Exhaust Leak Mess

Hello All,
My single diesel exhaust hose running aft to the muffler split and exhaust smoke filled the ER for 10-12 hours up in the Broughtons last week. Its been repaired and now I am left with an incredible mess. The whole ER is covered with a black goo. Wires, hoses ,electrical equipment, pumps etc. Insurance won't cover as it is wear and tear. I am at a loss on how to get it cleaned.
Boat cleaners won't touch it. Professional industrial cleaners won't. Boatyard will at $125 an hour.
So I am on my own. I am thinking of spraying with various citrus chemicals and washing with a steam cleaner. Mess will go in bilge and I will vacuum it out and dispose of.
I have to consider plastics, rubber etc.
Any suggestions , thoughts, similar experiences?
Greg

I have had great success cleaning my engine room and the radiator of our diesel motorhome from diesel exhaust using Extreme Simple Green. It was designed for cleaning airplanes. It isn’t regular Simple Green. I order it from Home Depot and mix it 1 to 1 with water. I use a garden sprayer and spray the area, scrub with a brush. Then rinse with a garden sprayer and clean water, then repeat as necessary. Using the garden sprayers minimizes the amount of water used so cleanup is simpler. Then a shop vac to suck up the residue. Don’t let it go in the water, the penalties can be huge. Another way is my neighbor has a carpet cleaning business. Ha has a mobile unit that has a steam cleaning and a vacuum system. He sprays the area and sucks up the residue as he goes so no spillage into the water. He has about 100’ hoses so he can reach pretty far.

What a mess!

I've never had to clean up the kind of mess you're dealing with. But I've had success cleaning filty old work boat engine rooms with first a wipe of mineral spirits, you'll need good ventilation. This will get the gunk loose and has the advantage of leaving it in the rags you're using nott the bilge. Oh, and you'll need a lot of rags. Buy them in the 25 lb or 50 lb bale. The mineral spirits will leave a light film. Next comes old fashioned windex, the kind with ammonia. Again, nothing in the bilge, it's all on the rags. It's a very labor intensive method but it works. If you let that gunk get in your bilge you run the risk of creating a slick every time your bilge pumps work.

If you've got a generator consider having the windings cleaned. Dirty oily wingdings can catch fire. A generator fire is nothing to mess with.

Always been impressed with "Purple Power"

I agree Extreme Simple Green


using it for all my cars, RV.


If that don't do it I would be surprised

Make sure you change the main engine air filter and oil as well. The soot is very abrasive.

I can envision gallons of dirty water. Where does it go?

Soo-Valley said:

I can envision gallons of dirty water. Where does it go?

Click to expand...

That same place it would have gone before, into the water?

Lots of places are very, very particular about preventing discharge (which is a good thing). Like dealing with bottom paint.

I had to deal with what I think was a hydraulic leak (trim tabs or autopilot, not sure yet) and found oil absorbent towels worked perfectly. Sucked out all the oil. Might be worth using some of those laid in the bilge to collect the oily part of any gunk you remove. A pack of 100 is surprisingly cheap. Some absorb more oil than others, apparently.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=oil+absorbent+pads

I spray everything with Krud Kutter, then hit with a pressure washer. Turn your auto bilge pump off. Use a hand pump or wet vac to empty bilge into 5 gal gas cans purchased at Walmart. Local town waste oil recycle day will dispose of it if you have one.

Exhaust Leak mess.

Thank you all.
Rest assured, none of this is going into the drink. Whatever I use, I will follow up with steam, not pressure wash. And vacuum the waste out and dispose of correctly. Still have a month on my in BC cruise. Boat is usable, just the ER is a mess. I've cleaned the areas I need to be in to check oil etc. But the rest will have to wait until I get back to Gig Harbor.
I will follow up with results then.
Thanks again all, great thoughts.
Greg