Ingenious oil fill cap

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Do you hate the gritty sound of abrasive sand when you screw in the oil fill cap on a concave opening in the valve cover? How about the frustration of not being able to wipe out the tube section of a funnel - you know there's grit in there ready to wash into the engine when you pour in the oil.

Picked up a Spectre funnel cap (eBay; $10). It permanently raise the fill opening so no more grit ingression. It's also a funnel. The whole contraption is a single unit. It's ugly, but effective.


Terrible valve cover fill hole design:




The gizmo in a collapsed state:

Fill cap closed:


THe funnel-cap extended, ready for oil.
 
Were their sizes (vis' car make or engine) offered? ...or are oil filler holes standardized?

You'll see how it takes to heat and perhaps cold. Good luck with it.

Anything which beats dirt is OK in my book.
 
A solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. I always squirt carb cleaner through my funnels before using.
 
For a lot of vehicles, there are no problems. Some can be a bit of a problem for adding, though. If it helps some people and someone makes a buck off of it, great. For a vehicle that burns oil, for instance, and always needs a hand on the funnel, I'd like it. It wouldn't have exactly been a godsend for my LTD back in the day, but given how often I was adding and how it was set up, I would have had use for this product. On the G37 or the Audi, no.
 
I always clean out my funnels with degreaser,run a rolled up paper towel through them,then store them in a sealed plastic bag.
 
Originally Posted By: Kira
Were their sizes (vis' car make or engine) offered? ...or are oil filler holes standardized?

You'll see how it takes to heat and perhaps cold. Good luck with it.

Anything which beats dirt is OK in my book.


It's available for just about anything as far as I know. But really good question you raised about if oil fill holes are standardized.
 
Is it air-tight when closed, and oil-tight when unfurled? If not, problems await.

I never needed a funnel to add oil from quart bottles without spills, until this Toyota, on which the fill opening is almost as bad as the one illustrated here. Storing my funnel upside down under a counter, and wiping the interior before and after use keeps it clean enough.
 
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Yes, when closed the funnel remains surgically clean.
 
Interesting idea but I don't think it's a good one.

1. I don't want to be locked into a specific funnel.
2. Not all engines have that fill design so it's pretty useless for some engines where the lip for the oil filler cap is already raised or even if it weren't raised, the surrounding area is too tight for a larger cap. On one of my engines for example even if the cap did fit horizontally, there's no way that funnel is going upward since right above the oil cap is the windshield cowl. I have to use a long necked funnel at an angle for that engine.
3. Dirt is going to get in the funnel area on the fancy cap anyway I think, regardless of how well they cover it.

I had a car with a flat oil fill cap region on the engine. It never posed a problem to me.
1. Take the oil filler cap off.
2. Wrap a sliver of paper towel around the tip of your index finger.
3. Run the index finger in a outward circle around the circumference of the fill lip.
4. No dirt.

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
I always clean out my funnels with degreaser,run a rolled up paper towel through them,then store them in a sealed plastic bag.
I clean my funnels with brake cleaner, too worried about degreaser leaving residues and degreaser chemicals behind that end up in the crankcase later on. I also store them in a plastic bag. Then when I have to use it again, I clean the funnel again the day before and right before I actually use it, I inspect it and blow any lint and dust off of it.


Basically I treat them almost like my tools. Clean and put in designated area after every use.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
I always clean out my funnels with degreaser,run a rolled up paper towel through them,then store them in a sealed plastic bag.


I spray a good amount of brake cleaner through my funnels, as it'll remove the oil and won't leave behind any residue.
 
Originally Posted By: Nayov
Yes, when closed the funnel remains surgically clean.
But is it air-tight when closed? If not, dirty air will be sucked through it into the engine by the PCV system. (Or crankcase fumes will escape if the engine has a lot of blow-by.)
 
Looks like a vacuum leak waiting to happen.

Ive never had issues cleaning funnels. A rolled up piece of paper towel barely squeezes through perfectly.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
For a lot of vehicles, there are no problems. Some can be a bit of a problem for adding, though. If it helps some people and someone makes a buck off of it, great. For a vehicle that burns oil, for instance, and always needs a hand on the funnel, I'd like it. It wouldn't have exactly been a godsend for my LTD back in the day, but given how often I was adding and how it was set up, I would have had use for this product. On the G37 or the Audi, no.


Case in point:
5.3L in my 2010 Canyon has a bent extension that gets the fill neck up high and level … any funnel will do
5.3L in my 2017 Tahoe is low and high angle, brake system in the way, so I bought this funnel and like it
(the clear part helps too)

 
I can see someone bumping the funnel and it collapsing while the oil is being added. What a mess that would be. I will stick with my conventional funnels thanks.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Looks like a vacuum leak waiting to happen.

Ive never had issues cleaning funnels. A rolled up piece of paper towel barely squeezes through perfectly.


+1 Looks like a solution to a problem (and may even cause one as you say) that doesn't exist as someone else pointed out.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Looks like a vacuum leak waiting to happen.

Ive never had issues cleaning funnels. A rolled up piece of paper towel barely squeezes through perfectly.


+1 Looks like a solution to a problem (and may even cause one as you say) that doesn't exist as someone else pointed out.


"The engineers knew best" with that design.
wink.gif
 
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