Help! Spilled ~1 gal. DFA into trunk! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

JHZR2 · #1 02-04-2004, 04:24 PM

Hi,

Between my bumper reinforcement replacement project, and the shock project I have been doing, somehow I managed to knock over a bottle of Rotella DFA that I had sitting in my trunk.

Leave it to me to have not capped it properly; It was cross-threaded.

The bottle had nearly a gallon in it before the spill. Now there's next to none.

Fortunately for me, i have two set so fmats and plastic bags on top of that. But it didnt keep the DFA from getting all the way down into the actual trunk carpeting that sits over the spare tire, or a bunch of other stuff, such as my MB toolkit.

So, Is there any hope? How can I get the stink of fuel additive out of my trunk? I have been letting it sit open in the sunshine, but hav e a CD changer, so I cant do that too much in my parking lot.

Is the carpet piece that goes on the trunk floor ruined? It is only soaked in a top corner, but scrubbing doesnt seem to help. Sitting in the sun doesnt seem to evaporate the stuff either.

What about my toolkit? The red cloth is completely soaked in DFA. I actually tried sending it through the washing machine, but it didnt do a thing really. It still stinks very strongly.

Any advice or tricks would really be appreciated.

Thanks,

JMH

#2 02-04-2004, 04:32 PM

That's going to smell nice for a loooong time. I once spilled a gallon of Mobil Delvac 1 in the trunk of the Beetle. I had to trash the carpet because it was soaked in oil.

Rick Miley · #3 02-04-2004, 04:34 PM

The only thing I've heard of really working on oil stains is genuine TriSodium Phospate. In the paint department at Home Depot. But I don't know about it working on fabric. You could certainly try, since the stuff is ruined anyway.

leathermang · #4 02-04-2004, 04:35 PM

First I would put a pile of cat litter or Bentonite to soak up what you can...
Then, to wash things like this get some ACTUAL TSP.. trisodium phosphate...
READ the CONTENTS LIST because some stores have started making boxes of " TSP" which does not contain TriSodiumPhosphate.....
This stuff is used to clean grease off walls before painting....
I found out about it be talking to a guy that worked for one of these uniform services which supplied red mechanics rags to shops... they used a cup of the TSP into 5 gallons of hot water,, put the rags into it and use a stick to move it around some ( this is not good for your hands due to taking the oils off your skin )..then leave overnight... then you can wash with normal laundry detergent and hot water in a washing machine ( but I suggest finding an old one and use it as a dedicated machine for this type stuff ).....

84300DT · #5 02-04-2004, 05:08 PM

yeah,tsp is great.

for the smell get some coffee beans and start a little fire with them in a old can. then while its still smouldering stick it into your completely empty trunk for awhile. keep it on top of a couple of bricks or similar.
this will get rid of any smell. actually green coffee beans work best.
your trunk will smell of coffee afterwards though...duh :p

this is a trick used on cargo ships to get rid of fishmeal smell
in the holds.

JHZR2 · #6 02-04-2004, 06:32 PM

hehehe, I like the coffee bean idea. ill try that sometime.

I dont think i explainedmy trunk well enough. The good and fortunate thing about the 300D trunk is that it is not truly crpeted like in newer cars. The sides of the trunk have semihard plastic (fortunately). The trunk bottom had an OEM 'carpet' which was like extremely short nap indoor/outdoor carpet. Under that is just metal and that cardboard thing that goes over the spare tire hole.

So there were old floor matson top of the OEM carpet piece, and theyre ruined. But thats no biggie, as they were just used floormats. On the metal it seemed to wipe up OK with paper towels. but its that OEM carpet piece that is the bad one, since Id like to keep it, but it has a stain over about 1/8th its area.

ill try TSP, and maybe plain old spraying at a carwash. then the coffee idea since even with the stuff wiped off of the metal and plastic in the trunk, Itll probably still smell.

I just wish the tool kit bag wasnt a total casualty.

thanks, JMH

Volvo Diesel · #7 02-04-2004, 09:29 PM

Finally, I question I'm somewhat qualified to answer! If you can find a dry cleaner located near you that uses petroleum solvent, then dry cleaning the piece of carpet will remove the stain. I recently dry cleaned a car cover for a customer of mine (I own a dry cleaners here in Texas) who had spilled oil all over the cover in the garage. It came out looking more or less new. There is no reason why the carpet piece shouldn't be able to fit in a standard dry cleaning machine; you just have to find a dry cleaner nice enough to run a single-item load.....which may be hard (insert negative experience at a dry cleaners here). At any rate, good luck!

JHZR2 · #8 02-04-2004, 09:33 PM

Thanks! Thats probably the best thing to do...

Ill just call around to ask if they uise petroleum solvents, and if so, Ill just go by and drop it off. If theyll take it, Im set!

Thanks for the info,

JMH