A near disaster (I F'ed up) and a warning...
 

So, I went walking today... As I was getting ready to park, "Check Oil Level." OK, I'll do that when I get back to the car.

Finish walk, pull the cap off, juggle it, watch as it bounces down the sewer. In 57 years, I have never lost a part this way.

OK, 5 miles to home, 25 miles to dealer.

So, I filled the crank with oil. (I carry about 3 quarts all the time).

I start for home. About half way there, the warning light comes on again, so I pulled over and gave it another quart. By this time the entire engine bay is covered in oil - but this is the least of my problems.

Got it home and checked the stick and it indicates I am about a quart and a half down (how much I had to replace).

2 new oil caps have been ordered. Had I been on the road, I would have had to tow it to a shop and wait for a cap to come in. They are not available at local auto parts stores.

The cap that I place on the car will have double sided tape stuck to the outside with a cord strapping it to the hood or some other part.

In the old days I could have stuffed a towel in the hole and then taped it in place. But the valve chain sits directly below the cap and a towel would have been sucked/dragged in.

If you don't have one, I suggest buying a spare for your travel kit.

wtf jesus Christ dude.

:iagree:

First post nails it :bustingup

New cap came in today... All cleaned up and back in service. I expect the second cap tomorrow and it will go directly into my service kit.

No duct tape available to tape over the hole?

Or one of those hardcore rubber bands with a rag?

No. As I contemplated the hole, I could see no way to bind the tape to itself. There is no significant rise at the hole for the tape to get purchase (take a look at the valve chain cover).

My main concern was that anything I could put over the hole would come lose and be dragged by the timing chain into the case where it would become immeshed.

A dirty engine bay was a far less fearsome result.

Could have burned your X5 to the ground.

Might consider checking fluids at some reasonable frequency when you are at home. Why do you carry 3 quarts of oil?

Could have, but not likely to have. Why 3Q's of oil, same reason I carry a gallon of water, and all the other parts and tools. I probably usually carry just two, but along the way somewhere picked up another.

As for checking the oil at a reasonable frequency... the warning system works well enough.

If you're ever in the situation where you are 3qts low, you probably aren't driving anywhere regardless of how much oil you have on hand.

...and? You do realize this thread is a situation where having three quarts got me home - with one to spare in case.

And since it is not unheard of for me to travel 1000 miles when the mood hits me, shouldn't I be the judge of how much of what I should carry in my car?

Why are you all trying to make something of nothing? What is the point?

I was just wondering if you burn a lot of oil or it there was some other reason, just curious. Sorry.

I always carry an emergency kit with basic tools and duct tape but I am never out in the country or far from home so never carry any fluids. If I can't get home with what I carry it is time to call AAA road service.

And I criss-cross the country often. No harm, no foul. Personally, I prefer that if people want to ask questions, they just ask direct questions instead of hemming and hawing.

I would say that "why do you carry 3 quarts of oil?" is as direct as you can get.

But as you said, the question you wanted to ask was NOT "why do you carry three quarts of oil"; what you wanted to know was - does my car burn oil - or leak it. It does neither.

But again, no harm.

I had no hidden agenda, sorry to aggravate you.

I see no issue with carrying lots of oil. I sometimes keep a 5qt jug on hand, since I don't buy 1qt containers ever.

I still think tape over the hole would have sufficed. At least on the M54, there isn't much crankcase pressure (even a slight vacuum at idle) so just multiple strips over the hole would be ok. The motor shouldn't be blowing it off, and then you'd have a cover to stop the oil from splashing everywhere.

I keep duct tape, oil, coolant, an extra coil pack, my old scan tool and tools in mine, in case i need them or in the event i see someone pulled over, hood up and they might need them! I like to be prepared!! ( my father in law even carries a spare fuel pump!!! his logic is "if you have a spare, youll never need it!" )
everything is tucked away in storage compartments, so its not visible in the cargo area.
better safe than sorry i suppose!

My brother and I have a similar attitude with our dirt bikes. We keep some spare parts on hand so that in the event something breaks we can replace it and get back to riding.

However the situation was starting to become ridiculous. We were buying a lot of parts which we could possibly never need. In the end we keep the common things such as tubes, brake / clutch levers, etc. and bought a third bike. The latter thought being we could just use the third bike should something break on one of the other ones and get use out of it if we have a buddy who wants to join us.