advice on oil spill on back seat

Post by **amblerman** » 09 Jul 2025, 15:49

Hi Folks,

It's been a while since I've posted. My 1999 s70 was off the road for a whole year due to snapped shifter cables (manual).

I just got the car back on their road and had planned to write up that little story but alas, I have to ask you all about a problem.

Today while doing errands, I had 2 jugs of oil in a 5 gallon bucket in my back seat with the intention of dropping them off for recycling.
Driving at normal speeds I went around a corner and the 5 gallon bucket not only fell over but turned upside down AND one of the caps completely came off and about 2.5 quarts of used oil poured all over my back seat. If this was a scene in a movie, I wouldn't believe it would be possible.

I pulled into someone's driveway as quick as I could and cleaned up as much as I could but I have discovered that the foam of the seat sucked up a lot of oil.

I have been blotting it with paper towels but there's no way I'll get it all out that way.

My current plan has me thinking about removing the skin, cleaning that separately and then cleaning the foam as best as possible.

However, i wanted to ask people's opinions of removing the skin from the backseat lower portion of the seat. It LOOKS simple enough and putting it back on should be just fastening it to the various anchor points with zip ties or hog rings but I wanted to ask people before I got into a bigger mess than I am already.

And plan B involves me hunting for a replacement back seat in charcoal grey if I can't get my seat to stop smelling like an oil spill.

Post by **Sveedy** » 09 Jul 2025, 16:56

Dawn detergent and the bathtub. Asap if you want to have any hope of saving it.
But a replacement would probably be much better.

Post by **Krons** » 09 Jul 2025, 17:19

I’d hunt eBay or a salvage yard for a replacement seat bottom. My main concern after cleaning wouldn’t be stain but the fumes during hot summer days.

Agree with Dawn (or similar) dish soap if you wanted to give cleaning it a shot. Kiddie pool would even work to help soak it good.

Post by **MoVolvos** » 09 Jul 2025, 18:37

.
Don't waste time, energy, detergent, water and mess besides pollution from the oil and soap that will run into somewhere or where ever. Can never get it out well enough and not smell.

Have pulled the seat cover, foam and carpet and foam for cleaning. The hog rings are time consuming and foam can take days to dry depending on weather. With the oil it's not worth the effort.
.

Post by **amblerman** » 09 Jul 2025, 18:56

Although I wasn't expecting it, I was hoping for a "sure, it's an easy job.. will clean up fine..."

5 seconds of carelessness around NOT thinking about securing the bucket a bit better led to instant chaos and a side quest project I don't really have time for now.

Post by **abscate** » 09 Jul 2025, 19:04

Do you have a spot for a parts car for a bit? There is a $400 parts car on capital we could get and get the value out of it including a backseat

I’ve got a beige backseat to bridge the gap to a new one

Post by **amblerman** » 09 Jul 2025, 19:22

I would have space for a parts car for a bit. I was just on capital's site and didn't see any s70s.
do you have a link to it? I checked NH, DC and Philly locations. (I'm in philly area).

I was thinking about a parts car.

454cid · Post by **454cid** » 09 Jul 2025, 22:27

I tried cleaning the oil soaked trunk carpet from my old Saturn, and didn't get far. I soaked it in something (don't recall what) and it was just as dirty as when I put it in, but then I had a tub of oily dirty water, too.

I'd look for another seat, if I were in your situation.

Post by **abscate** » 10 Jul 2025, 03:37

Damn it’s a beige interior. You could deskin your grey leather, clean that and reskin into clean foam.

https://www.capitalautoauction.com/inve ... 69028c1f13

It’s a buy now at $400, so figure $1000 to get it to Philly. I can stump the Cash to buy and ship if you think you can get some parts off it. Chris needs parts for Geronimo too so we should be able to get some joy out of it. I’ll write off the buy to good will and anything you guys can pay for useful stuff will ease the burden.

It’s a July 12 auction at NH. It’s a V70 buy seat bottom is the same as S70…double check ?

If my friend in CT has room that might be a good place to centralize it for harvesting by you, me, Chris , and him. Then I can tow to Albany for carcassing

Harvest list
Cylinder head
Cat and exhaust
ETM
Alternator
Starter
Ac compressor
Ps pump
Fuel pump
Brake booster
AB’s module
Tailgate
Doors
Fenders
Hood

melmaclifeform · Post by **melmaclifeform** » 10 Jul 2025, 14:21

I don't think S/V70 rear seats are interchangeable.