ran over black garbage bag-melted...help

[graemeg]

I ran over agarbage bag today. fell out of truck, I had so way to stop or swerve without causing a wreck. I immediately pulled over, but the bag had melted to the under side of the car. Anyone know if I can try GOO remover without causing harm to some of the metal under the car, or should I just let it burn off over time. Smells pretty bad.

 

[ATERPAK]

We're assuming you meant it melted all over the exhaust system. I think at this stage it would probably be easier to just let it burn itself off over time. Even the smell will go away over time. I do think that lacquer thinner or methyl ethel ketone might work on the plastic but the cure is almost worse than the ailment. Good luck.

 

[burbel]

I agree with Aterpak; if it's on the undercarriage you can pull it off or use light chemicals, but, if it's melted, I assume it's the exhaust or the catalytic converters. With the car cold, I'll peel off what you can, but just let the rest burn off - burning plastic bags smell bad, but so would burning chemicals.

 

[LJSB]

Flammable liquid on a rag under your car, cleaning off a garbage bag.
Sounds like the Red Green show. :biggrin:

 

[jalnjr]

methyl ethyl ketone.....yummy NOT

http://www.inchem.org/documents/ehc/ehc/ehc143.htm

really not the kind of stuff you wanna remove garbage bags with
it will kill you...

i see joe has chimed in on the effects of mek on nsx.
any biochemists in prime????

 

[graemeg]

Boy did I ask a dumb question. As soon as pressed the post button, I knew I was going to be the villiage idiot...what was I thinking heat and flamable liquid, does the Richard Pryor incident ring a bell.

 

[LJSB]

On a cool exhaust try a razor scraper and polish/clean with a damp, soapy Brillo/SOS
pad. Rinse as needed with water.
You are not the village idiot. Not even close. :wink:

 

[Texas91Brent]

Time to upgrade your exhaust...hmmmm new headers, nice polished comptech exhaust...problem solved!!! :biggrin:

 

[Mirroredshades]

I ran over a bag once just like you described. That car stunk for the remaining year and a half that I owned it. The smell won't go away. Trust me.

:frown:

 

[zahntech]

OH dont be so worried about flamable chemicals I use carb cleaner to remove plastic bags from peoples exhaust all the time, after you have removed all of the melted plastic rinse completely with water and you will be fine.. :smile:

 

[ChopsJazz]

You can remove the bag with an old rag on the hot exhaust. Just wipe it down real hard with plenty of elbow grease and the plastic will come right off. But the exhaust must be good and hot!

 

[LJSB]

OH dont be so worried about flamable chemicals I use carb cleaner to remove plastic bags from peoples exhaust all the time, after you have removed all of the melted plastic rinse completely with water and you will be fine.. :smile:

This is a unsafe solution even if you do it all the time.

What are people doing that run over garbage bags all the time? :biggrin:

 

[zahntech]

The plastic bag is more likely to catch fire than your exhaust after it has been rinsed with water,carb cleaner will evaporate within seconds even if you dont rinse, working with a hot exhaust system as someone recomended with a wet rag is far more likely to cause you 2nd degree burns...NEVER SPRAY CARB/BRAKE CLEANER ON YOUR HOT EXHAUST OR ENGINE!.. wait till its cold and let the solvent melt the plastic residue on your exhaust then rinse with water....have a nice day :smile:

 

[Autophile]

Re: methyl ethyl ketone.....yummy NOT

http://www.inchem.org/documents/ehc/ehc/ehc143.htm

really not the kind of stuff you wanna remove garbage bags with
it will kill you...

i see joe has chimed in on the effects of mek on nsx.
any biochemists in prime????

From the link:
---
1.7 Effects on humans

1.7.1 MEK alone

Exposure to 590 mg/m3 (200 ppm) had no significant effect in a
variety of behavioural and psychological tests. Short-term exposure to
MEK alone does not appear to be a significant hazard, either
occupationally or for the general public. Experimental exposure to a
concentration of 794 mg/m3 (270 ppm) for 4 h/day had little or no
effect on behaviour, and a 5-min contact with liquid MEK produced no
more than a temporary whitening of the skin. There is only one
non-occupational report of acute toxicity to MEK. This resulted from
accidental ingestion and appeared to produce no lasting harm. There is
no evidence that occupational MEK exposure has resulted in death.
There have been two reports of chronic occupational poisoning and one
questionable report of acute occupational poisoning. In one of the
chronic cases, exposure to 880-1770 mg/m3 (300-600 ppm) resulted in
dermatoses, numbness of fingers and arms, and various symptoms such as
headache, dizziness, gastrointestinal upset, and loss of appetite and
weight. This paucity of incidents of reputed poisoning by MEK alone
reflects both the low toxicity of MEK and the fact that it is most
commonly used not on its own but as a component of solvent mixtures.
------
Apparently this stuff is not as bad as it's made out to be (to humans), i.e., there has been no recorded death from occupational exposure. But the flammability of this substance, like most organic liquids, dictates that the user is careful not to use it on hot surfaces.

 

[zahntech]

Yes like i said "NEVER USE ON HOT EXHAUST OR HOT ENGINES". doing any work of any kind on a hot exhaust is not smart...your best off to take the car somewhere and pay them to injest the toxic chemicals so you don't have to...or just let the plastic burn off slowly and smell for a year or so :wink:

 

[LJSB]

Yes like i said "NEVER USE ON HOT EXHAUST OR HOT ENGINES". doing any work of any kind on a hot exhaust is not smart...your best off to take the car somewhere and pay them to injest the toxic chemicals so you don't have to...or just let the plastic burn off slowly and smell for a year or so :wink:

If you're winking :wink: ,you must of got some carb cleaner in your eyes.
This can be cleaned off without using flammable liquids and not have to wait a year for it to burn off.

To suggest that someone go under car and spray extremely flammable liquid above face/lung/skin level is dangerous.
It is not safe and advice in a forum like this should consider operator safety and being environmentally responsible.
First of all it is not at all what carb cleaner is designed for and not at all how they intend you to use it.
Better have good ventilation, nitrile gloves, protective clothing, face, eye and lung protection as well as a means to catch and contain and dispose of any drippings.
Hope that it does not penetrate any seams and get in the exhaust chamber and rinsing it with water will probably help that to happen.
You can mix it with water but it will still be just as flammable.Carb cleaner is not water soluble.
Try rinsing out a gas tank with water and then weld it. Boom!(I know a man that did this and thought the water would dilute the gas and not ignite!-BOOM, He learned!)
Mixing it with water to drain into the ground is a bad idea environmentally.
What part of this idea is good?


Raise the car, put on a face shield and gloves, use a 3M Roloc disk on a small drill or hand grinder and it's off. Much quicker, cleaner, safer and no damage to the exhaust, you or hazardous, flammable waste to deal with.

Scrape it off or even try a Brillo/SOS pad but not carb cleaner or flammables.
Use one of these.

 

[zahntech]

First of all "carb cleaner" and gasoline are very differnt things gasoline does not evaporate as quickly and competely as "carb cleaner" does and yes a resporator should be used just as it should be used when using roloc disks, but most persons do not have an air tool to make use of roloc disks or a resporator eather so my position that removing melted materials from the exhaust should not be done by a lay person without the proper facilitys is still the same ....take it to your repair facility and let them take care of it.. :smile:

 

[LJSB]

First of all "carb cleaner" and gasoline are very differnt things . :smile:

You're right. Gasoline is for gargling, carb cleaner is a breath freshener. :biggrin:

 

[zahntech]

OH! OH! and the solvent from the parts washer is great for starting campfires! :biggrin: