Ooops!!
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Joined: Jun 2011
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Ooops!!
I've lurked around several of the Mazda forums for a few years but am now posting on 2 of them today for the first time. I hate to be making my first post as an idiot....but here goes. I apologize for the length!
My son was taking our '06 5 GT out for a golf trip an hour or so out of the city so I cleaned it up, filled it up, checked the oil which was down a bit, so I decided to top it up. Fella in the parking lot came up and started to chat to me about how sweet the car looked. I got distracted and closed the hood, and you guessed it...no oil filler cap = oil sprayed all over the place under the hood! He came back and said something smelled like oil. Yes, oil all over the place, but that's not the worst of it.
He had to head back out the next day but by the time he got back and I looked at it, all shops were closed...hmm what do I do?? Well, I thought perhaps the one off my Honda would fit in a pinch. Tried it on, looks like a fit, go to give it a turn and snap, a piece breaks off... the 4 letter words were flying!
I look inside and see the piece within eyesight, grab my needle nose pliers and success! Thought I best match the broken piece with the cap to ensure that was all that broke off...no luck. There is a "missing" piece likely smaller than 1/8" by 1/4" tops.
Now let me clarify, I used to do a fair bit of "basic" work on my older vehicles but have gotten away from doing this stuff with the newer vehicles for quite a few years
So 2 questions to you folks:
1. Based on what I noted above with my car experience, would you advise tackling taking the valve cover off to find the missing piece?
2. The guy from the Auto Parts shop I picked the new cap up from says a piece that small will likely give me no worries. I think it's a pretty large chance to f*** something up by leaving it in there. Thoughts?
I have not touched the car or started it since my Saturday evening episode.
Thanks for any responses!
Regards,
Jamie
My son was taking our '06 5 GT out for a golf trip an hour or so out of the city so I cleaned it up, filled it up, checked the oil which was down a bit, so I decided to top it up. Fella in the parking lot came up and started to chat to me about how sweet the car looked. I got distracted and closed the hood, and you guessed it...no oil filler cap = oil sprayed all over the place under the hood! He came back and said something smelled like oil. Yes, oil all over the place, but that's not the worst of it.
He had to head back out the next day but by the time he got back and I looked at it, all shops were closed...hmm what do I do?? Well, I thought perhaps the one off my Honda would fit in a pinch. Tried it on, looks like a fit, go to give it a turn and snap, a piece breaks off... the 4 letter words were flying!
I look inside and see the piece within eyesight, grab my needle nose pliers and success! Thought I best match the broken piece with the cap to ensure that was all that broke off...no luck. There is a "missing" piece likely smaller than 1/8" by 1/4" tops.
Now let me clarify, I used to do a fair bit of "basic" work on my older vehicles but have gotten away from doing this stuff with the newer vehicles for quite a few years
So 2 questions to you folks:
1. Based on what I noted above with my car experience, would you advise tackling taking the valve cover off to find the missing piece?
2. The guy from the Auto Parts shop I picked the new cap up from says a piece that small will likely give me no worries. I think it's a pretty large chance to f*** something up by leaving it in there. Thoughts?
I have not touched the car or started it since my Saturday evening episode.
Thanks for any responses!
Regards,
Jamie
Senior Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 194
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I assume the piece is plastic? If so it's fairly unlikely to cause any damage and will probably work it's way down to the sump. On the other hand, it's not a massive job to take the valve cover off and retrieve it.