When breaking the differential cover off a truck that has 125,000 miles/ is eight years old, put some plastic down THEN put the drain pan down

Had to use my aluminum jack to break the cover loose. And of course it broke loose and the cover went one way, jettisoning the floor jack into the pan which skidded across the driveway.
The smelly old rear end fluid? Well of course, all of it spread over a 4' diameter on our 3 year old "was" fresh looking drive




Any one have any tips on getting an oil stain out of concrete?

(One other PSA. Don't start a new thread on an IPad )

Try pouring gasoline on the area. If that doesn't work go get some Varsol.

I've had good luck with cheap (think Barbasol) shaving cream pulling oil out of driveway.

Dawn dish soap. Let it soak on for a while and then scrub like crazy.

The Fife said:

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A friend had that happen with cooking oil and he lit it on fire and then powerwashed the soot out.

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POTD

Cheap kitty litter. Soak up the wry stuff, then pour more kitty litter. Grind it with the truck tire. Leave it there for a few weeks, adding more litter as it blows away. Eventually it will remove all of the oil stain.

1st, thanks for all the replies

Dubi, on leaving a bolt in... There was no surface area to pry against (09 F-150). This was the 1st time the cover was coming off since it left the factory. It was on there so good even after placing a board against the side of the cover and then beating on the board with a sledge wouldn't budge it. So I ended up using the floor jack to "pop" it off. I thought about leaving a couple of bolts in but I didn't think the bolt holes gave sufficient room around the bolts to let the cover move enough to get free of the axle housing.

On the kitty litter, yep, been covering the area and grinding it in with my boots. Maybe I just need to be a bit more patient, give it more time, and keep the area unconvered to allow the sun to do its work too ( the spot is right under where I park my truck)

Keep those cards and letters coming in folks

Use gasoline and kitty litter

What do y'all do with the kitty litter afterwards?

Have had luck using Dawn dish washing detergent on slick garage floor. Not sure how well it will work on driveway surface.

Kick it over my ***** Duh.

I had this happen once. I did the kitty litter/ oil dry. I did Dawn. I did brake fluid. I did oven cleaner. The best thing I found was lots of sunlight and patience.

dubi said:

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The Fife said:

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A friend had that happen with cooking oil and he lit it on fire and then powerwashed the soot out.

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POTD

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Totally serious answer btw. The oil left an area of concrete that always looked wet and power washing alone didn't take care of it. His HOA was starting to time him because of it. What I left out was him spraying diesel on the area before lighting it, but it got enough of the stain to keep the HOA away so mission accomplished I guess.

I always use Brakleen on oil spots after I'm done working on a slick shop floor. Sometimes the cleaned spot is lighter than the surrounding concrete.

Use more cover than you think you'll need. i put a 4x8' board down under drain pan for changing oil and still get a few splashes on the driveway every time

I just dig up the dirt, throw it in the neighbor's yard and put down fresh dirt ............. oh, wait, y'all got concrete. Never mind.

hypeiv said:

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I changed the diff oil in the garage once and didn't spill any of it but it still reeked for about a month... I say do that job on your driveway

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Are you implying there is something offensive about the garage smelling like gear oil?

When I change my oil, I always get some splatter that goes further than the cardboard I have down (this last time was quite a bit), and I've always just wet the area and then poured Dawn dish soap on it, and then took a push broom and scrubbed with the grain of the concrete for a few minutes. If it's really heavy, I repeat it a few times, After I've done that, I rinse it and let the dampness dry a bit, then pour on baking soda and scrub that in with the push broom. I then just leave it. So far (crosses fingers), this has removed the stain, or at least made it so faint that it looks just like anything else in the driveway due to weather.