How to clean bilge and subfloor area??

[FacePlant]

Hey all. Last year I had a brass fitting crack by the oil pressure sending unit and it blew oil all over the engine area. It was a good amount of oil and made its way throughout what I imagine to be the subfloor area as well. Now my boat reeks of oil in all of the compartments fore and aft, and I am wondering how best to dilute/remove the left over oil. I was told by one mechanic that you can throw a cup full of detergent in the engine bay and spray water also to help with the degreasing part. The thought being that with some stops and starts, the detergent and water will scour the floor area and break down the leftover oil. Has anyone ever had this problem, and/or used this method??

[da.bell]

Have you tried a bilge absorbent kit?

I know my local lake provides them for free However, that doesn't help you to obtain one for free. Maybe your local marina might have them for free

[dogbert]

I would go to West Marine and get some bilge cleaner. You can scrub it if you like with an old mop. I would not drive around with that stuff in there. It might take several attempts to clean the bilge. I had a similar issue when my dealer pinched an O-Ring while reconnecting a high pressure fuel line...I ended up with gasoline in my bilge...talk about a white knuckle experience driving back to the boat ramp

A couple of wash downs with some warm water and bilge cleaner and it's all gone now.

[Fast1911]

I haven't had the need to do this in my Tige, however, I spilled some oil in my Stars and Stripes years ago, same oil smell obviously, I took some laundry detergent and fill the bilge up a couple inches and drove around the block a few times, then drained into 5 gallon buckets, seemed to get rid of it all

[dogbert]

I haven't had the need to do this in my Tige, however, I spilled some oil in my Stars and Stripes years ago, same oil smell obviously, I took some laundry detergent and fill the bilge up a couple inches and drove around the block a few times, then drained into 5 gallon buckets, seemed to get rid of it all

Palmolive works, too.

[FacePlant]

Thanks guys, I will give the dishsoap thing a whirl and see whats what.

[mtnsmith]

Here's another vote for the detergent/water sloshing method. The nice thing about laundry detergent over dish soap is it does not foam as much from the sloshing and when you go to rinse it out with a high pressure nozzle. I collected the initial draining in buckets and let the oil and water seperate then poured the water through a couple shop rags lining a funnel to catch the oil so the water would be oil free as far as I could tell.

[chpthril]

I 2nd the dish soap, it's meant to cut grease!