Lost oil cap, big problem or little one?
 

So the spousal unit attempted add some oil in her 2010 RX-8 for the 1st time and in the process dropped the cap somewhere in front of the alternator as she was bringing it towards the front of the car.

I never saw what this thing looks like and I'm concerned it can get bounced around and damage something. Is this cap in fact hard enuff to do such damage or do we get another one to replace it?

I have removed the bottom oil-pan cover and nothing there. I removed the battery/box/and all associated plastic with it and I can't see anything from above. Crawled my hands around whatever I could get my hands on from underneath/in front/the sides and above....nothing.

Am I in trouble here?

Been lookin for it for a couple hours now, please advise,

Thank you,

CD

did you look inside the front bumper below the radiator?

Hrmm, I would try unscrewing the guard under the front bumper. There should be 6 screws if i remember correctly on the bottom, there might be a chance it fell down there. I will go open my hood and see if I see where it could have fallen if i were to drop it as well.


edit: lol jason beat me to it

Yes, I dropped 2 plastic screws and 2 12 mm's and slid my hand up in there..nothin

no I mean the pan under the radiator.
I suggest you get a flashlight and have a good exam under it.
also look behind the front wheels might be there.

Nope nothin, I'm guessing I'll pull the wheels off and try to see the area from the side. Not a job for tonight though, gots to be to work at 5.

it might fell out if you drive it like that.

What about in front of the alternator, by the pullys. Have you driven it since? I would be worried to turn on the car, especially because you dont know what it is up against. Like jason said, pull out the wheels and remove the wheel well covers, might be sitting around there somewhere.

No it hasn't been driven or started since this happened this morning. It wont either until I find it. I'm guessing the pulling the wheels off will expose what I need to see and allow me much easier access to the nooks and crannies.

Thanx all for your help and ideas

CD

Pulling off your wheels will give you little, as the wheel well comes pretty low I believe. You might see something, but I doubt it. Have you pulled out the entire airbox and the battery box already, or just the top bits? You said you pulled them out, but I'm curious to what extend. Have you ran your hand around the entire serpentine belt? Perhaps check the fans atop the radiator, unless the shroud wouldn't allow for something like a cap to get lodged in there.

Do you know what you're looking for? The cap might actually be in plan view, as the engine has so many random bits on top.

Is the S2 oil cap yellow like the S1? A simple picture of the oil cap might help the OP considerably.

get a light and look around for a bright yellow cap.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1...54328044CvAzHH

S2 caps are not yellow

Thanx for all the pics and advice. I wanted to follow-up to help others in case.

I pulled the right front wheel off and what grabbed my eye was the green ring on the caps stem, thats what I saw near the bottom front right side radiator. The cap was sideways and that green ring gave it's position away.

Hope it don't happen to you, only took about 5 hours of searching and taking the complete battery and box out, air filter, bottom metal plate, right front wheel and bottom front plastic skirt.

On a positive note...now I know where my oil filter is :)

CD

right on. Thanks for the update! enjoy driving again :lol:

first time I've seen under the hood of an S2. Lotsa subtle differences

i lost mine awhile ago. still dont know where it went. i just drove over to napa and got a new one

Yep, I quickly noticed the four-point strut tower bar and the throttle body. My washer fluid container's still the original black :lol:

the oil dipstick looks to be a little more accessible as well

It's angled vice inside and under where we, with the S1 engines, sometimes burn our hands when we check our oil level while gassing up.

yeah, i wish I saw a yellow handled dipstick when I popped the hood. I am jealous.

I think they switched to the white coolant bottle in 2005. Sure way to tell if you've got a 2004

wow never heard of someone droppping a bright yellow cap and losing it forever..it's definately there somewhere....why waste the money on a new one when u know it can only be in a 4ft square space...just look for it...

can you read 04rx8? he did find it and its not yellow.