Driving with oil cap off

[E53 4.8is]

I have a 2005 4.8is and tonuht while driving the low oil light lit up in yellow on the display, I bought a quart of oil until I had a chance to do an oil change, it's about that time. When I put the quart in, I left the oil cap on the intake cover and drove home about 16 miles, 2 of which was at around 75mph. I smelled what smelled like burnt oil about half way home so I monitored the oil temp and vehicle temp gauges and no problems. When I got home I heard what sounded like hissing and boiling, my first thought was o shit I left the cap off. I checkdd and sure enough... Oil was blown all over the engine bay. I'm really worried I did damage, but not sure I'm at walmart now buy more oil. Please tell me I didn't completely ruin anything.

[tonycajjo]

i think you'll be fine... bet you wont do that again.

the hissing i'm sure was oil that flew out and was on the manifolds.

there is a lot of oil in these engines and think it would be very difficult to have it fall to dangerous levels through the cap in such a short distance.

sleep well.

[E53 4.8is]

I don't believe much more than around 1 to 2 quarts at most sprayed out, but there was a lot of oil under the hood. I know these engines hold 8 quarts of oil but I'm still very worried. And you're right I won't make that mistake ever

[admranger]

If the low oil light didn't come on, you're fine. You have a lot of cleanup to do, but you're fine.

[E53 4.8is]

We'll, I put about 2.5-3 quarts in and it's still not registering. I'll check it in the morning when the light is better. These dips sticks suck for telling where oil levels are. Anyways thanks for the timely responses. I'm going to bed and hopefully no problems tomorrow.

[tonycajjo]

you gotta run the engine a bit to get the oil to circulate, or wait for the oil to make it's way down.

wait till tomorrow, check the level cold to see if anything shows... if yes, start it, monitor the temp and top off as necessary. if nothing shows i may add some and wait or add some .25-.5 quarts and start it and let it run for a min then check and repeat.

[E53 4.8is]

bingo. That's exactly what happened, BMW did about $10,000 with the work replacement lower exhaust valve guides heels and my guess is they broke it during the re-assembly. I wonder if they will stand up and fix the issue. The work was done about 1.5 years ago.

[E53 4.8is]

When I say broke it, I'm referring to the tube that the dipstick enters to access the bottom of the oil pan. If not, how hard of a repair is it? I am pretty handy. I'm changed the lower control arms, i have changed the alternator, I've done timing belts before on other vehicles and oil pumps.

[E53 4.8is]

Using my hand to guide the dipstick into the tube and making sure it makes it way into the broken part it's registering all the way above the plastic and onto the actual rod. Do I need to drain off a few quarts or is it ok for today until I can do the oil change Tomor row? Also is there a way for me to reset the oil inspection myself or do I have to take it somewhere? I'll tell you what though, it's a relief that the oil is registering now. When it wasn't going into the pan, it was rubbing on the dirt and grime built up at the bottom of the engine there And I thought I had some serious sludge and debris in my oil pan. Not to mention what looked like white milky foam which I immediately thought was minor head gasket leak. I was praying it was just condensation from the 20 minutes I drove in this south florida humidity that hadnt evaporated off yet. It sucks that the tube is broke but it's a relief that what I was observing wasn't something more severe.

[E53 4.8is]

So I drained off about 2 quarts now it's at the top of the maximum, I think I'll be OK until I get to change the oil tomorrow.