Used engine oil, any good for rustproofing?

[Lankytim]

Hi gang.

 

Used engine oil... worth spraying it all over the underside of my old motors? I know this used to be common practice years ago. I remember some guy in the early 2000's having a Marina van which he used for work daily, it was immaculate underneath, all thanks to a yearly dousing in used motor oil.

 

I have one of those pump operated creosote sprayer things, will I die instantly of TEH CANCER if I use it to rust proof my XM and the wife's Multipla?

 

NEED INPUT.

 

 

[Asimo]

I am still here and I have been doing it for years. I used to mix it with waxoyl but now I don't bother. It is nasty stuff if you are a lifeform so do the job over plastic sheet and pour the drips back in the tin. Run it into seams and onto threads from an oil can.

 

I have been told that the oil from Diesel engines is much nastier.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I think this is a great strategy for anyone who can be bothered with the general mingingness of it.

 

Your multipla is probably galvanised (my Doblo is) in which case it will likely die of electrical gremlins or blown up turbo or whatever long before it needs the chassis welding mind you.

[gordonbennet]

My late cousin filled the sills (yes grease nippled and pumped in) and liberally slopped a whole 45 gallon drum of grease all under his HB Viva, it lasted donkeys years but it was bloody mucky where all the crap stuck to it.

 

I like the idea of engine oil, even el cheapo unused (which is what i would use instead of used) would be great for creeping into all the nooks and crannies.

 

The only thing i would do is to plastic bag as many rubber bushes joints and couplings as possible before spraying, bound to have some long term effect on the rubber unless you prefer to clean it off after with summat.

[TRW]

It does work at keeping the tin worm at bay. However dirt will stick to the oil holding in moisture, so you need to jetwash the underside off once a year and reapply the treatment.

 

Remind me not to follow you in the rain though. Ta.

[mat_the_cat]

I tend to do it every year or so, and seems to help. But on my more heavily used vehicles it does pretty much wash off in a few months. It's free though, and I have more oil to use than I can get rid of!

[Micrashed]

I paint fence panels with it - they are 25 years old and not rotten in any way shape or form.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

If you do it I'll peretend to be a motorcyclist and get on my high horse, gobbing off about sliding off under a truck thanks to your unrusty sills.

[jbz2079]

Yes, good for fences, stops the kids climbing on it, or if they do the won't again.

It does retard rust in cars, but what a bloody mess it makes, grit and muck thrown up by the wheels sticks to it and in the rare event of a heatwave

your motor will start bleeding black drips.

 

Used engine oil is nasty unpleasant stuff, it soakes up all the acids and carbon from the combustion process.

As an apprentice I was always warned not to keep oil or diesel covered rags im my overall pocket due to the risk of testicular cancer caused by diesel oil.

Used diesel oil is contaninated by fine carbon particles that get into your pores and are very difficult to wash off, this and diesel fuel are both

assumed carcogenic.

 

Also I reckon that old oil dripping off your motor when it rain, just mught upset a biker or two as they skate down the road on it.

There are far better, all be it more expensive products out there. 

[mercrocker]

Its what I reckon led to the long term survival of my Cowley.  Something evil was pumped into the chassis or else it had a massive (even by B series standards) and particularly projectile-istic oil leak.   Lots of old boys tell me they used to do it - I still use  it on fences but have stopped short at automotive protection - I too have  been warned of the acidity in used oil.   Waxoil and the like does eventually stop bleeding and driving through your own seepage is bad enough without spreading it too other innocent road-users.   I am not beyond boiling waxoil and pouring it into cavities before a spirited drive round but I wouldn't do it with old engine oil.

[jonathan_dyane]

Oil neat in the cavities and mixed with grease and daubed all over the underside always worked for me stopping elderly Citroens deteriorating.

 

Bloody messy though but when mixed with grease will not wash off and need reapplying.

[lisbon_road]

Waxoyl is not so expensive and less harmful.  Stick with that. 

[dollywobbler]

That sums it up. It will work, but it is nasty. As proof, note that Mini front subframes never rust as readily as the rear...

[RichardMoss]

Waxoyl is not so expensive and less harmful. Stick with that.

 

Agreed - it can be diluted with white spirit or warmed up to allow it to flow into all little crooks and nannies, so ere is no need to use something as unpleasant as old oil. You can do a whole car with Waxoyl for about £30-£35 and it is a much better bet.

[plasticvandan]

i used to mix with parrafin and paint my sheds/fence with it,the one shed was 40 years old and still standing.

used to use it on my morris minor,but does take a day or two to stop dripping.clean oil doesnt work,has to be used.

[Angrydicky]

I used it once, it dripped everywhere. Never again.

[jonny69]

It's GR88888888888888888888 for making your car stink.

 

And you get covered in stinky black oily stuff every time you have to do anything under the car.

[overrun]

That sums it up. It will work, but it is nasty. As proof, note that Mini front subframes never rust as readily as the rear...

 

I always tend to think that an unreliable, usually rust-prone car, will be in better shape than one with a dry engine.

