Oil in bilge..dealer serviced

[jetfisher]

Just got the boat back from the dealer after the first service. First thing I noticed was invoice stated 3 qts of oil. Now when I opened the hatch at home I see oil In bilge. Not just on the liner but all the way to the bottom and at the back. No idea what's under the boat what I can't see. Is there a way to get this clean? Am I correct that this isn't my worry to clean? Is there any worry of damage to fiberglass from the oil? Since we all know the bilge holds water, just how far has all this oil gone is a main concern .I'm calling dealer tomorrow to see what they want to do. Needless to say I'm not happy .

 

[Bill D]

I wouldn't be happy either. I know from experience that it is nearly impossible to remove the oil filter without spilling some oil. I line my engine compartment with puppy training pads to catch it. I would expect the same or better from someone I was paying to do the work. I would at a minimum give the dealer a call and explain the situation and that you feel they should clean up the boat. If they're at all concerned with customer satisfaction, I would expect them to make it right.

 

[jetfisher]

I know oil can and will always be spilled. But from a dealer I would expect them to wipe it up at least.

 

[tdonoughue]

I agree they should have wiped it up. But from your photo, there is not much oil there. It will not have gotten outside of the engine compartment. It is all on gelcoat, so no impact to the fiberglass at all. Were it me, I would not be happy, but I would just drop some paper towels in there, clean it up and call it a day. Would not even be worth it for me to pack up the boat to bring it back to them to have them clean up.

Then I would probably find another place to service it. And if they called with a 'customer satisfaction' survey, I would certainly not be shy about sharing what happened.

 

[jetfisher]

That was the puddle of oil. I have oil below the gray. It's down in the bilge behind the engine wall. Down in the hull by the bilge pump also.

 

[haknslash]

Dang that sucks. Maybe if you park your boat at a steep angle on the truck and let the oil run beyond the bilge under the cleanout area you can find a place where most of it will pool up and then you could clean it out. This is why I used 2 big puppy pads plus a Tupperware container under the oil filter to catch any spilled oil. I am not sure how far dealer techs go to keep your boat clean but I'd guess at most they just shove some rags down there and hope for the best when changing the filter and clean up what they can. It's not their boat so they aren't going to care for it the same as you would which is why I like doing the work myself.

 

[swatski]

@Gonrcng has a habit of dripping some detergent into the bottom of the bilge, I started doing that as well.
I think it helps clean things up overtime.

 

[tdonoughue]

Oil below the fiberglass still will not damage it, but it is more difficult to clean up. The raw glass and epoxy is rough and sharp, do if you venture down there, long sleeves and gloves are in order. Again, I still think it is a paper towel job. You could try the tilt and drain as suggested, but I would opt for the towels. Your biggest potential damage is to the environment when your bilge pump next runs.

But if they got it down there, that is a lot of oil... Very poor job on their part.

 

[Evildwarf]

The Dwarf agrees with comments above...oil spills when filter is removed.
Absorbent puppy pads lining the engine compartment help a lot...BUT no one treats your boat like you do and service departments hurry to finish one work ticket and move on to the next job and they are not likely to use pads etc to minimize spills and clean up afterward to the same degree the boat's owner would.
It's a for profit business so...eh, it is what it is.

Perhaps give the shop manager the opportunity to demonstrate his commitment to you the paying customer before you nail them on the customer satisfaction survey...but as someone said already is it really worth hauling your boat back there to have them clean this up?

I would learn to do the service yourself as you will care the most about how it is done.

 

[ToddW850]

You can get a bottle of Dawn dish washing soap and pour it in your engine compartment (not the whole bottle). Then spray out with a hose. Dawn works wonders on oil. When the BP oil spill happened in the Gulf of Mexico, we got oil on our beaches here in Destin. If we happened to step on the oil, they had Dawn set up along the beach accesses to clean up. Worked like a charm.

 

[Noko]

409 cleaner. I use a swifter to clean under the motors.

 

[haknslash]

Just pour a ton of cat liter in there. At least it would smell good!

I'm kidding of course!

 

[jetfisher]

@haknslash that would be great ballast if I were wake boarding huh

 

[jameskeller76]

Had the same issue. I let my local dealer do the first oil change/service/plugs. Not only was the cost very high they were messy. Oil in the bilge and greasy hand prints all over including the vinyl. I used a 50/50 mix of Dawn and water in a spray bottle to cut the oil then rinsed it out.
1) I will not be letting the dealer service my boat again
2) I will lay down some mat to soak up oil when I do it myself.

p.s. They were also supposed to fix my engine compartment foam. They did spray it but it's already falling down again