Oh F*ck :( I am so stupid...

aaronjb · November 22, 2005, 09:01

Got to work this morning.. oo look, smoke out of the engine bay.

Opened the bonnet.. ah.. no oil filler cap - one engine bay absolutely plastered in oil (it's dripping off the door jambs and the front wheel wells!) s:(

s:( Feck. I did the oil on Saturday, and I don't honestly remember putting the cap back in.

I know I'm not one to swear on here that much but.. F*ck, b*ggery, b*stard, bl**dy stupid f*cking idiot!

One call in to the AA.. fingers crossed there's still enough oil in there that the engine isn't toast.

Anonymous · November 22, 2005, 09:03

Doh s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

kanujunkie · November 22, 2005, 09:07

oh crap mate! did you loose the oil cap?? you should be ok on the oil, it'll look a lot worse than it actually is, top her up, clean up and do another oil change after a few hundred miles

edward.carter · November 22, 2005, 09:07

oh dear not good mate, Stu's engine bay is nice and clean have to get him round to detail it for you, sure he wont mind s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

kanujunkie · November 22, 2005, 09:08

Quote from: "edward.carter"oh dear not good mate, Stu's engine bay is nice and clean have to get him round to detail it for you, sure he wont mind s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

yeah no worries i've got a spare couple of days s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

edward.carter · November 22, 2005, 09:09

hehe s:P

s:P

aaronjb · November 22, 2005, 09:11

Quote from: "kanujunkie"oh crap mate! did you loose the oil cap??

Yep - it's gone.. I don't remember screwing it back in (though I was sure I did, but apparently not), so it would have been sat on the exhaust heatshield.. be long gone by now on some bit of road between here & Slough s:(

s:(

Hopefully you're both right, and there's still plenty of oil in there - hopefully the AA will run to a garage somewhere and get a new cap (else I'll have to get a lift to one today) and give me some oil to top it up with.

I'd been meaning to do an oil change, but this wasn't my intended method..

Thank feck it didn't catch fire, really!

spit · November 22, 2005, 10:11

You're not the first to do this Aaron and you won't be the last - at least you have the cojones to admit to being human s:wink: :wink: s:wink: Good on ya!

A splatter of fresh hot oil does tend to look much worse than it is, & there's a good litre and a bit between dipstick marks, so hopefully your baby'll be fine.... and think of that nice shiny water-repelling engine bay that you'll end up with - Bonus s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[edit] ps probably worth lifting the plastic coil cover just to make sure nothing has crept in around the plug caps or injector rail - belt'n'braces and all that s:wink: :wink: s:wink: [/edit]

kanujunkie · November 22, 2005, 10:44

plus it wont rust any time in the near future s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · November 22, 2005, 12:51

Done it with the water reservior tank cap not that long ago. What a gimp I felt like! Found the old on in the gutter just round the corner, crushed.

Had to borrow the ex's car to get a new one. Good job MrT had them in stock.

Someone at work forgot to put the oil cap on an old Astra and they had a massive engine bay fire while the car was heatsoaking. Had to evacuate about 800 people and couldn't get back into work for 3 hours while the fire brigade tried to get their equipment downstairs and put the blaze out. Miraculously, the car RAN after the fire!!!

Thank your lucky stars you didn't get that Aaron. Just a good steam clean will do the engine bay the world of good. Sprayed hot oil looks a lot worse than it usually is...........

Anonymous · November 22, 2005, 13:11

Did a similar (but less spectacular!) thing with the dipstick on an XR3i (yes I am that old) many years ago...

I have been paranoid since. Whenever I work under a bonnet I check, double-check, put the bonnet down, start to walk away, have to go back, pop the bonnet and check again.....it's pitiful!!

My mate finds it hilarious, but I just don't trust myself not to forget something!! s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

Darth Paul · November 22, 2005, 13:13

There you go Aaron, a new avatar for you, now that you're an OIL BARON! s:lol: :lol: s:lol: s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

edward.carter · November 22, 2005, 13:28

s:lol: :lol: s:lol: LOL s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

roger · November 22, 2005, 13:31

Quote from: "weaselchops"My mate finds it hilarious, but I just don't trust myself not to forget something!! s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

I've just started popping Lecithin s8)

s8)

Amongst its many properties is one that is supposed to slow down the on-set of Altzeimers. Perhaps you ought to join me, we can have oldie raves s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

Anonymous · November 22, 2005, 14:05

Look on the bright side, you've done a good deed making us all feel lucky we didn't do the same thing ourselves. s:)

s:) And you probably got off easy with only degreasing work ahead.

aaronjb · November 22, 2005, 14:08

Quote from: "Darth Paul"There you go Aaron, a new avatar for you, now that you're an OIL BARON! s:lol: :lol: s:lol: s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Toyota can't get one till tomorrow morning (oil cap), and the AA mans temporary fix lasted about a mile (it had popped off by the time the valeters brought it back from steam cleaning - so it's oily again now s:roll: :roll: s:roll: ). Got myself one of those emergency fuel filler caps so that might work, failing that I'll jubilee clip a paper cup over the hole. Bought 2l of crappy Magnatex (all the garage had) to get me home, too, worst case (it lost about half of max/min in two days, so not so bad).