[brickwall]

I use it inside the sills and the chassis. It' best mixed with something that doesn't hold water...I used rock dust left over from a rock crushing and grinding machine and it turns into a runny paste paste.

 

It's not too sticky after a while.

[Bobthebeard]

I paint fence panels with it - they are 25 years old and not rotten in any way shape or form.

My neighbour painted his garden shed ( Adjacent to the house) with old engine oil and it seemed to do the job of preserving it. However when he tripped over his portable gas barby whilst pissed it didn't end at all well! Shed went up like a firework and they had to move into a hotel for three months whilst the house was rebuilt!

Not exactly relevant, but cautionary.

[Guest Breadvan72]

I can recommend having one of the cooling pipes on your autobox explode, as although you grind to a halt in a cloud of smoke accompanied by horrid clanking noises, the chassis gets a good spraying with sticky transmission fluid that stands it in good stead for the next few MoTs.    If you have an old skool autobox built in Detroit to haul trucks, or something similar from Dagenham or Stuttgart from back in the day, it will survive the experience and non nom a fluid refill when the pipe has been replaced.

[tooSavvy]

I can recommend having one of the cooling pipes on your autobox explode, as although you grind to a halt in a cloud of smoke accompanied by horrid clanking noises, the chassis gets a good spraying with sticky tansmission fluid that stands it in good stead for the next few MoTs.    If you have an old skool autobox built in Detroit to haul trucks, or something similar from Dagenham or Stuttgart from back in the day, it will survive the experience and non nom a fluid refill when the pipe has been replaced.

The flexi pipe to the auto cooler, on my Bader 9k, burst with spectacular effect - lots of smoke!!

 

low loader home >> visit to Pringles Scrappies for a spare [mmm £20] >> spanner off/on and refill/check level (not down much) >> Brumm, Brumm.

 

love me SAABs, me 

 

TS

[mercrocker]

I have a not entirely relevant but pass-on-worthy cautionary tale regarding fence painting too.....Fecking hate painting, me, so I go off and get a cuprinol sprayer and bucket of related brown filth to do the job in a lazy afternoon rather than a wasted week-end.    Bloody great it was too, took me a tenth of the mucky-brush time that would otherwise have had to be allocated.   Sat down in our new conservatory with cuppa, feet up, smug look when missus came in.   Until we both looked up at our new glass roof-ed garden abode and saw what looked like a Derbyshire cattle farmer's dirty protest outside Barclays.   Fucksticks.  The sun had baked it on too.   And on the car.   Back to brush and engine oil for me....And if the Barbie burns the lot it will save me doing it again.  Ever.

[Split_Pin]

2 mega sized cans of Dinitrol with super bendy long nozzles are only 18 quid from EBay and it doesn't wash away.

[Lankytim]

Thanks for the input guys. I may just get a rag and wipe used oil over the bottom of the sill flanges or something rather that spraying it everywhere. 

 

I never knew dinitrol was so cheap, i'll have to look into it. 

[Squire_Dawson]

Don't forget the insides of the sills either; it's the cavities which are more important and rust from the inside out. Prod the drainholes clear aswell.

[KruJoe]

 

Came home this aft to find Will having a go.

 

 

 

It was pissing black crap from every orifice, but the kid was enjoying himself. Who am I to stop him?

 

[forddeliveryboy]

Full of corrosive acid, plus all the carcinogens. Having to weld to sills which are internally soaked in used sump oil not a pleasant thought. Used cooking oil is very cheap and just as good, plus it dries off to a tacky finish. Thin with heat before spraying internally.

 

Otherwise, the professional products intended for inside cavities (not Waxoyl, it isn't elastic enough when dry) are superb, don't cost any more than half a tank of fuel at the most and last well. Do it in a wart dry spell in August, when all traces of winter road salt are long gone and there's no risk of trapping any moisture in blind seams. Thin as necessary, apply under pressure  -  the internal bits are the most important areas to do.

 

Don't spray the exterior with the black stuff (underbody schutz) over any rust - next time you come to have a look there'll be 10x the rot.

[gordonbennet]

The Outback is gonna get serious anti rust treatment over the summer after it comes back next weekend from LPG conversion.

 

I usually use waxoyl but following the wisdom here and elsewhere i've bought a big pack of Rustbusters Epoxy Mastic paint for coating the surface rusting subframes and suspension parts, and about to order a mega pack of Dinitrol, both cavity, well for cavities, and underbody for doing the whole car body and subframes as protective top coat.

 

Can't bring meself to use engine oil, used or new, far too many rubber bushes in the suspension.

 

S'funny, but some cars you buy and they just don't endear themselves enough to really go to town on, the Outlander was one of those, it was ok but thats it, the Outback in question has become part of the family in less than three weeks, its now sporting new discs'n pads all round, its summer original wheels are being refurbed as we speak, new set of Nokian tyres for those in the garage, has new oil in both diffs and the engine (waiting on delivery of ATF for auto gearbox oil renewal) and has seen its first serious underbody clean for many years.

[scooters]

I rust proofed the engine bay in the XJ6 by leaving the oil filler cap off by accident and driving 20 miles...job done

 

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