carpeting question

[dropnosky]

just paid a lot of money to this local shop, where they replaced the the oil pressure deal behind the instrument cluster among a lot of other things to get the car back up to inspection level.

Unfortunately, either something was done incorrectly or something was bad, and the motor oil found its way up the line and out through the dash in a lot of places. In less than 10 miles, the motor oil filled up the indicator lights on the bottom of the instrument cluster and poured out around the steering wheel. It also poured out the side of the center console down the carpeting next to the throttle pedal. This has destroyed that side carpeting and the floor carpeting, and unless there is someway to completely disassemble the instrument cluster and clean it effectively, that looks wrecked too.

As you may imagine, I am pretty livid about this, as the original reason that I replaced that sender was that they told me is was seeping oil. I never saw any indication of this at the time, and took their word for it, and then this happened. They say it was a defective part, which is possible, I also work in the automotive industry, and thats happened enough to me that I believe everyone once, but not the second.

Does anyone know what those carpets cost? My plan is to either have them pay for the carpets, or, since It will be a while before I get that far in the restoration, have them do service that equals the value of these parts.

I am actually still on good terms with them, and they are competent mechanics, but they have got off scot free so far because I was in a serious hurry and they need to do right by me.

[Don350SDL]

Call a Dealer and get prices. The shop can usually get them for cheaper (from the dealer), so allow them to supply and install them if they choose.

The oil pressure gauge in that car actually has a thin pipe directly from the oil gallery to the gauge. Disconnect the pipe, oil comes out....

Don

[Maxbumpo]

I tried to clean an instrument cluster that had been flooded with motor oil, and had reasonable success using a good dishwashing soap. The bottom row of lights shine through a plastic strip with the symbols / colors; you can pull those out from the side with a tweezers and they clean right up. The only signs left in my car were an obvious oil film on the black plastic that surrounds the gauges; the oil must have impregnated the plastic because I could not get it out.

[dropnosky]

The oil does appear to have impregnated the plastic. There is a greasy film around anything that comes through the plastic face, like the odometer. It is impossible to get clean so far, touching it only seems to make the situation worse. I have decided to just get used to it for now, and it has actually drained out of the lights pretty completely since last week, although where, I dont know. probably brewing for another disaster somewhere in the dash.

[AnthroProfessor]

I would be very livid if this happened to me. I would immediately call them so that there is some record of this.

Like the above post mentions, there is an oil line that connects to the oil pressure guage. If that is loose, oil will come out. This is what happened to your car. It is 100% their fault since they touched that unit and fiddled with but were not so diligent about their workmanship.

The carpeting cannot be too much. A set of factory original floor mats are about $100 (all 4!!!). Maybe inflation increased the cost a bit, but you can get wholesale at Duval Motors. As for the primary carpeting, call the dealer for a price.

I did this very same mistake when I replaced my oil guage. However, I had an all weather mat, so no damage occured, not even to the cluster since the oil line was disconnected and pointing to the driver floor board.:confused: Luckily, the under dash was not even installed.

I do run into instrument clusters from time to time. I actually have a spare right now, but the front plastic glass is coming off as if the heat in the junk yard softened the glue holding it together. I only paid less than $20 for it because I needed individual parts and it was well worth the cost. I am long due to rummage the junk yards.

It sounds like your cluster is still functional and since you are in the process of restoring the car, perhaps just get a rubber floor mat from AutoZone for the time being. If you still think the mechanics are great and think this was just an honest mistake, make sure they make things right with you! Let them replace all the damaged parts free of charge, or agree on how much credit you want from them. You can settle this in a friendly manner, but the minute they starting playing games, take photos of the damage and report them to the Burea of Automotive Repair or the Better Business Bureau. Make sure you come out whole from this experience as people who mess up should make it right.