No oil cap

Hello ,

The other day while i did my oil change myself on my 23 Runner, i forgot to put the oil fill cap back on (I am usually thorough with my inspection everytime i work on my truck). I went on a road trip and drove about 3000 kms .( I usually open my hood and inspect everything once a month). My heart skipped a beat when i saw the oil cap missing. I checked the oil level and it was right on the upper dot . The oil level is right on. Also the engine bay is bone dry with no oil splatter. I read somewhere that driving without oil cap will create a mess with engine oil spraying all over the hood and engine bay because of the oil pressure .

I am wondering why the was no oil splatter/spray all over? Also did i cause any damage to the engine in the long run? I am surprised no lights came on at the dash and i did not feel anything unusual when i was on my road trip for couple of weeks of driving.

 

Don't worry about it, you're good no harm done, replace the cap if it was lost.

 

Luckily i found the cap tucked safely on top of the skid plate.

 

There’s probably a splash shield / baffle (?) down in there guarding the oil fill hole so oil doesn’t get shot / sprayed directly up at that oil fill hole.

 

Just make you clean it off good from sitting down there and getting dirty and you're good.

 

I can actually see the shaft moving through the filler hole when engine is running. Weird?

 

Yes i did , sprayed it with brake clean and wiped it with a paper towel .

 

I’d want to change the oil and filter asap, in case a bug or something crawled into the oil filler cap. But chances are you didn’t hurt anything. That old tech V6 in our Gen 5s is tough. If you’d lost oil pressure, you’d have seen a warning on the dash. If you didn’t lose oil pressure (ie no light came on), the engine was being lubricated with normal pressure during your trip - cap or no cap.

Change the oil and filter, get a new oil cap on there today and keep on keeping on.

 

The filter is right on the cam but the valve cover is positioned in a way that oil won't be flung out too much. But definitely check the level.

 

Thanks , i plan to change it this weekend.

 

A little trick is to place the oil cap on the hood latch. That way if you forget the hood won’t close

 

I had a similar even happen to me, however it was a tire shop that must have checked my oil, and for some reason removed the oil cap. I happened to pop the hood and found the cap sitting on the fuse box. Oil level was fine but dirty so I changed the oil. No harm appears to have come from it but it still makes me mad that someone could be so careless with my vehicle, Especially considering I never asked them to check anything under the hood.

 

Put it back on and keep driving.

 

Too bad Fumoto doesn't make an oil fill valve.

 

You're so screwed.

 

Preach

 

C'mon nimby, cut him some slack. You're going to be fine, the shaft you see is a cam, there is NO oil pressure in the cam covers, and the couple of drops of oil are going to serve as rust prevention in the future. Generally nimby is spot on with his assessments though.. just so you know... right nimby?

 

This is my stock answer whenever someone asks "did I do long term damage."

Just to mess with them a little

 

If only he screwed the cap on the filler neck...

Normally there is pressure inside the valve covers - that's why the PCV valve is on the valve cover. However, the big gaping hole with the 710 cap missing means the airflow wouldn't have been fast. That and the tall filler neck explain the lack of oil splatter.

 

I can attest to the fact that an open cap does not splatter oil. Not sure how long mine was open, probably 150 miles. Have no idea how I forgot it. Also the engine hasn’t blown up since and it doesn’t burn any oil a few oil changes later.

 

Not OIL pressure, the pressure you're talking about is air and oil vapor, the OP was kind of concerned about a loss of oil, but you are correct about the pressure.

 

I did check the oil level and it was exactly on the top dot. There was no oil loss at all!