I did a boneheaded thing this morning. On my way to work, I stopped off to put gas in the 8. While I was at it, I checked the oil, and decided to top it off. I removed the oil cap and set it near the leading edge of the engine bay, and put in some oil. As I went to put the oil cap back on, I fumbled it and it fell down into the engine bay...

Of course, it couldn't have just fallen all the way to the ground. Noooooooo. Instead, it got caught near the base of the alternator. So I had the privilege of squeezing my arm between the serpentine belts and the radiator fan, feeling around blindly for a slippery little oil cap.

I finally got my hand on it, and started to pull it up and out of the engine bay. Of course, being an oil cap, there was a thin film of oil on the threaded portion of it... which naturally caused the little bastard to slip out of my hand and back into the engine bay!

Finally, I was able to find it again, got my hand on it, and this time knocked it aft toward the firewall enough that it found a hole and fell onto the ground under the car. I quickly retrieved it, CAREFULLY screwed it in place, and took off.

The moral of this story -- please, do be careful with your oil cap when you're topping off your RX-8. You really don't want to drop it in the engine bay like I did!

 

LOL! You should invest in one of those rotary shaped caps like I did. Its so much larger and if you drop it its heavy enough to put a small dent in the earth. LOL!

 

Pics of said cap?

 

Nice! I did the same thing on an older car a few years back. When I went in to get it I learned a painful lesson. Apparently there are parts in there that get really ******* hot! I know.... who knew! Still got the scar on my thumb to remind me of my rushed stupidity.

 

When I first read your subject line, I thought you were going to tell us that you left the oil cap somewhere in a high place in the engine bay and then slammed that nice aluminum hood down on it.

1.3L

 

The other day I dropped a screw driver tip. It was stuck good. I had to get a magnet to pull it out! So it's really good if you don't drop anything in your engine bay.
________
Children Avandia

 

i want to learn how to juggle oil caps!!!

 

Here's a site with RX billet caps. Could this be the one?
http://www.andale.com/store?view=CAT...=238071&mode=1

 

Last week when I was topping off my oil, I lifted the oil fill cap from the engine, and the o-ring from inside the cap fell out and down into the engine compartment. I knew it was gone forever, being black and all. What a relief it was when I found it on the ground below the engine! I know the agony you felt!

 

I can relate. Sometimes you just want to re-live just the last 15 seconds of your life!

Glad you recovered.

 

I cannot tell a lie, I did the same thing the very first time I topped off the oil.

 

Did the same thing in the first year of owning the car. I unscrewed the cap and the gasket held onto the filler halfway and the cap halfway. Yanked itself right out of my hand then threw itself into the engine. I never saw it again. I poked all around under the pan, engine, all over. Checked with a flashlight. I bought a new one. The parts guy told me that it happens all the time.

 

Mine ended up inside the plastic skid plate down there. I ended up beating on the plastic with my hand till it popped out.

 

Did the same thing. Was able to wiggle my arm down to the spot from the front of the bay, rather than the side, to get the cap.