Doing an oil change as I’ve done the past 30+ years. This time I noticed that the washer for the oil plug bolt was in my plastic multi purpose oil waste pan when I was draining the old oil into the waste container. No problem-- I’ll just drain the new oil out add the washer to the bolt and refill the oil. What I didn’t realize was that there was a dried latex oil chip about 3/4 x 1/8 inch in the pan. It worked loose from the old warm oil. When refilling the new oil a 2nd time it flowed out into the motor thru the filler pan.
So the possibilities are:
It will sit at the bottom of the oil pan and flow out during the next oil change. (good)
It will be caught by the oil filter and sit in the filter clogging it up a little bit. (no harm done).
It will be burnt up by engine heat – no harm
It won’t be caught, won’t burn up, and be caught somewhere important in the engine – ruining it — very very bad.
Which is the likely scenerio? Any of the above or something completely different? Should I redrain the oil and see if it comes out? The chip is small I don’t know if that would work.
I haven’t driven the car except to get it off the ramp and we’re leaving on vacation tomorrow of course. Thanks for the thoughts.
Whatever went into the engine will eventually end up in the oil pan. So it’ll either sit at the bottom of the oil pan, or the oil pump pick-up screen will prevent it from being ingested into the engine.
I never really paid much attention to Willie Nelson until I bought a CD for road trips. He’s getting older and I’m getting older. I really enjoy one song in particular, especially for an event like this…
“And I could cry for the time I’ve wasted But that’s a waste of time and tears And I know just what I’d change If went back in time somehow But there’s nothing I can do about it now.” Nothing I Can Do About It Now song lyrics by Willie Nelson CSA
If it’s just a thin dried latex paint chip, me, I wouldn’t worry about it. One suggestion however for future diy’er oil changes, line the catch pan with a disposable plastic garbage bag liner. Then you don’t have to worry about what’s at the bottom of the pan, it’ll always be clean, and no need to spend time cleaning the pan afterward. Just pop the old filter into the bag and toss the plastic bag in the garbage and you are done.
