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Thread: melted oil cap!!!!!!!!

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    Default melted oil cap!!!!!!!!

    Hiya folks,

    I was hoping my first post would be positive instead it has started off as a total nightmare (unless you convince me otherwise).

    around 5 hours ago bought a '04 vectra elite 3.2 v6 with 74,000 on the clock and mot'd today, private sale off ebay, nice part of carlisle form a fairly decent chap, with full service history, checked the engine and electrics as you do and the oil cap and dipstick, water levels, no problems to report, other than the oil level on the dipstick was at the maximum, the car drives like a dream and had no problem getting me up the motorway back to edinburgh.........

    .......until i got on the biggar road, now a lovely stretch with no cars on it and the temptation to see what the car can do, gave the car a little kick and it flew like the clappers, once i got back to normal speed i noticed the faint smell of oil (sunny day and window open) so i took it very easy for the reminder of my journey (15 miles) and kept one eye on the temperature guage which remained constant at 90*.

    on parking the car i pooped the bonnet and noticed that there was oil leakage around oil cap area and there must have been a minor explaosion because there were signs on the underside of the bonnet above the oil cap area, i waited a couple of hours for the car to cool down and went back to inspect.

    after cleaning up the oil spillage (not a lot by the way, 2 pieces of good quality kitchen rolls worth) i inspected the water tank, no oil mix or decrease/increase in levels(phew i hope)

    however the oil cap came off in my hand and the yellow cap was fine from the top but the threads had melted away and signs of it were leading down the oil funnel, thankfully not into the engine(i hope) as i noticed this from the residue gone down about half way down the funnel.

    the funnel top to which the melted cap was attached to had melted also.

    with the car on flat surface and a good time for the oil level to settle, i rechecked the dipstick and noticed that it was a tiny bit below the maximum, leading me to beleive that maybe it was caused due to too much oil?

    i tried to search for any help and apologies if this has been answered before but as a newbie, i thought lets see if anyone else has experienced this, i'd imagine getting a replacement funnel and oil cap will be easy and draining the excess oil and replacing it will be fairly straightforward, however will that be the end of my worries or is there something else i should be investigating, any help will be appreciated.


    thanks in advance

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    Regular Member Derek Mc's Avatar
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    Sounds as though the crankcase ventilation is blocked causing a back pressure blow by via the cap. have a look at the vent pipes and filter for a collapsed pipe or blocked filter.

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    Default melted oil cap!!

    thanks derek, my mechanic buddy is coming up tomorrow to take a look, i'll get it checked, cheers.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Derek Mc View Post
    Sounds as though the crankcase ventilation is blocked causing a back pressure blow by via the cap. have a look at the vent pipes and filter for a collapsed pipe or blocked filter.
    The crankcase needs to "breathe" somehow

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    Might want to pull the plugs as well and check for oil contamination just in case but I am thinking CCV route

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    If the oil breathers are blocked and you keep driving it, the rocker cover gaskets will blow.

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    Thanks chaps, won't be moving the car until I get all these checked out, was going to have a look myself, the filter housing is encased with star screws so I'll leave it till tomorrow as don't have the correct tools to dismantle, thanks for your help as soon as I've had these checked I'll let you know how it goes, so I guess its not as simple as i thought it might be, lets hope its one of the above because ive heard the v6 is normally bulletproof!

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    IMO it’s not the breathers . Blocked breathers occur gradually over time and if not cleared will eventually lead to the rocker cover gasket seal breaking and a resulting leak. As yours was so acute resulting in the oil cap exploding that does not sound like the breathers.
    You have pointed out that the oil level looked quite full. As this explosion of the oil cap happened so suddenly I think it’s highly likely that someone has overfilled with oil enough to cause too much oil pressure and the cap to blow! Fingers crossed that no damage has been caused to any of the oil seals or gaskets!


    The V6's are bulletproof - as long as you look after them!

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    Update

    Thanks for the help chaps really appreciate it, ordered new funnel, gasket and oil cap, arrives sat from vx, all in 26 quid, for that price thought new over scrap was a better option, will drain the oil and refill, I'll give the pipes a going over just in case, thankfully the seals seemed intact as the only source of oil spillage came from the oil cap area and not the top end or anywhere else as it was clean when I did the initial inspection at purchase before and after a 10 min test drive, I did think at the time the dipstick was beyond the maximum but thought not a lot of it, bad mistake as I mentioned even after the event the dipstick was showing maximum so I'm hoping that over oil has caused it, here's hoping, I'll keep you posted on saturday, thanks again.

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    Quote Originally Posted by rasoz View Post
    Update

    Thanks for the help chaps really appreciate it, ordered new funnel, gasket and oil cap, arrives sat from vx, all in 26 quid, for that price thought new over scrap was a better option, will drain the oil and refill, I'll give the pipes a going over just in case, thankfully the seals seemed intact as the only source of oil spillage came from the oil cap area and not the top end or anywhere else as it was clean when I did the initial inspection at purchase before and after a 10 min test drive, I did think at the time the dipstick was beyond the maximum but thought not a lot of it, bad mistake as I mentioned even after the event the dipstick was showing maximum so I'm hoping that over oil has caused it, here's hoping, I'll keep you posted on saturday, thanks again.
    Leave the funnel off. It's not a necessary part and collects mayonaisse on it's inside, due to oil vapours rising and cooling. Most Z32SE owners have removed it because of this.

    Also keep an eye on the crankshaft oil seals. These are a weak spot anyway and any leak caused by the excess oil pressure won't be seen until after a few miles of driving (it will collect on the back / offside of the sump).
    Last edited by dae36; 5th August 2011 at 13:22.

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