Gah.

Rubbish day! Stuck in training again too last minute, and even that's going badly s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

Anonymous · November 22, 2005, 16:31

Same problem with MGTD. Happenned three times now including middle of M1 and middle of nowhere. The cap is just a push fit relying on the metal rim to fit into a stupid flange. Can recommend Johnsons baby wipes, but it's a messy clean up. Symphathies

Slacey · November 22, 2005, 16:39

Erk! Sh*t happens I guess, we all forget something when pulling cars to bits. I do actually have a spare OEM oil cap but I guess it's no good if you have a new one coming tomorrow s:? :? s:?

Tem · November 22, 2005, 17:07

Quote from: "aaronjb"AA mans temporary fix lasted about a mile (it had popped off by the time the valeters brought it back from steam cleaning - so it's oily again now s:roll: :roll: s:roll: )

Wait...are you saying there's pressure in your crankcase? Shouldn't a healthy engine have vacuum in there...?

spit · November 22, 2005, 18:03

Quote from: "Tem"Wait...are you saying there's pressure in your crankcase? Shouldn't a healthy engine have vacuum in there...?

If its anything like the emergency fuel cap with the crossed plastic fins Tem, I'd put money on it vibrating itself loose - they aren't brilliant.

aaronjb · November 22, 2005, 18:59

Quote from: "Tem"Wait...are you saying there's pressure in your crankcase? Shouldn't a healthy engine have vacuum in there...?

Apparently so - I didn't see it, but apparently the little bag was puffing up & down (I might try it some time with a latex glove, see if it inflates & deflates).

To be honest though, it wouldn't have taken much to get the plastic cover he made to slip off - shiny plastic + shiny cable tie + oil = easy-slippy-off-thing..

The emergency fuel filler cap stayed in (I thought they were a different design actually, horizontal vanes, but no, it's a kinda curly sprially vertically vaned thing - it fitted eventually, given lots of brute force).. stopped a large amount of oil coming out, though the car still stinks of it. I think I'll be pulling all the heat shields & rocker cover plastic off over the weekend and then probably getting it steam cleaned again. The car needs a wash too - can't see out of the back window thanks to the oil mist + water mixture.

*mutters*

What a cruddy day, and partially of my own making (work was crud too - and that wasn't my fault s;)

s;) )

Anonymous · November 22, 2005, 20:12

Aaron = filthy oily n00b s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Look on the brightside buddy, it could have been much, much worse. At least you'll never do it again! s:D

s:D

aaronjb · November 22, 2005, 20:16

Quote from: "Ekona"Aaron = filthy oily n00b s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Oi, filthy & oily but no n00b s:P

s:P

QuoteLook on the brightside buddy, it could have been much, much worse. At least you'll never do it again! s:D s:D

Yup - could easily have caught fire (still stinks of burning oil mind) - there was a hell of a lot of smoke this morning when I parked up!

Anonymous · November 22, 2005, 20:52

Quote from: "Beanie"Look on the bright side, you've done a good deed making us all feel lucky we didn't do the same thing ourselves. s:) s:) And you probably got off easy with only degreasing work ahead.

Not so, I did it once with a diesel VW - very unlucky. I presume you have seen used diesel motor oil? s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

Anonymous · May 22, 2007, 15:10

Quote from: "aaronjb"Got to work this morning.. oo look, smoke out of the engine bay.

Opened the bonnet.. ah.. no oil filler cap - one engine bay absolutely plastered in oil

s:oops: :oops: s:oops: s:oops: :oops: s:oops: Sorry to revive an old topic but this just happened to me this morning too and having read this thread I don't feel quite so stupid - although very annoyed at myself all the same s:evil: :evil: s:evil: ! I blame the kids from the street for pestering me about why the engine isn't in the front? and where do I put my shopping? Like I care where the shopping goes - I have a wife... s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

On the plus side I did actually find the oil cap lodged in the gap behind the lights thankfully so it's back in place and there's still half a dipstick of oil left so that'll get me home OK. messy messy messy... loving the smell of burnt oil though.

Moral of the story - when topping up your oil always put the cap somewhere that'll stop you from shutting the bonnet, that way you can't forget to put it back on - I won't be doing this again...