Left fill cap off crank case...stupid...harmful?

[mrdctaylor]

Guys,

I just changed my oil a couple of weeks ago in my 2002 Toyota Tacoma with QSUD. Somehow, I didn't get the fill cap back on and drove it for 2-3 days like this (maybe 80 miles total). No oil came out. There was never an indication anything was wrong. I just noticed it when I opened the hood. It was even sitting where I left it.

My question is this: I didn't lose any oil. Would a ton of impurities have been sucked in during that time? I really don't want to dump a full 6 quarts of synthetic, but I guess I would if the consensus is that it will screw things up if left in there for the full OCI. I normally go about 6 months/7500 miles.

Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[147_Grain]

Should likely be OK. You can always cut the next OCI in half on your 14 year old truck for peace of mind, which is what I'd do.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

I did this on my 2001 Civic. It ran for a couple days like that, no oil leaked out, just smelled like exhaust in the cabin a little bit.
No issues ever.

 

[Eddie]

No problem but, I expected the CEL to go on. Ed

 

[HangFire]

Not a big deal.

 

[danthaman1980]

No worries. Anything that got into the crankcase during those few days, the oil filter will take out.

 

[cptbarkey]

it would be a minor vacuum leak.

 

[earlyre]

I did that once. topped off the oil before heading out on the 1100 mi return from my vacation. some how i left the fill cap sitting on the top of the engine. it managed to fall onto a cross member and stay there. unfortunately that cross member was right below the exhaust... so the cap was pretty melty when i retrieved it.

I wasn't terribly worried, as i was doing an oilchange as soon as i got home anyway. just had to hit the nearest parts store after changing the oil for a new cap.

i did get some burning plastic smell in the cabin on the drive, and when ever i stopped for fuel, the area around the car smelled of oil fairly strongly...

 

[morepwr]

I have done it too! No harm was done. The crankcase just could breathe really easy for a few days!

 

[mrdctaylor]

Thanks for all of the replies. I feel better. Ironically, the reason I started changing my own oil (~20 years ago) was because some quickie lube place did exactly that to my car. Ahh well. 20 years and 1 mistake. I'll still take those odds.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I done it twice for my S2000, but I could smell the burning oil as soon as I drove about a mile, I stopped and there was the fill cap on top of the engine.

 

[dlundblad]

At lease you didn't put a sock in the fill hole.

 

[DBMaster]

Put the cap back on and...

 

[cjcride]

No harm done.(don't ask how I know that).
Don't rush when you work on the vehicle.

 

[Ducked]

I've done it on a Renault 5. Lost a lot of oil.

Worried me a bit, since I'd done some fast motorway driving like that and it was a fairly new car.

Year later it caught fire (shorted cooling fan) and burnt out.

Something else will probably get your truck in the end, too