Chevrolet Cruze Forums banner

Oil filler cap ejection/oil eruption

40K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  jblackburn 
#1 · (Edited)
Today coming to work I had to get into the turbo a bit to pass another driver. I usually don't get on the gas too much for better mileage. When I came to my next stop I smelled a fuel and oil burning smell. I thought it was the truck in front of me and continued the 1/4 mile or so to my work. When I parked and stopped the engine I found out it was my car :sad:... I opened the hood and there is oil spray and the oil filler cap is laying on top of the engine near the rear. There is a large 8" diameter spray of oil on the hood and oil covering various parts in the vicinity of the oil filler hole. Glad it didn't burst into flames.

I thought that maybe the cap was not closed tight and it just fell off but when I see the oil spray I think there was probably a good deal of pressure and maybe a loose cap. The cap is not cracked or broken.

PCV valve? Turbo seal? any ideas......

Contacted GM to have the car towed to the dealer which is only a couple miles away and will have them look at it tomorrow.

2012 Chevy Cruze Eco manual ~33,000 miles
 
#5 ·
The improperly secured cap has merit.....it is fairly easy to have only one of the two engagement legs, uh, engaged.

When you got on it for a moment the crankcase went to positive pressure and spit the cap (and lots of oil).

At least you caught it, creating a story rather than a fire......good catch.

Rob
 
#7 ·
I would go with the loose oil cap also.....except it seems odd that you could drive 6000 miles without at least a leak around the cap.
If the oil cap were loose, I would expect a poorly running engine or Check Engine Light.
 
#8 ·
I have the same exact car and experienced the same exact problem this summer. I also have no reason to believe the cap was loose or ill-fitting. Did you have any subsequent problems? 3 months passed and then I started to get a rumble at idle. They replaced the pcv valve and it seemed to help. But then recently found oil leaking, presumably from the head gasket. To me, it's running pretty well. Took it in to a dealership but apparently they overbooked on the day I scheduled (today, btw). Now I'm trying to decide who I should take my business to because they have consistently let me down. Wondering if this car is going to do the same. I like the car quite a bit, but am definitely starting to get annoyed.
 
#10 · (Edited)
What's weird is we had a 2012 Sequoia come in for an oil change, the oil cap was sitting on the fender. The customer said they didn't go under the hood and notice, but there was no oil under the hood, and no oil missing on the dipstick. We even ran it, and the oil pressure light didn't even come on. It was 4000 miles, but almost a year since her last oil change.

But, if the threads are not stripped on the cap, it obviously it screwed off, or was loose where it could come off.
 
#11 ·
In general, V-8's and V-6's will not throw oil from the oil fill.
This is because, as long as the PCV is working, the positive/negative crankcase pressure moments are very low.....more cylinders make for a more even blow by pulse.

Engines of four or less cylinders have dramatic crankcase pressure changes....in the case of a 4 cyl, 2 rising while two pistons dropping...one of which adds a bit of blowby to the equasion.....in addition to this, on the Cruze, a pressure fedcamshaft is directly under the oil fill cap so with the cap off it just heaves oil out the fill hole.

This may be why they started using a baffled oil fill tube beginning sometime in 14......the cap doesn't have to act as a splash shield and potental leak point.

Rob
 
#13 ·
I believe it ended up that the cap was incorrectly seated. A fairly easy thing to do on the pre baffled fill caps.......not a high pressure issue, but there is a large volume of oil thrown off the camshafts and it'll get pushed out of any seam it can find.

Remove/re install the cap......look carefully that is level with the cover.......clean up the mess it makes.

Rob
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top