Have 2006 Chrysler with the 2.7L. I did an oil change this weekend and left the cap off like an idiot. A buddy at my wife's work today discovered it. The cap is back on, but should I dump the oil due to driving 3 days with no oil cap? The 2.7L design has 3 timing chains and can be ruff on oil. Could enough debris been introduced to cause harm or warrant changing 3 day oil?
Left the oil cap off for the days..
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Funny thing is later that evening, I had a feeling that I had forgotten to put the cap back on. So I went outside and popped the hood and saw that I did put it back on. Now 3 days later it's discovered that I did not. Are the oil fumes getting to me? Do I see things there that are not actually there. Man, I thought that whole BOGO deal had a catch to it. PP makes you hallucinate.
My concern was with having 5W-20 oil in the crankcase that it may not be able to handle the particulates that could be intoduced via the absence of an oil cap.
If it were me, I'd dump it. Every time I open my hood, there's sand and other ____ sitting on my valve cover and in all the crevices near the firewall. On my Eclipse, I once had to use a shop vac to suck all the sand out of the bottom of my air filter housing. A lot more stuff gets ito your engine bay than you might think, unless it's got a 360 degree seal around the bay and an underbelly tray.
I know that's what the oil filter is for, but it won't catch the really small stuff. Oil is cheap...bearings are not.
I know that's what the oil filter is for, but it won't catch the really small stuff. Oil is cheap...bearings are not.
CBD and Greggy, thanks for the advise. 5 quarts of oil is alot cheaper then new bearings. Guess I might crawl back under the car this weekend and change it. I figure if oil can splatter out, then stuff can get in. Perhalps this time I can remember to put everything back on. At least it was the oil cap and not the drain plug. Yep, done that before too, back in the teenage days.
Is anything going to get in that the filter wouldn't catch? The "dirt" could easily stay in the engine stuck in the film when drained.
An oil change certainly won't hurt anything, but will it really help?
An oil change certainly won't hurt anything, but will it really help?
Change it out...remember the crankcase is under negative pressure when the engine is running (PCV) and without the oil fill cap is sucking in all dirt in the air.
When changing your oil NEVER leave the cap under the hood, always put it on the bench or somewhere you will see it if left off.
When changing your oil NEVER leave the cap under the hood, always put it on the bench or somewhere you will see it if left off.
I did that once; the oil cap didn't go anywhere amazingly. However, the smoke from the oil coming out of the engine told me what I did!
some engines will spit it out and you will know if it has been left off, in one case actually an oil mist started hitting the windshield on the highway.
The only reason the cap was off for 3 days is because my wife drives the car. I was on the phone with her this morning when she said, "Oh by the way, I forgot to tell you that I smell something burning and see smoke coming out from under the hood when I park the car". I immediately told her to put my friend Patrick on the phone. First words out of his mouth, "sniffing the used oil filters again, I see".
I would have thought leaving the cap off for that long would have thrown a CEL.
What is a CEL. I even looked in the glossary and could not find. Forgive me for my ignorance, I still can be considered a newbie.
Check Engine Light. Also referred to as a SES Service Engine Soon.
Check engine light...now I feel even more stupid. The wife did not mention the CEL. However, she's ticked that she will loose another Saturday afternoon to the car. 1/2 hour in the garage means I will be occupied the whole afternoon, to her.
When in doubt change it out.
If it makes you feel better change it out but I am of the opinion you don't need to.
I think everyone has done this once in their life. I did it on my grandfather's pickup when I was in highschool. The cap fell down and under the throttle linkage. He complained that it would go very good after the change. I opened the hood and sure enough it was only letting the linkage move about 1/3 of it's travel.
I think everyone has done this once in their life. I did it on my grandfather's pickup when I was in highschool. The cap fell down and under the throttle linkage. He complained that it would go very good after the change. I opened the hood and sure enough it was only letting the linkage move about 1/3 of it's travel.
I wouldn't worry about it. I left the cap off my S-10 for close to two weeks! I didn't notice until I changed the oil.
I had a UOA done and my silicon was 22, only slightly above the universal average of 18.
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