Leaving the oil cap off

As long as the oil level did not get dangerously low on the dipstick, there should not be any ill effects on the engine.

"Christopher Wong" Besides a bit of a mess due to oil persumably splattering

None.

Huw

I guess you only had it off for a little while. So moisture or foregn particles had little time to become introduced into your engine. IMHO, then you should not ill effects on the engine.

hth,

tom @

This really brings up the question - should you let anyone work on your car that you can NOT observe? Forget the insurance crap/excuses. Or we need you to support our vending machines in a confined area etc.

I have found the oil cap sitting on the engine block. Also had it fall on the ground as I pulled out. I have even caught the five full cans of oil sitting on the workbench as I was about to leave - and asked ... A quick visual inspection is ALWAYS in order.

Just imagine the same thing but with your body. Imagine letting some knife weilding clowns open you up like filletting a fish and doing some component repair before sowing your up again. A certain proportion of operations are bound to go wrong with either something being left out, left in, or some infection or poor workmanship causing further problems. Fact is, shit happens. Don't worry about it unduly but do everything in your power to increase your chances of a successful outcome.

Huw

Like one place the foreman said: "We do shitty work but we do a lot of it."

and fight National Health Care at every turn....

Especially if one only makes about 40k a year WTF OT - again

Good suggestion. I used Mr. Lube once and they only hand tightened the oil drain plug. Suddenly I was using oil. So next time I changed it myself and discovered what had happened. I'll never go there again. I find our local Speedy very good, less than a 30 min. wait and I can actually see my car. At my dealers my car disappears to some inner room and it's a 4 hr wait.

Something like this I would view as a good thing overall for several reasons. The best one by far will be nick naming him OilCap. 8)

You can be sure every "Hello OilCap" will be worth it's weight in gold!

Dan

If for some reason I thought doing it myself at home was a good idea then hopefully someone would kick me in the butt for being a dumb ass.

Dan

Was this all the same place?

No, GM and Chrysler dealerships (the gold plated ones) and a couple of gas stations. Never went back ...