New meaning of "oil burner"

[Toad]

I was changing my oil today, and as bad as i am when it comes to me doing stuff myself, i spilt a good amount of oil when re-filling hte engine, and it went down the rear of the block where i cant reach. I took the engine cover off and cleaned all i could. And when i went under the car, there was oill all the way down. And now hte fun part, the oil is burning and smoking.

My dealer said it'll be fine after it all burns off, but i'm worried about a potential fire, fyi it was synthetic mobil 1. Also i'm leaving for H2O tomorrow. I drove it around some, like hte dealer told me to, and the smoke has gone away, but it still smells like burning oil. Anyone else do this, or am I really that clumsy? Is it safe for me to drive 500 miles straight?

[The Cheat]

It'll be fine. I spill a little every time I do my oil...so I wouldn't worry at all.

[Toad]

The first time i ran the car (which was driving it to the dealer, i popped hte hood, a cloud of smoke came out. It was pretty funny. I just cant do any engine work to my car without losing/breaking something.

[Beetlescott]

Toad, I would think the smell will eventually go away. When I drove a VW bus, the O rings had to be changed every few months. before I got them changed, oil leaked everywhere. Right after I got the new ones in, as soon as all of it burned off, it was almost as good as new!

[VW2.0Driver]

You'll be fine, I've spilled oil before as well, and the car has never caught fire.

In fact, I don't think oil will catch fire from the heat of an engine anyway because oil gets naturally hot from being worked through a running a engine, and if oil caught fire just from engine heat...

Well lets just say cars would be in serious trouble, cause you could be driving along a highway and randomly see the front ends of cars exploding

Come to think of it, that'd be kinda cool to see happen. Maybe in the form of an oil commercial.

"At <insert oil company here> we strive to make the best oils possible, to help your car stay in tip top shape. Unlike other oil brands where over time they destroy your engine"...(insert scene of a car running the product being sold driving around cars blowing up using another company's product)..."our oil helps protect and revitalize your car's performance every oil change"

I am crazy.

[NBregio]

i thought the only visible flame on cart or indy cars (when a crash) is from the oil burning from contact with the header...since the fuel has no visible flame.....any way, maybe im wrong, but i think it does can catch fire...

[Steinola]

Originally Posted by NBregio

i thought the only visible flame on cart or indy cars (when a crash) is from the oil burning from contact with the header...since the fuel has no visible flame.....any way, maybe im wrong, but i think it does can catch fire...

I had thought that they required an additive in the fuel to make it burn visibly, after that horrible huge invisible fire in the pits, like, 10 years ago. But maybe I'm smoking something myself

Oil will burn (or I know petroleum-based oil will... come to think of it I'm not so sure about synthetic)... but in any case it's doubtful that the relatively small amount you'd spill while changing your oil (even if it seemed large to you) would cause any flames.

If you want to get rid of the smell faster, you could always go have your engine steam cleaned.

[BeetleBuzz]

I don't want to say keep on rolling nothing will happen to avoid any lawsuits in case something does but I wouldn't stress about it too much except of course the smell which can be hard to bear at first. Just drive it off or go for undercarriage wash or do it yourself (preferred method).

My friend had a plastic shopping bag stuck somewhere in the engine bay of his Mercedes. It burned off for quite a while and we always joked about it when we rode his car. Other then the smell not much else has happened.

[NBregio]

it happenned to me, too...some plastic bag (big one) got stuck on the muffler of my nb and it smelled very bad...it did smoke pretty much, too, until i got tired and got under the car and scraped it off...that solved the problem....in the case of the oil spilled, i agree with the other orgers, just wash it counsciosly (sp?) and it would dissappear...

[Toad]

Yeah, the smell is now pretty much gone. I think doing the Dagball was the best thing I could do. And it was Hella Fun.