Hi,
I had my oil changed at 5K, that was last summer, now I am at 9K on my 2003 SOP EX AWD.
Some people have told me they smell gas in may car, so I took it to be seen today and as soon as they popped the hood we saw the Oil cap missing!!!! Oil all over the engine and the interior of the hood!!! I was upset. We dont know how long it has been that way! I am worried if there has been any long term damage! Check engine light never came on.
THe advisor said he has seen this on a number of other elements but then he tried blaming it on People who changed the oil 4000 miles ago!!! Any one else has had this experience!!? Should I demand that they at least give me a free cap?

Thanks
Todd

Have you been deployed overseas since last summer? How can you only have 4,000 miles on your E since that oil change? I drive 20,000 miles per year in my car, and expect to change my oil four times per year.

All kidding aside. . .you need to definately buy a new oil cap, and get in the habit of checking under the hood more frequently, to be proactive in detecting maintenance issues before they become a big problem. What is your oil level now, after losing some under the hood area?

Better top off with oil now, before the next change.

I'm at a loss here: wouldn't you end up with the oil light on after 1000s of miles with the oil cap off due to oil burning/splatter/pressure loss caused by the opening?

If not, then yeah, obviously the people who changed your oil forgot to put the cap back on and your engine's been running naked every since. If that's the case, it's not the dealer's issue.

Truthfully, the only mechanics to every damage one of my cars were...Jiffylube. They:

- overfilled my engine, extremely, causing oil to be pushed through the seals/rings out the air intakes and had a multi hour clean-up task to deal with.
- damaged my seals as a I found out later, as I continued to burn oil every day since.
- apparently forgot to fill it up with oil after the clean up. when my engine wouldn't stay started a few days later, I found out I had no oil.

That was my '89 Colt, never the same since. :(

What could I do? Almost nothing a shop does wrong that might damage a car is really provable. I just vowed never to return.

-brendan

In response to the questions of why the oil light didn't come on...

If the Element works like any other modern Honda, that oil light is an "idiot" light as I like to call it. It does not test oil level, but oil pressure. And it is also VERY hard to trip. On Fords (Sorry, this is what I know the most) the oil light comes on when there is 5 PSI or less in the system. By the time the motor is down to that...it isn't pretty.

Does the Element have an oil pressure guage? I noticed that's one thing lacking from any Honda I have ever seen (In addition to a voltometer).