I took my car for a state inspection two days ago. Turns out the shope I took it to forgot to replace/tighten the oil cap, and I've been driving around for maybe 50 mi w/out it. The oil pressure lamp as never come on and the oil temp has been normal. I noticed a strange smell coming from the the air vents and droplets of oil on the left side of the car. I opened the hood and saw the cap missing and some oil spilled over the engine and the underside of the hoood. What do you guys recommend I do besides getting the oil and cap replaced? Any pointers are welcome!!!

 

Clean the engine bay, that is probably a pretty big mess.

 

Did you check the oil level? Was it low? If not just enjoy detailing you're engine!

 

I had the car towed back to the shop that inspected it. The manager promised to clean up the mess and fix anything. I don't know what the level was. Strangely enough, the idle was always OK and nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for the oil on the engine bay and the smell coming out of the vents.

 

No harm done besides some oil splashing out and making a mess. Just make sure to check the oil level and add more if needed.

 

Since when does a safety inspection include looking inside the valve cover? Are you sure having these guys do the cleaning is a good idea?

 

Thanks, guys. I was afraid the turbo would suffer. Hopefully that was not the case.

 

Well, since they did the screwup, I figure I would let them fix things. I am not sure why they would remove the oil cap for, but they did. I have talked to the shop manager many times before (they do the oil change and tires on my car all the time), and he seems honest...

 

Wow, how long ago was your last oil change? It probably hasn't been on since then. Check the undertray. You might get lucky and find your oil cap.

 

I did find the oil cap behind the engine block. I cannot be sure whether it was off since the last oil change (which was ~3 months ago), but I doubt it, since I would have seen the stain of oil on my garage floor earlier... I think.

 

turbo needs very little oil, garett big ball bearing turbo's need even less oil

 

You will loose about 1 qt of oil for every 100 miles without the cap on. So your OK. Don't ask how I know. but your engine should be fine.

By far the best way to clean the bay would be with correct solvent's.

Do not use or avoid the following:

1. water
2. soap
3. nonpolar organics (toluene)
4. polar solvents (acetone)
5. rip off "green" detergent's (simple green)

Use these:

1. Anhydrous isopropanol (red bottle of Heet®)
2. Electrical contact cleaner (trichloroethane types)
3. Ethyl alcohol (denatured alcohol, don't use methanol)

Don't let the dealer clean the bay. They will probably use acidic cleaners (simple green) which will corrode your wiring severely several years down the road. Just use the recommended agents in the second list above. Keep rinsing untill the liquid drips clear. Make sure the battery terminal is disconnected untill all has evaporated. Your engine bay will be spotless. As a bonus, an unnoticable anticorrosive film of 10W40 will remain which will prevent corrosion for years to come

 

Thanks! Maybe running a few miles w/out the oil cap won't kill the engine, only make it stronger

 

On a sidenote, did the car get towed with a roll back?

 

It got towed with all fours firmly planted on a flatbed truck. I've read that it's the only way to go with an AWD car.