Oil cap broke....

Wish

24 yr old oil cap on a PCM GT40. So I went to add a little oil. Pushed oil cap down as usual, gave it twist (usually 1/4 turn) and the cap comes off. This time it went snap. Lifted top part of cap off to see the spring and 1 of 2 plastic bits at the bottom of the lower part of the oil cap. Second plastic bit still attached to the upper part of the cap. Dug the spring and plastic bit out, installed the top part of cap back on lower part and turned. It only clicks now and does not move lower portion of cap. So now the cap (lower and upper) are stuck on the oil fill tube. Looks like I can buy a new one but can’t get the old off. Weary of braking something off and it going down oil fill tube if I use something like channel locks or something. 😕 any ideas???

skihacker

Any chance you can post a picture?

Wish

Not much to see.

Wish

I believe the cap set up is such that if you go to over tighten, the top portion starts rotating and clicking while the lower portion no longer tightens. Hens the spring and the top portion having the plastic bits. This looks like a replacement but I don’t thing it has the over tighten safety feature of the old one.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NDP81981421?cid=paidsearch_shopping_dcoe_google&campaign=GSC-Fuel-Emissions&campaign_id=10951730297&adgroup_id=113117085528&adtype=pla&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjPaCBhDkARIsAISZN7QoBs3wvDRdS-t0DQJvL8v2IdQUB8rIoh3p2EXQ6bMAYg3XqFETVMsaAm95EALw_wcB&

75Tique

ski dim

https://skidim.com/cap-oil-fill-screw-down-1986-on-ford.html

RichardDoane

@Wish you’ll need to grab your sharpened standard screwdriver and a hammer and start taping that plastic cap remnant counter clockwise. If pieces break then get the shop vacuum out for removal. I’ve had to destroy things sometimes but with careful clean up it’s ok. Worse case is a new valve cover gasket if you end up removing the valve cover.

RichardDoane

And yes, at times being a “hammer mechanic” is necessary.

Jmoski

@wish - is there any part of the lower half accessible to try and grab it with an oil filter strap wrench to spin it out? Maybe even shave down the width of the strap to get it in there, a cheap filter wrench is like $10...

The other idea I would throw out is if you can safely get the top half off again, maybe you can crazy glue it back on to the lower so it doesn’t spin?

fu_man

I saw a neat fix for removing a completely stripped phillips head screw. Basically you take a Dremel wheel and cut a slot into the screw head to "manufacture" a flat-head slot to unscrew it. Without seeing what is below that cap I wonder if something like this would work for you.

Wish

@RichardDoane wouldnt the broken off bits get into the engine oil?? Or is there a filter of some sort down a ways in the oil fill tube??

wski1831

In weld a handle to the inside?

wski1831

Sorry JB weld

keithh2oskier

For what its worth, I would just take the valve cover off, and then deal with the cap on a work bench. That way if any pieces break, it's a whole lot less likely your gonna have them floating around in the valvetrain. Its probably an extra 5 min worth of work but could save a massive headache down the road.

DW

+1 on valve cover removal. Valve cover gasket is cheap compared to plastic bits dropping in the head then having the chance of landing on a lifter or on down any drain passages.

RichardDoane

@Wish you may be able to get it to loosen without it turning to shrapnel. If you can get it to move a 1/4 turn then some reverse opening pliers can then spin it out. Worse case, off comes the valve cover.

ReallyGottaSki

Consider how about heat up a large #4 screwdriver and melt it into the plastic and make your own slot, remove, let everything cool, then turn

75Tique

I was going to mention the remove the valve cover idea myself, but, I seem to recall hearing, I could be wrong, that you cant get the valve cover off without removing the exhaust manifold....which could get ugly.