I Drove Without The Oil Cap - OK ?

[Complex]

Somehow I managed to forget to replace the oil cap after an oil change. I drove a bit with it off. By some miracle of design or luck there oil was no sprayed through the entire engine bay.

So, did I do any damage to the engine? I know the oil system is supposed to be a closed system. I would imagine I lost cylinder compression for a bit while the cap was off? I am paranoid now. I think the engine is too loud or something. I can't hear the engine in the car, only the exhaust. The old man says that it seems a little loud when standing outside.

So - do I need to worry? The car seems to run fine. No idiot lights are on.

[Ikonoclast]

If you lost compression because your oil cap was off, something is very wrong.

Just check your oil level. Once my SL1 cap came off while driving and made a huge mess, but the car was fine.

[Ritz]

I'm a bit surprised it didn't make a mess. However, as long as your oil didn't escape, it's fine. Nothing to worry about if you've replaced it. Just be more careful. :)

Best,

[wlhawk]

As you didn't lose oil pressure due to oil loss, it shouldn't have damaged the engine.

[Tom92SCm]

Been there, done that- but not on the VUE.

I drove my 626 home from Vail, CO (about 2.5 hours) without the oil cap. And that included going up and over 2 mountain passes (lots of high rpm). And the black insulation blanket on my 1992 SC was thrown in the trash because the oil cap was left off- which completely soaked the blanket in oil.

All motors involved went on to accumulate many thousands of more miles before I got rid of them still in running condition.

You're fine.

[bob shanks]

I know someone from work that did it on a non saturn. Lost about 1 qt. 3 years past and no problems. Don't worry all is well.

[VTchemist]

My son drove his Camry with out an oil cap (maybe 1 mo and 1000 miles). Had a bit of oil on the hood, but only was missing about 0.5 qt.

I did it myself in the 70's with a Chrysler slant-6 engine on a highway trip (<200 miles). Had a bit of a mess too, but the car drove another 50K (I got 125K out of it; it eventually rusted away here in SW VA).

You probably did no damage. I am assuming the oil light level did not come on.

Happy to have you in the club!

[BobbyP]

My son drove his Camry with out an oil cap (maybe 1 mo and 1000 miles). Had a bit of oil on the hood, but only was missing about 0.5 qt.

I did it myself in the 70's with a Chrysler slant-6 engine on a highway trip (<200 miles). Had a bit of a mess too, but the car drove another 50K (I got 125K out of it; it eventually rusted away here in SW VA).

You probably did no damage. I am assuming the oil light level did not come on.

Happy to have you in the club!

The one time I did it in my SC, it drenched almost everything. When I tried cleaning the hood's acoustic blanket it fell apart. I had to replace it. Everything cleaned up well. It was enough of a mess that I always check the oil cap before closing the hood.

[Uzzy]

I've done it before on my K-car and my S-10. K-car was my fault it was a short trip, about 10mins. The S-10 was the lube bay jockey's fault (it was cold, I wasn't doing my own, I knew the guy, slip him $10 and leave a filter and oil on the seat and you're good to go in the dead of winter). That was off for lord knows how long. :blockhead

[binkybaby]

i did that once myself and no oil escaped. No problem, i just put the oil cap back on. However don't try that with a Cummins L10 or ISM, one time i didn't tighten the oil cap all the way, and the pressurized crankcase made it shoot out, and sprayed the engine and everything under the hood with oil! D: Needless to say i always double checked the dipstick and oil cap on those engines..........

[EditEd4TV]

Oh man, when I left the oil cap off one time (on my 1993 SL2), I encountered something amazing... this goes down in my automotive history... I put some oil in my car and forgot to put the cap back on, everything was fine (except for spraying oil all over the engine compartment) for the first 10 miles or so until I hit some hills. Somehow the oil cap slipped off wherever it was that I placed it, and sat itself into the mechanism for the accelerator pedal. I was passing a slow truck going uphill and when I got into the fast lane going about 65 uphill, I couldn't slow down, the accelerator was stuck. I thought I was dead. Thankfully I was able to veer back into the slow lane in front of the truck and drop into neutral and coast onto the shoulder and shut off the engine. Popped the hood, saw a huge oily mess, located the oil cap sitting perfectly in place, holding the spring mechanism compressed and pretty much full throttle open. Yeah, when I dropped into neutral the engine revved high and hard, the governor pumping it back down over and over again. I thought I killed my SL2... no, it was ok, and it would be another 2 years or so before I totally killed it because of a bad serpentine belt tensioner. :(

Oh well, I have my 2004 V6 Vue now, and I'm happy. :)