Cleaning the bilges - after the gearbox has dumped all of its oil...

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Trevelyan

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Hi all,
Another one of those newbie questions:
So, I had a bilge full of gearbox oil - the engine is now out and it is cleanup time. It is a small boat (Seal 22) and so it is VERY fiddly to get to the engine bay and bilges, really tough to degrease without laying down at stupid angles and spreading hand prints everywhere...

Any tips on what to use that is effective and cheap? I looked at the price of bilgex and cried. Is it worth it?
So far I've tried washing up liquid (not great), swarfega (good but need lots)...

Cheers and happy New Year,
Trev
 
You can use an engine degreasant spray. Gunk smells a bit weird, but there are also citrus based types - and you might also follow up with some Febreze. On the water I've put diluted pressure washer detergent in the bilges and let it slop around for a week. Use the bilge pump to pump it into a container for disposal.

Rob.
 
Emulsifying a whole gearbox worth of oil will take a shed load of anything. The first thing, therefore, is to get as much of the liquid out as possible. Bail? Pump? One of those cylindrical oil-absorbing thingies.

Once you've done that you can degrease. Gunk and its ilk smell horrible, but it might be worth putting up with that, particularly if you can air it well over the winter.

Note of caution: the emulsified results of using Gunk (or whatever) are extremely environmentally damaging, particularly to aquatic life, so make sure you have a save and social way of disposing of the stuff in mind before you start.
 
I've found Jizer is best for really tough jobs, especially when sprayed (the force of the sprayed degreaser washes oils right off). Gunk is meh (on par with the much cheaper Baufix degreaser Lidl occasionally offers), and Ecover Multi-Purpose Spray isn't half bad for a household product (it's designed to dissolve baked on cooking fat stains).

Additionally you'll really want some selective (Oil & Fuel) absorbent spill pads to toss into the lowest area of the bilge - they'll separate the oil from the water (and the swine from the men - only swine pump oily bilge water into the sea ;)).
 
Trevelyan said:
Hi all,
Another one of those newbie questions:
So, I had a bilge full of gearbox oil - the engine is now out and it is cleanup time. It is a small boat (Seal 22) and so it is VERY fiddly to get to the engine bay and bilges, really tough to degrease without laying down at stupid angles and spreading hand prints everywhere...

Any tips on what to use that is effective and cheap? I looked at the price of bilgex and cried. Is it worth it?
So far I've tried washing up liquid (not great), swarfega (good but need lots)...

Cheers and happy New Year,
Trev
Click to expand...

Bilgex is worth every penny! Does what it says on the tin! It is that concentrated/strong that you only use a quarter of what another product would take.
Stu
 
I've found Jizer to be good. It has a more pleasant residual smell than most. Buy it from a motor factor for best value.
 
Been there, done that. Start with marigolds and a sponge!

When all you have left is a greasy film, then it's time to use the products suggested above.
 
I used copious quantities of cheap washing up liquid and marigolds. Followed by equally vast quantities of biological washing powder. I then half-filled the bilge then went for a sail to agitate it ;0)
The boat no longer smells of gearbox oil or washing powder.

P.S. I have a monoshift gearbox from an MD2B and a (different) gearbox from a Nanni 10 hp for sale should you need one!
 
Don't forget that nappies are great for absorbency (and can be disposed of properly) and so will soak up the last of the carp so that only the surface film is left which can then be attacked as above.
 
Poecheng said:
Don't forget that nappies are great for absorbency (and can be disposed of properly) and so will soak up the last of the carp so that only the surface film is left which can then be attacked as above.
Click to expand...

+1 - absolutely, they are excellent (but for older readers: disposables not terry of course :))
 
SAPurdie said:
I used copious quantities of cheap washing up liquid and marigolds. Followed by equally vast quantities of biological washing powder. I then half-filled the bilge then went for a sail to agitate it ;0)
The boat no longer smells of gearbox oil or washing powder.

P.S. I have a monoshift gearbox from an MD2B and a (different) gearbox from a Nanni 10 hp for sale should you need one!
Click to expand...

Just what I did with a mates boat after a mixed diesel and lube oil spill. It was the sailing for a few hours, tacking more than really required that made sure the last bits were washed down.
 
Interesting thread, since I have a similar issue to tackle on my boat from previous owner's old engine dumping all of its' oil in the bilge. So far I have cleaned with paper towels and white spirit where the hull is accessible by hand, but there is a lot of built in floor sections that are inaccessible. I plan on the nappies trick in the section under the engine bay to soak up as much as possible, but it will definitely need some form of detergent / water mixture to be agitated around to try and shift the film that's left I think...
 
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