Help !!! a plastic piece fall into engine while filling oil

a plastic piece fall into engine while filling oil Help, I was so stupid. I let the oil cap open and try to add some oil, a 1 inch long and 1/4 inch wide plastic piece on the bottol fall into engine through the oil hold. what should i do now I need any common will be helpful thanks

Well; I would drain all oil from drain plug ; see if object comes out. If its too large and doesn't come out; then I'd remove the filter and see if it comes out there. And if still no, then remove the oil pan and take it out of there... Ideally do all this without running the engine before. But I'm no engine mechanic...

I don't know where on the engine the filler tube goes but would remove the covers and find out. Then remove it where it attach's to the engine and check the tube. Hopefully it is in the tube. And check the hole in the engine for it. If it is not there then you will have to take the sump off. The procedure is in the how to install a deeper sump, maybe a good time to do that? Luckily its plastic, but I still would not start the engine.

I already ran the engine, nothing happened. is the oil is hot enough to melt the plastic? I don't know if it will ruin the engine, since it is steel? else it will caught by the filter. thanks

I would remove the oil pan and find the offending piece. Why take the risk of it damaging something?

So should I dirve? will it be fine with short distance? so that i can drive to goodyear autoshop. wondering how much will it cost, and wondering the job that any autoshop will do. people say, it will never be the same once you open it up and put it back in.

i would get it towed to whatever shop to check it out( porsche would probably be your best bet).. you're better safe than sorry!

Hello tian6869, After the piece of plastic fell into the filler, did you continue to add oil? It would be best if you hadn't however even if you did, the plastic is still most likely residing in the largely horizontal oil filler pipe. Remove your engine cover and you can follow the pipe from the filler area to the engine. Remove the pipe and the plastic piece is almost sure to be hung-up in the corrugations. If you aren't slightly mechanically inclined and you can answer "no" to my first question, you should feel safe to drive it to a nearby mechanic. Explain to him that you want him to retrieve a plastic tab which is probably located in the horizontal engine oil fill tube; once he has the engine cover off the task at hand will be obvious. Hope this helps! Joe

Why would you run the engine with plastic bits in your oil?

Better be safe than sorry, have it towed to a Porsche dealer is my advice too! ________________________ "Sir! We're surrounded!" - "Excellent! We can shoot in any direction!" A good car will get you from point A to point B. A great car... will just get you into trouble!

Yes the engine is steel and who knows if the oil gets hot enough to melt the plastic....but wither way, anyone should know the clearance between a piston and its shaft is basically zero.....so just imagine what would happen if the plastic piece got into that shaft? I am not saying doom and gloom here and I am not even saying the plastic (would get to the piston) is lodged in your block, I am just saying that before I would start a $60,000 car with ANY risk whatsoever, I would call 1-800- PORSCHE and risk a $500 bill to retrieve it. Your insurance will not cover a damaged engine and you can bet Porsche would find the problem if you brought it to the dealership with a "problem." SO the answer is simple (for me)......do NOT start it any more. Have it towed! NOW..what are you waiting for?

While the chances this plastic bit would end up in a cylinder are pretty remote - the motor uses a very complicated and sophisticated oiling/lubrication system that employs three separate pumps with quite high pressures, to feed oil directly where it's needed. The more likely scenario is that it will get stuck in the system someplace, or lodge in one of the pumps - either way, you're looking at oil starvation to some section of the motor... so don't start it again, and have it taken to someplace that knows what they're working on. brad

Well I admit do not know anything about the lubrication/oil system. But nonetheless, if I dropped something in the oil filler area, I would freak out and call a tow truck without even thinking. Just me.

Absolutely agree. brad

may be it is good time upgrade to 3.8L for 3K-5K? since they are going to take out the engine anyway who should i contact for 3.8L engine swap?

The engine doesn't have to be removed just the lower oil pan. Get it towed to the dealer or a good indie and let them sort it.

It's probably still in the filler tube - if not, they'll need to drain the oil and take the bottom off the sump, which is under the motor - they don't have to take the motor out... on the other hand, if you want to turn this adventure into a $25-$30k motor swap, then have at it... that's what it's going to cost for a swap... brad

Just because it is a little piece of plastic in a metal engine doesn't mean that it cannot do any harm. Every day I work on huge pumps/motors that cost hundreds of thousands/millions of dollars and a surprising amount of the time, the reason they ended up here is because of little pieces of plastic. A lot of times people leave the plastic hose caps in the system or forget to take a rag out after they were working on it. Sometimes you get a clogged filter, other times you get what is pictured below. Have it towed.

