flubbernub

Hey guys, hope someone can shed some light on this. At about 36k miles, changed the oil @ 30k, haven't had any issues with the car in two years of owning it. Took the car out for a quick 15 minute drive (in Comfort mode) and when I parked the CEL light came on solid. Popped the hood and see this. Found the oil cap lodged in the engine bay. Was it just a loose cap? Had the dealership do an inspection about 2 months ago because I was going to sell it but ended up not - everything checked out OK. Thanks in advance for any input.

BLKROKT

Someone left the oil cap unscrewed. They can't unscrew themselves or pop off any other way.
Think you need to have a talk with your dealer about 'attention to detail'.

CEL light due to oil loss? How much oil did you lose?

That sucks, sorry.

roadkillrob

CEL may have been due to PCV system basically not working because all the pressure was going out the big hole where the oil cap used to be - low oil would set off low oil light and looks like not that much oil was lost.

realjones88

Definitely a cap that was not completely tight, but interesting that it lasted 6K miles

chris135b

Exactly. Not good!


This reminds me of a few years ago, someone on the board mentioned his dealer didn't torque the lug nuts to spec when he had new tires mounted on the rims. He found out due to driving down a highway at normal highway speed, heard something strange, pulled over, got out and saw the lug nuts sticking out! Lesson learned: post service, check everything yourself prior to riding off the lot!!!



-C

hachiroku

yep...that thing is pretty hard to get off on its own. hence why the center can accept a 6 point socket for loosening.

CarHopper

Make sure you do a VERY good job cleaning up all of the oil.

My brothers 335i just had a similar event and there was a fair amount of oil left underneath the engine cover. Went out for a stroll, oil started to burn, car ended up totaled.

Mazspeed

Ugggg. I hate this sort of sloppy work from shops who are paid to look after people's cars.
I know this is sort of after the fact, but anytime I have someone do anything to any of my cars, I double check everything. If you go to get oil changes, be diligent and recheck the tightness on everything under the hood and if you can, the drain screw.

I am lucky that I can go to shops owned by friends and I can check stuff out myself, and if you own a 50k plus car, or any car you should always try and recheck stuff.
You know the old adage. If you want it done right........You know the rest.

optimusprime m1

I think the cap was removed to check oil condition .And not re fitted in the right way after. Tell the garage that checked it for you .As it may have took some time to come completely loose, but enough to lift it off over time .

flubbernub

Thanks all, I'll have to be more diligent about double checking everything after shop visits. It was a loose cap - screwed it back on and tightened it with socket, went for a drive and no leakage. However, CEL is still solid. Will I have to get that cleared by dealership?

Bigtickets

Better yet. Take it back to them and have them clean your engine completely AND reset the CEL. That way if there are any problems, it's their baby.

flubbernub

Car is going in on Tuesday, hoping they'll work with me.

Checked and oil level is at middle tab on dipstick. I'll also be doing some of the cleanup myself before it goes in because I don't want to drive with oil everywhere.

realjones88

Agreed that the dealership should clean up the engine bay and reset the code - you could also pick up a cheap OBD2 scanner on Amazon for future use.