hydrulic fluid and paint work.

simonelsey · Post by **simonelsey** » 06 Jun 2006, 18:57

Advice needed ,

Today at work dustcar blew up its hydrulics , spilling all its fluids over my metallic Xsara . This covered the bumper , bonnet , windscreen and both sides . Spoke to driver and said , Are you going to get someone to sort me car out ,He said what can I do about .

Spillage team turn up and forget to bring cos sheets with them cleaned up road spillage , was advised not to use water to clean. So leaves my car undriveable as on windscreen and has gone smeared .

My insurance compaines picking it up tomorrow , but wha I want to now is Will it cause permant damaged to car will I have to have a respry our do think it will be ok with a profesional clean.

Any thoaghts welcomed.

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 06 Jun 2006, 19:37

I wouldn't have thought it was any worse than engine oil, in which case it'll probably wash off with synthetic thinners (NOT CELLULOSE) or panel wipe - and with a polish it'll look as though it never happened.

Screen - something very strong will be needed.

f00lzz · Post by **f00lzz** » 06 Jun 2006, 20:17

Is this the same as brake hydraulic fluid? My experience (back to Morris 1100) was that it acts like paint stripper!!

np · Post by np » 06 Jun 2006, 20:27

I work as a plant driver & quite often suffer from burst hydraulic hoses,which cover everything with hot oil.Never seems to have an effect on paint work.Ok so its not metallic paint,& the diggers etc dont have the best looking paint,but we just wipe it off with a rag.Never seen it strip the paint.
You may have to take care with the metallic paint though.As for the windows,just wipe off the excess oil with clean dry cloths,then use a window cleaner(fast glass,windowleen etc)to clean them.Never has an effect on the glass.
So i think(& hope for you

) that it will clean up ok with no lasting damage.

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 06 Jun 2006, 20:27

Conventional brake fluid is harmful to paint, although the layer of clear coat on most modern cars will probably protect it if you get it off quickly.

LHM is a mineral oil just like a thin engine oil without the normal engine oil additives so I don't imagine that would have any harmful effect on paint...

Regards,
Simon

Post by **Peter.N.** » 06 Jun 2006, 21:28

I would concur with Mandrake, hydraulic fluid is normally mineral oil which should wash off with detergent, conventional brake fluid is a different matter.

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 06 Jun 2006, 22:51

well - a dustcar wont use LHM for hydraulic oil - would it ?

No - lets stick to the facts : standard utility vehicle hydraulics use a standard type mineral hydraulic oil - much like engine oil. Not dangerous to paints if cleaned off fairly quick. Can be cleaned off using any standard detergent for cars. May take a couple of go'es however until all traces are gone - depending on the amount. Then a re-treating of any paint protector ("wax") should be done.

Please dont spoil the thread talking brake fluid - as this is not the issue here.

simonelsey · Post by **simonelsey** » 06 Jun 2006, 23:26

thanks for replies so once its cleaned by the insurance company and rewaxed sholuld be ok

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 06 Jun 2006, 23:40

As others have mentioed, hydraulic oils are a mineral oil. They have very little in the way of additives in them compared to lhm or engine oil, usually an anti foam additive and not a whole lot else.

If you've ever spilled diesel (or petrol) on your car filling it up, you'll realise that petrol and diesel don't damage the paintwork and I wouldn't expect engine oil, lhm or even hydraulic oil to have much affect beyond making a greasy stain that'll wash off.

f00lzz · Post by **f00lzz** » 07 Jun 2006, 10:00

AndersDK wrote: Please dont spoil the thread talking brake fluid - as this is not the issue here.

We are talking Hydraulic Fluid here.... which brake fluid is, we may 'assume' that the reference to the dustcart hydraulic fluid is not the braking system, though that wasn't clear in the first post. However, far from 'spoiling' the thread, I think it is valid content.

alan s · Post by **alan s** » 07 Jun 2006, 11:23

If it's running what they call "Tellus" oil, it's just almost a varient of LHM but if it's a genuine Dot4 brake fluid, you're in big trouble.

Common deal for vandals if they don't like someone is to chuck a bit of that on the paint and it's almost the best paint stripper known to man.
If however it's just the Tellus stuff, a clean with a product like 'Grease and Wax remover' as used by spraypainters will see it cleaned off in no time, followed by a buff and polish.
If it's the Dot4, you'd be looking at bare metal long before now, so I'd say you're safe.

Alan S

simonelsey · Post by **simonelsey** » 07 Jun 2006, 15:50

OK to clear it all up it was the hydrulics for the internal ram went .the bit which squashes the load up . When it blew it sprayed out on intial radius of about 10 meters. Ive spoke to the garage and they are degreasing the car andd rewaxing car . Seems paintwork not affected but only time will tell ,I have seen car yet as not got it back . I shall be checking it for any marks caused by the fluid if any . I will let you all know how it looks.

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 07 Jun 2006, 20:08

A truck with air brakes wouldn't use DOT3/4/5!

alan s · Post by **alan s** » 08 Jun 2006, 00:21

Kowalski wrote:A truck with air brakes wouldn't use DOT3/4/5!

Do tell!!

Alan S

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 08 Jun 2006, 11:23

alan s wrote:Do tell!!

Air brakes aren't hydraulic are they .... hence no hydraulic fluid.

I do know that smaller trucks often do have hydraulic brakes (I've got a set of front brakes off a Ford Cargo truck, they're a bit bigger than my Xantia ones) and often even when they have an air operated parking brake they still have hydraulic brakes, but larger trucks have air brakes, don't they? Bin wagons in the UK tend to be pretty large, the trend is towrards 3 and 4 axles, I remember when they only had 2.