This thread is getting funnnnnny.

I will call them tomorrow and let them check out. but, just wondering, since i already droved 60 mile on it, if there is a problem I should have it already? I did feel some thing, when i was at 6 gear, 70mph, if i suddenly and quickly release the gas, the car felt pause or sudden reduce speed. However, after I stop the car and start it again, it was find any way, the worst case is to replace the engine to 3.8L (a way to petty myself)

Huh?? Is this thread a joke? If it isn't, sorry but I just had to wonder out loud... Why would you run your car for 60 miles or at all after dropping something into the engine??

Modern engines have horsepower. Horses like sugar. To keep the engine happy - add sugar. Then you have big happy horsepower! Dfogal.

yap, I felt I am stupid too, but all the auto shop closed one Sunday, and I have no idea how to fix this. my original theory is assume that plastic will be break by the steel engine, then the small broken pieces will be fillered by the oil filter, then i can do the oil change and take it out. You can call me stupid, or laugh at me, although I don't think it is fun. so far the car is running fine, and i will take to a auto shop to look at it

This thread has to be a joke.

My part was at least. Our engines prefer Splenda to sugar.

Now that your engine is getting used to plastic its going to be tough to get her back on regular Mobil 1 . Too much plastic and she'll get overweight and sluggish so make sure the kids dont leave plastic on the floor or feed her plastic off their plates. If you can shove the newspaper into your gas tank you'll have the first GREEN Cayman running on previously thought unusable lubrication and fuel sources.

I've been thinking about this thread and I bet this is more common than we might think... all the oil changes that happen every single second in the world; I bet debris often does find its way into the oil hose. And I would be surprised if these oil hoses aren't built with some sort of a mesh screen before they enter the oil supply of the car to stop such debris... I mean, that's just common sense... but then again; that's just how I would do it were I an engine manufacturer. - Suneet

I seriously hope this is some sort of joke. I can't imagine anyone driving 60+ miles with a foreign body in the oil filler tube/system. Plastic or not, no good can come from your engine coming in contact with anything other than what it is supposed to. You own a $65K+ plus vehicle! If it were me, I would have stopped everything once that plastic bit fell and called the dealer. Why risk damaging your car? But then again, this is probably a joke (I hope)

I'm betting there is a screen of some sort in the tube as well. Heck, look at the windshield washer reservoir. That screen is so tight it sometimes won't take the washer fluid as fast as you pour it. Ya know what I would do? Call the 800 Porsche number and get a techy on it. They seem quite happy to answer "dumb" questions. (Not that this one is dumb!) I would sure hope that the Porsche designers were smart enough to look at the size of that hole and say, "Hey Zigfreid, how long do you think it will be until someone drops something down there?" ... "I don't know Klaus, how long?" ... "Auch du lieber!!!, where is my wedding ring???" Let's hope that convo made them put a screen in the tube.

Yes. Every engine I have seen has a screen at the end of the oil pump pickup to prevent debris from entering the pump. If the debris doesn't enter the pump, then it isn't going to cause damage unless it is large enough to cause the engine to starve for oil at high rpms. So, let me play devil's advocate here. If it is stuck in the oil fill tube, then it isn't hurting anything, is it? If it made it to the sump, then the screen at the pickup will keep it from going anywhere. Then, at your next oil change, perhaps it can be fished out of the sump through the drain hole. I bet it will cause you no problems whatsoever. But then again, it isn't my car...

If this is a joke I don't get it. There is a lot of guessing as to what could/couldn't happen to the foreign body in the crankcase, my point is, why risk it. Tow it to the dealer and remove the worry.

Gentlemen, This is not a Joke Thread.............. The Original Poster is not from the naturally English Speaking world, and is attempting to get some help from us. Please try to understand. The English is not perfect (But often what is written by other US posters, on other topics, is woefully deficient...............). There have been many helpful contributions, and we would hope that now, a visit to the Porsche centre in his/her country has solved the problem. I am sure that Porsche has put enough safety traps in place to protect the engine from this unfortunate occurrence...............