I can repair a 32v engine with cam belt failure, but I'm incapable of doing an oil change. It wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that last time I dumped several litres of used oil in front of my friends house, this time I manage to do the same in the underground garage of my apartment block.

Although I've cleaned most of the mess (with several bath towels and cans of engine degresant), the concrete is now stained, so I'm about to pick up a "Rug Doctor" and some more driveway cleaner as there is no other way I can rinse the concrete.

I am never going to try to change the oil myself again.

 

Not the old 4 liter drain pan trick ....?

 

 

Cardboard my good man, cardboard.



Scott

 

Paul,

Use a lot of floor dry (diatomacious earth) and grind it in then sweep. This should remove the surface oil. To remove the stain from the concrete, use phosphoric or sulfamic (not sulfuric) acid. Don't over do the acid as it can ruin the concrete.

This is why I use a local tire shop to change my oil. I provide the filter and they provide whatever oil I need and it costs about $5.00 more than I would pay to do it myself. While they are working on the oil, I check the underside of the vehicle for problems.

Dennis

 

Haven't tried this trick yet but going to right about now as need to clean gearbox oil from garage floor. Friend told to me use Fairy dishwasher fluid. According to him it should work as well as any normal household cleaner can.

 

Paul, I've had a small leak dripping on my concrete here at the house, I used a citrus enzyme based cleaner and it all came up no problem... just spray on let sit for few minutes and rinse off.. might take a couple applications but it works really well

 

Paul,
I'm with Scott on this.
CARDBOARD and some old rags!
Remember a while back during that ballsy teardown -btw, Congrats on that!- you were doing?
You mentioned a lost fastener or two and that you were having spillage problems on your friends garage floor?
Card board was suggested , then, I think you just re-learned a lesson (we all do at some point).
How many miles on your oil?
Was that the 1st or 2nd oil change since rebuild?
Last time I was in GB fuel and petroleum prices were astronomical. What's up?

 

Ditto on the cardboard. I saved some big ol' boxes and cut 'em up. Two of them will cover the entire underneath of my car. Definitely worth it when doing a oil change. Layers of newspaper will work too if you don't have big cardboard boxes to cut and lay down.

 

And remember, the drain pan is 6 or 7 quarts and 8 or 9 are going to come out. At least mine is...

 

I hate to change my own oil, not because of the work, but because of the hassle of re-cycling it. So I took my shark to a quick oil change place a couple of weeks ago. They refused to work on it. Said it wouldn't fit over the pit without damaging the front spoiler. So I went to the local auto parts store and bought a case of oil and a plastic pan that holds 10 quarts and did it myself. I saved some money, but now I've got two gallons of oil sitting in my garage I have to haul somewhere to re-cycle.

 

I made sure that I put down lots of newspaper and cardboard, there was no way I was taking any chances this time. I bought a new 9 litre drain can, not going to get caught out that way either. Last time gusts of wind blew the oil everywhere (except into the drain can), but this time I'm inside so this should be easy. I didn't lift the car too much as I wanted to be sure that the oil didn't splash as it hit the drain can, and that I think might have been the problem, even with the oil cap still on, the oil drains out with such force that it just ran over the sides of the drain can. No matter how much cardboard I put down, it's not going to collect five litres of oil (I reckon there's about two litres in the can).

I never got to change the oil filter, I was concentrating on dealing with an evergrowing oil slick that finally occupied about 30 sqft. It would only have taken one complaint from a neighbour and I would instantly lose the ability to work on my car in the garage. I laid bath towels over the floor as I had to drive out to the autostore to by the cleaning products. I was working against time to remove all evidince of the mishap, before someone appeared - and this was mid afternoon on Saturday.

Luckily I woke up this morning to find that my initial efforts at cleaning up looked OK once the concrete had dried, but even so, I still went ahead with more driveway cleaner and the Rug Doctor.

 

In our area, several of the auto parts stores (AutoZone, et al) will accept used oil for recycling. So will our county solid waste transfer station - just take it in and pour into their tank at no cost.

 

Man!! Where's a video camera when you need it??!!

 

The cheapest possible kitty litter is also a great oil pick-up/extractor and sweeps up easily after it's done its work.

Semi-discreet on gray concrete, too, if you want to leave it for a few days.

Condolences on today's anniversary of the death of your most recent king and congratulations on today's anniversary of the accession of Betty Deuce. The king is dead, long live the Queen. Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl. (U.K. Porsche drivers _are_ all monarchists, right? ;-)