Relative was going to be adding oil and just broke the seal on the bottle. While pouring it in he noticed a different stream and found that the seal went into his engine with the oil. Possible serious damage ahead or ????
Bottle seal plopped into engine... Catastrophe?
- Thread starter tenderloin
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Just discussing this event on another board. Chances are that the seal went straight to the sump. Personally, I would drain the oil into a clean container and then pull the pan to try to find the piece. If he hasn't run the car, it "should" still be there.
Aren't the oil return "holes" in the head too small for the bottle seal to pass through? Chances are it's still in the head. If he takes off the valve cover I would think he could see it then.
Whimsey
I agree with Whimsey....on all three of my vehicles, the oil goes right onto the lifters....
You could remove the valve cover ald look around. If it just happened to block a return hole and stay there you will be able to get at it and remove it. Once it makes it to the pan you are safe. In the future never pour oil directly into the engine, use a funnel and pour the oil on the side of the funnel.
I bought an old ElCamino in the early 90's. Under one valve cover was about 6 green oil bottle rings. The ones that are supposed to stay on the bottle after you remove the cap.
They were big enough that they couldn't go anywhere other than laying on top of the heads.
They were big enough that they couldn't go anywhere other than laying on top of the heads.
can't they interfere with the lifters?
Ive had alot of close calls with that little jagged ring that connects to the lid, to the point I cut them off after removing the lid. I often thought of just how I would get that plastic hickey out, and realized I probably wouldnt.
Much Ado About Nothing!
Bob
Bob
I've always worried that if I left my drain plug out too long a fly or wasp might go inside my oil pan and get trapped inside.
I prefer the Valvoline bottles as the rings stay fastened to the cap very well.
I prefer the Valvoline bottles as the rings stay fastened to the cap very well.
Depends on the engine. Depends on the cam location and a lot of stuff.
If it's an OHC engine, I'd take the valve cover off and get it. Don't want anything getting between the cam and lifters/buckets whatever.
If it's pushrod, depends on how big the drainback holes are.
Small, and I'd not worry. Large, and I might worry depending on where the drainback goes (like over the camshaft)
If it's an OHC engine, I'd take the valve cover off and get it. Don't want anything getting between the cam and lifters/buckets whatever.
If it's pushrod, depends on how big the drainback holes are.
Small, and I'd not worry. Large, and I might worry depending on where the drainback goes (like over the camshaft)
I often have nightmares of the little foil under the cap of some oils falling into the engine oil fill...
We had a customer do this on his Harley. He kept having oil pressure and overheating problems and he couldn't figure out why. We pulled the oil pan out and found 2 pieces of foil partially blocking the feed line to the engine. Granted, this was on a dry sump system, but I wouldn't sleep well at night knowing that piece was floating around somewhere in my engine!
I knew there was a reason why I've always used a funnel with a screen in it...
Checking under the hood day I noticed that the power steering fluid was down a bit, so I grabbed the fluid and as I opened the bottle the liner from the lid fluttered down to the power steering pump. I spent an hour trying to fish it out, couldn't see it, and gave up. Awhile later while driving across a bridge into town with the family the steering got loud and very hard. I worked hard to get to our regular parking spot in town, and it went back to normal. On the way home it went on and off, where I doubt my wife could have turned the wheel when it went off. I pulled the pump, fished out the liner, put it back together, but had to replace it awihle later as running dry evidently damaged it.
Remember that no good deed goes unpunished, and that engines usually cost more than power steering pumps.
Remember that no good deed goes unpunished, and that engines usually cost more than power steering pumps.
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I can see that I'm not alone in this "oilfoilphobia" = fear of the foil end of oil containers hurting your engine. I can see now it's not an irrational fear. My usual technique when I encounter them is to pierce them through the center so that they offer no resistance to flow. I don't see too many on oil bottles. Fuel and other additives, yes.
When I pulled the valve cover for grins at 330k miles there was a plastic ring sitting pretty as you please on the top of the head. Maybe a little sludge isnt such a bad thing........
Yeah it kind of keeps everything held together.
the rings generally wont get caught up in the valve train. there just isnt enough clearence anywhere in those areas for a plastic ring to get wiggled into. the oil return posts on most heads are smaller than the plastic rings, so they generally wont make it into the sump. the ring should just sit on the head for the rest of the engines life. if it ever did make it into the sump, there is an oil pickup screen that would prevent the ring from getting sucked up into the oil pump.
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