Oil Fill Cap
04-15-2015, 07:06 PM
#1
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
Oil Fill Cap
I am just recovering from a bonehead thing I did changing my oil and filter last week.... Multitasking other things, I rolled the large seal out of its' groove and pinched it while tightening the filter holder.... 
When the spurting oil hit the belts during startup check, it when everywhere under the front of the engine bay. Must have pumped 3 quarts of oil in the bay and radiator.
Anyway, after the correction and cleanup I was pissed with a small bit of oil leaking from the oil fill cap onto my newly cleaned engine.
This has been there awhile; not really a big deal.
Replaced the seal in the oil fill cap...... NO HELP
I've had these new seals for probably 3 years and thought they may perhaps had deteriorated a bit and needed time for the oil to soaked in and renew them....... NOPE
I ordered a new fill cap, which should be here in a few days.
I decided to, in the meantime, just rotate the cap 180 degrees to see if the amount or the side of the leak would change...... Test drove the car and could not find any leakage at all around the fill cap.....
I'll probably change the cap anyway when the new one arrives but has anyone experienced or where aware of this?
My guess is that the metal tines on the cap get fatigued and slightly twisted over time (and heat). Rotating the cap swaps which side of the tines is the leading edge when tightening....
Just sharing.
When the spurting oil hit the belts during startup check, it when everywhere under the front of the engine bay. Must have pumped 3 quarts of oil in the bay and radiator.Anyway, after the correction and cleanup I was pissed with a small bit of oil leaking from the oil fill cap onto my newly cleaned engine.
This has been there awhile; not really a big deal.Replaced the seal in the oil fill cap...... NO HELP
I've had these new seals for probably 3 years and thought they may perhaps had deteriorated a bit and needed time for the oil to soaked in and renew them....... NOPE
I ordered a new fill cap, which should be here in a few days.
I decided to, in the meantime, just rotate the cap 180 degrees to see if the amount or the side of the leak would change...... Test drove the car and could not find any leakage at all around the fill cap.....
I'll probably change the cap anyway when the new one arrives but has anyone experienced or where aware of this?
My guess is that the metal tines on the cap get fatigued and slightly twisted over time (and heat). Rotating the cap swaps which side of the tines is the leading edge when tightening....
Just sharing.
04-15-2015, 11:20 PM
#2
MBworld Guru
Good info to have! I once put my cap back on and somehow manged to get one of the "tines" out of place so it wasn't sealed. It soaked the engine and hood with oil. Microfiber cloths do wonders for recovering spilled oil.
04-16-2015, 11:04 AM
#4
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
Those "Sham-Wow" things are also great for soaking up just about anything liquid. I used one to get the oil from the floor.
The wife bough a set for me to dry my car 5-6 years ago..... of course I wouldn't use it on my car finish. I cut the big one into 18"x12" pieces and use them for spills. I generally use one to dry the water from the garage floor when I "mini wash" the car in the garage.
I put one between the engine and radiator, on the undercar panel when I steamed and then spray bottle flushed, with 2 quarts of water, the lower part of the radiator to remove the spilled oil. Every bit of that 2 quarts + was in the section of "sham-wow".
The wife bough a set for me to dry my car 5-6 years ago..... of course I wouldn't use it on my car finish. I cut the big one into 18"x12" pieces and use them for spills. I generally use one to dry the water from the garage floor when I "mini wash" the car in the garage.
I put one between the engine and radiator, on the undercar panel when I steamed and then spray bottle flushed, with 2 quarts of water, the lower part of the radiator to remove the spilled oil. Every bit of that 2 quarts + was in the section of "sham-wow".
04-16-2015, 10:18 PM
#5
MBworld Guru
I buy microfiber cloths in a big bag from Costco. I wash them first and then use them for the car finish but only once. I then tear off the tag (to denote it's used), wash again, and then they become rags for interior cleaning, engine cleaning mopping up oil, etc. until they get too dirty then I toss them.
