changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

Hi. Dear Fellow Honda Owner:

I have a 2002 Honda Civic LX 5 spd with 80,000 miles on it. Yesterday I changed oil (5W-20) myself. I forgot to put the filler cap back. This morning I drove the car for 60 mile on the highway, 40-50 miles per hour. I found out the oil cap not put on after the driving. I put it on and right away. I found out that there are some oil splits around the outside area of the engine. I checked the oil lever and it was still in the middle of low-high. My question is: have I done this silly thing to hurt my engine. :hithead: Up to now I do not find anything abnormal.

Another question: for the wheel covers, beside they make car look good.:rolleyes: Are there any real benefits? By having wheel covers for the four wheels, do they improve car's aerodynamics? They may or may not. Other than aerodynamics, I really can not figure out the real benefits of them, except for the appearance of the car.

Thanks for your answer.

Dan

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

if you left the oil cap off for one drive, it shouldnt be a big deal - as long as you never drove through any heavy dirt/dust. that would have blown into the engine bay and some probably may have got into the oil. i would change the oil again if it was me, but as long as you never drove through a bunch of dirt and dust you should be fine as long as you put the cap back on right away. the oil around the rest of the engine might be from something else leaking.

the tire hubcaps dont do anything. they just come on the cheaper models that dont come with the alloy rims. the cap only covers the ugly black rim and nothing else. caps are so ugly. when i take my summer rims off and put my winter rims, i leave the ugly caps off and just drive with black steel rims.

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

lol was that the first time you changed the oil yourself???. anyway its no big deal other then the mess it probably made. and hubcaps are for cosmetic purposes i ride on the steel rims also but i cleaned an powder coated them black so there really clean.by the way what kind of oil and filter did you use???.

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

If I were you I'd blast the engine to try and get the oil off, it could start a fire if it gets onto the manifold. DANGER TO MANIFOLD!!!!! And that may cause your floor to fall out.
But no seriously, it could start a fire.

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

signature pictures below - taken on a banff cruise, courtesy of the one and only DeX!

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

Lol at the Danger to manifold.... Hopefully your panel inside of your car doesn't fly off..... because I guess that happens some times? Just change your oil your fine.

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

DeX's roommate! :lol:

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

Thanks Guys for the answers.

by the way what kind of oil and filter did you use???.

I use normal 5W-20 oil and Fram filter from Auto Zone.

Dan

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

lol when I first read this thread I though you were talking about the drain plug haha

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

fram filters are garbage i would stop using them your next change. im really anal about oil and filters i go for over kill i use either royal purple or the better stuff AMSOIL. check this out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSKj-SbRkus

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

i use 5w30 valvoline maxlife and LC20 additive with a K&N filter. change oil about every 8k/8months. if i had money to waste id get the best like amsoil but for a civic i dont think its worth it.

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

you go 8k miles between your oil changes? or 8k km? im guessing you go a bit longer because the additive helps a lot. if you werent using the additive, how often would you do your oil?

i use full synthetic oil and i change it every 5k km (3100 miles) but im thinking i might start waiting until 7k km (4300 miles).

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

i would go easily 5k miles on regular oil, 8k with LC20 additive. i would go the full 10k but the filter prolly wont make it that long, even tho the oil would. oem honda recommends changing regular oil every 7500 miles for normal driving.

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

every car shop recommends changing it ever 5k km. i think they just pick 5k as a good round number to use. 5k km is also only 3100 miles and i was thinking i was doing it way too often. theres no way that you should have to change it every 3100 miles if im using good synthetic oil either. i just do normal driving.

i think im going to wait until 7000 km now before i do it next oil change which SOUNDS like a lot if you were to go to any shop here and ask them, but thats still way under 5k miles. think i should start doing 7500km changes? thats about 5k miles.

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

ofcourse shops want you to change it as often as possible. thats more $$ in their pockets. they would want every 2k miles but they know people arent that stupid. 3k is more believeable. you go ask a chemical engineer, he will tell you the worst oils lasts at least 5k miles, if not longer. oil is expensive. i love my car but im not into wasting money either. i want that $30 oil change to last almost a year.

for regular oil, 5k miles is a very safe and cautious way to go. with no chance of hurting the engine. for synthetic, easily 10k miles, but gotta remember the filter. alot of guys running synthetic will let it go 10k miles but change the filter every 5k miles. now if you continuously use LC20 in the oil, it will keep the engine sparkling clean and any small carbon deposits will get emulsified into the oil and there will be no need to even filter it. thats why im getting brave and leaving the oil in longer. i know the regular oil wont break down enough until after 10k miles with the lc20 in there. cause my oil is now 6 months old and still doesnt look black. its a medium brown color and very smooth. and i have a magnetic oil drain plug, which by the way doesnt have even a spec of metal on it. before i started using lc20, the oil would turn dark black in 1k miles. and i now do a bit harder driving than normal, considering i almost never use 4th gear in my auto due to all the hills that i need power all the time to drive normally and keep up with traffic. so it stays in d3 almost all the time on city streets 25-40mph. rpms are always up there.

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

i think im going to take your advice and invest in some of the oil and gas additive that you use. i meant to order some last year but i never got around to it. ill probably order some around the time i do my oil next. im going to wait until 7000km (4300 miles) before i do my next one and im only at about 2500 miles.

how does the drain plug you use work? it just goes in place of the stock one? where did you get it and how much was it? how well does it work?

Re: changed engine oil, forgot to put the oil filler cap back
 

its from passwordjdm.com and it fits in place of the stock one. it has a magnet on it just like the oem auto trans drain plug. you use the oem washers which are a tad big, but i never had leaking. might be worth using if your engine isnt in great shape. it will pull out alot of metal particles so the filter wont get clogged as quickly. once you start using lubecontrol products for a few months, i doubt you would need it. but its still good to have just in case you get some debris in there.