Face Palm

Put a piece of duct tape to hold your car keys to the oil cap....

If you ask yourself more than twice "Why are my keys taped to this ??" then it's time to let somebody else handle vehicle maint.

Maybe this is why BMW won't let us even have own dipsticks any longer.

I'll throw mine in the ring:

After topping off the oil on the integra in the western suburbs of Atlanta, I apparently left the cap off . . . before driving all the way to Athens (which is over an hour-n-half east of Atlanta). The hood and motor were pretty soaked by the time I got there. I was just lucky nothing caught on fire.

I replaced the starter in a car and went to start the car... without having hooked up the battery back up. Of course that little tidbit didn't dawn on me, so I removed the starter and brought it back to the store... where it worked fine on the bench test. Immediately I realized what I had done, and left the store with my tail between my legs.

Talk about humiliation.

I borrowed a buddy's truck once and thought I'd check the fluids before using it. When I raised the hood the aftermarket bug deflector broke at the right side mounting bolt. It swung down on a diagonal and smacked me in the head, then broke at the left side mounting bolt and dropped, irrepairably broken, onto the radiator support. Whups.

I definitely bumped an engine over before disconnecting the ignition which threw the half bolted radiator fan through said radiator. That was an expensive fan clutch.

ShadowSix wrote: I did this on my old '86 MR2. I noticed that there was smoke coming from the engine cover, pulled over to check, opened the cover, and BAM! Motherberkeleying flames!

I did it in mine too, but no flames. Lots and lots of smoke while gunning it to merge on the freeway though.

I've done an oil change with slightly different results. I didn't even get to starting the motor. The pool of oil on the floor stopped me. Seems I forgot to put the drain plug back in.

I left the filler cap off of a customers 560SL mercedes once. Time for a new hood pad, fortunatly no flames. They brought the car back for a smell.

I wondered what that horrific noise was after I checked the oil on my truck. I had left the dip stick on the radiator (I think) and it had wrapped itself around the crank pully.

A service advisor left the 240 diesel I was working on in reverse after checking the reverse lights I had already checked. When I bumped it over to check the valve lash thats when it decided to start. Fun chasing a car across the shop, out the door, and across the parking lot. I jumped on the radiator support and pressed the fuel shutoff before it hit anything. Note to self, always set the parking brake firmly and keep the servce advisors away with deadly force.

killerkane wrote: Next time put it on the latch where the hood latches. It won't shut if you have it on there.

Do not, repeat do not do this with your brand new cell phone

Look at the bright side...

...Forgetting to put the cap back is significantly better than forgetting to put the drain plug back.

Just a thought...

And make sure the seal comes off with the filter, cause two seals.....don't

RealMiniDriver wrote: I've done an oil change with slightly different results. I didn't even get to starting the motor. The pool of oil on the floor stopped me. Seems I forgot to put the drain plug back in.

Did that once too. Pretty hard to go to the store to buy more oil when your only car doesn't have any oil in it...

I did that on the way back from Sebring in the SL2. Woke up at 5:30 on Sunday morning to get back to Atlanta at a reasonable time. I was SUPER tired and left the cap off. Made it from the track out to Sebring Blvd. when something didn't sound right. luckily it was still sitting on the back of the valve cover.

Long time ago I had a Chevy C-10 that went through a quart of oil every 4-500 miles. Think I left the fill cap off a couple of times, but I was averaging more than a 100 miles a day so it never took long to notice.

Got out of the car at the car wash just before it rollers sucked it in. While I was watching it disappear I noticed a window was still open.

Hey, did you know that on a Buick 3.8 there's a small screw that allows you to equalize the pressure/remove air before buttoning the system back up? I dropped it into the engine somewhere. Couldn't find it. Wasn't on the ground, ect. I had to order another, and it took a week.

I'd mention the times I've left the gas cap off, but on my vehicles I've had they've all been tethered to the lid. Otherwise I'd have a sizable gas cap budget.

I have had multiple car-related facepalm incidents. I've never left the oil cap off, but...

1. Started refilling a transmission with fluid before putting BOTH halfshafts back into their holes in the diff case. Trans fluid is hard to clean up off of a concrete floor.
2. Installed a new wiper motor in the fiancee's car because the park switch in the old one was bad. I bolted the motor to the rotating assembly 180* out of whack. The wipers tried to wipe the hood.

I'm drawing a blank for more, but I know there are more...

Just in case this saves somebody.....when you discover your oil cap missing, don't plug the hole with a rag on your OHC motor.....You guys are smart enough to figure the rest of the story, I'm sure.

I have lost all respect for you guys now.

I took the cap off the valve cover of my Toyota wagon to add some oil while the engine was running. I forgot that the cam gear was right in the opening.

We'll leave it at that.

carguy123 wrote: I have lost all respect for you guys now.

If you haven't had an "Awe F*#$!" moment yet, be prepared...

in 3, 2, 1, next time you touch a wrench !