm water like you’ve tried. An assortment of brushes for scrubbing helps as well as additional squirt bottles but not necessary.

 

LA Awesome (or something like that) is just an undiluted industrial degreaser as far as I can tell. Works great and it’s cheap at Dollar stores. I’d give it a shot. Let it soak into cracks and crevices and spray it out to rinse.

 

Purple Power is an awesome degreaser, and is very economical. I buy mine from Tractor Supply, and it's about $15 for a 2.5 gallon concentrate jug. I'd start with a 50/50 dilution in a spray bottle. Spray the area liberally, let it sit for about 10 minutes, and wipe it up with paper towels. Repeat as necessary. If the dilution doesn't do it, use it undiluted and do the same process.

 

Thx man! I’ll try that stuff and report back! Thx for the idea. Was just gonna go with Dawn but I think a dedicated degreaser may be what I need!

 

Dawn dish soap works as a great degreaser. If it's good enough to get oil off of birds, it should work here.

 

Remove everything fabric, cover up anything sensitive (electronics, etc) and rent a steam jenny from your local tool rental house, and give 'er the beans.

 

bonus side effects is you get high as hell on ether.

but on a more serious note I’d be careful using starting fluid to clean inside your truck cab. Be sure to have good ventilation. They really did use that stuff as an anesthetic back in the day.

The vapors are also highly flammable so Keep that in mind too (duh it’s starting fluid). Many a hospital blew up back in the day because of ether mishandling and was a large factor in why they stopped using it.

Prolly better/safer options. Starting fluid is great for a quick squirt on a greasy bolt or spot on your carpet bit I dunno if it’s a good idea for a large interior detail.

 

I use this stuff. It’s pretty good and would likely help. It’s LA Totally Awesome. Dollar General, Fred’s, or similar would have it.

 

Pull the seats out and disassemble before cleaning.

If the material is through the fabric and into the foam, they may be done.

If the foam is ok for some odd reason, then just clean the covers.

 

Not sure how any fabric or foam that came in contact with that isn't a total loss. At a minimum I'd think you'd want to leave them outside the truck for quite a while to attempt to air out if that's even possible.

Definitely wear some hand protection if using undiluted cheap degreasers like Super Clean, Purple Power etc... Probably don't want to huff too much of it as well, be well ventilated when using them. Normally I'd say spot check when using them but not sure that any damage they do can be worse than what you're trying to tackle.

 

That’s a good tip. I’ve had LA Awesome wreck my hands on more than one occasion. Not cool.

 

I heard gasoline can cut through motor oil (but have no idea if its true)

 

I ordered some stuff on Amazon once that was some kind of enzyme that eats oil. It was in powdered form and you keep it sort of moist. I used it when I had a major spill in my shop

I'll see if I can remember the name of it