# Strong petroleum odor after major repairs

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/strong-petroleum-odor-after-major-repairs/54946>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [September 11, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/strong-petroleum-odor-after-major-repairs/54946 "2010-09-11T02:38:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cindyD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@cindyD](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cindyD)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/strong-petroleum-odor-after-major-repairs/54946/1 "2010-09-11T02:38:37Z")

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shop claims they power washed with petroleum solvent-everything under the hood of the car. What is the real reason they would do this?

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**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/strong-petroleum-odor-after-major-repairs/54946/2 "2010-09-11T03:20:00Z")

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This is done if a large amount of oil was covering everything in the engine compartment. If it were coolant covering everything, it wouldn’t require a petroleum solvent to remove it as it mixes easily with water.

Tester

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**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 11:58am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/strong-petroleum-odor-after-major-repairs/54946/3 "2010-09-11T11:58:09Z")

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Did you ask them?  
There should not be a strong odor, and frankly there are non petroleum based cleansers that would have worked. If the odor is objectionable perhaps they’ll rewash it with a non petroleum-based cleanser. Ask them.

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**Author:** ![cindyD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@cindyD](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cindyD)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/strong-petroleum-odor-after-major-repairs/54946/4 "2010-09-11T13:24:59Z")

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I did ask them and they said that the mechanic likes to work with a clean surface. He mentioned after their 20 point inspection-almost in passing-that the oil was overfilled the last time I had the oil changed (at the dealership last week-not them)(but I didn’t realize if he meant it was all over the engine.) And there might also have been coolant because of the work I was having. He told me to crack the windows…and put the air on recycle when I drive and it will burn away after 3 driving times. This sounded kind of weird and fishy to me. Can this “cleaner” do harm to hoses, belts etc. if we leave it on? Any thoughts on this?

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**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/strong-petroleum-odor-after-major-repairs/54946/5 "2010-09-11T13:47:03Z")

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The cleaner will not do any harm. And the odor should dissipate within a week.

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**Author:** ![cindyD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@cindyD](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cindyD)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/strong-petroleum-odor-after-major-repairs/54946/6 "2010-09-11T14:16:09Z")

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okay! thanks very much!