piece of plastic (bottle neck ring) could be in oil?

there are many things that i could say, but as usual, i don't know anything for sure.

 

That ring probably didn't break off and still on the cap

SM-N900P ?

 

Yeah, it was probably still attached to the cap. Unless you have all the bottles and caps and one is missing.

SCH-I535

 

First of all, don't worry about anyone calling you "Cyber Whiner."

Secondly, I can't imagine the ring went down your oil inlet, so you're probably fine... "Chainsaw Woman."

 

prius engine would chew it up and spit it out.

 

The Rings are engineered to break off or stay on. Millions of hours went into the design so it won't end up in your engine

SM-N900P ?

 

Kris actually remembers me. I must have made a impression...

Don't worry about it Kris. We all make mistakes, so don't feel bad or anything like that. You are still A OK in my book. You will never will be a "whiner" either in my book. At least you care about your vehicle. Most folks just put gas in them and drive them until the engine quits, then ask "What is wrong..."?

Take care and God bless you!

Ron (dorunron)

 

It wouldn't be good. The plastic would end up in the valve train and get chewed up.

I suggest that a funnel should be used when adding fresh oil. This reduces the likelihood of spills onto the valve cover. A further benefit of the funnel is that the spout ideally will have a smaller diameter than the plastic ring from the oil bottle cap, thus trapping any rings that manage to get loose.

I recall seeing a loose ring or two get into the funnel, so Kris' scenario is not impossible to occur. Envision that the ring is left on the bottle, but is partially rising up on the threads as the cap is removed. Then, as the bottle is inverted, the ring could fall off.

 

Jees, the Gollum (Smeagle) is a creature only a mother could love ...

Taking a closer look at the oil fill port, there is a baffle plate maybe about a half inch below the neck. I would imagine if a security ring (tamper ring?) fell in there, it would have an equal chance of standing up and being retained visibly in the opening as it would landing flat and being washed further down into the head. I wonder what the melting point of that type of plastic is. If it were to make it past the baffle plate, it would probable lodge in one of the various corrugations on the top of the head. Alternately, it might be able to travel down a sufficiently large oil way into the lower block and spend its days sucked up against the oil pump screen or relaxing on or in the oil. I wonder if it would float or sink or experience neutral buoyancy?

 

Well thankfully it's too soft to directly damage anything in the valve gear, but it would melt and make a mess. It could possibly interfere with oil flow, so definitely something you want to avoid. I'm not 100% certain but I think it would eventually melt and either dissolve into, or get washed away by, the hot oil.

Actually the much more common occurrence is the loss of the small little plastic/foam liner that typically sit in the top of the plastic cap (to improve the seal). I've heard a surprising number of reports of people ending up with these things dropping into their oil. I think what typically happens is that the little seal/liner sticks to the top of the bottle and pulls away from the cap as it's unscrewed. Then when the person doesn't notice it there stuck there it goes straight into the engine when they start pouring. So if you're worried about things accidentally falling into your oil filler then I'd watch out for this in particular.