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Advice, please - oil filler cap left off at last service

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by enviroprius, Mar 23, 2015.

  1. Easy Rider 2

    Easy Rider 2 Senior Member

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    And now you know when that happens, it is a dead give-away that the level is BELOW the end of the stick. (y)
     
  2. frodoz737

    frodoz737 Top Wrench

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    My father told me something along those lines when I was young...and I've told my son the same...but stuff happens. Knowledge can be taught, but wisdom comes with time/age/experience.
     
  3. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    As BobWilson likes to say, pick any two ;)
     
  4. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    One other thing I tell my students, "experience gained is directly proportional to equipment destroyed"

    JeffD
     
  5. enviroprius

    enviroprius Junior Member

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    Thanks, everyone for your continued replies. The dealership continues to take my claims seriously and are keeping the car for the remainder of the week to try to figure out if something is wrong. The topic of new spark plugs came up today and I think they are going to replace them. I asked them to find another car similar to mine on their lot (they have several) and have the tech drive them back to back. It's not a perfect scenario, but maybe it will be enough for them to realize something is wrong. I'll keep you all updated. Thanks again.
     
  6. Yakoma

    Yakoma Active Member

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    Ride with them when they drive the two vehicles.
     
  7. 69shovlhed

    69shovlhed Surly tree hugger

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    hell, go down there and drag race the tech!!!
     
  8. dragonspeak

    dragonspeak New Member

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    I have done the same mistake after adding oil but the smell tipped me off and I capped it after 5 miles. The oil smell went away in a couple of days. Being a quart low should not be a disaster as I have had this happen long ago a few times and now have 189000 miles.
     
  9. BackgammonPlayer

    BackgammonPlayer New Member

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    I also have a 2007 Prius. And my oil cap was also left off (by me). Here's my experience...

    There was no smoke or anything coming out of the engine block. I only noticed the cap was missing when my red system triangle lit up and I checked under the hood. I had driven about 500 miles this way; mostly highway. I was about three quarts low. Luckily, the cap itself was originally caught when I closed my hood, so it was sitting right there.

    This whole episode was 1,000 - 2,000 miles ago. The bottom line is that there was no apparent or serious damage done, other than paying $10/quart at a remote truck stop for synthetic oil.
     
    enviroprius and bisco like this.
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome! how many miles on her?
     
  11. enviroprius

    enviroprius Junior Member

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    That's good to hear. Unfortunately, I continued to have problems and ended up trading it in (at the same dealer) on a new Highlander Hybrid. Good thing I did too, because I moved to where it snows (sometimes) and the roads can be pretty nasty in the winter. The AWD is much nicer in those conditions. I sure do miss my 2007 though. It was a great car. Good luck with yours!