I'm an idiot.. piece of the foil seal fell down the fill tube to the engine

Changing the oil on my truck.. 5.7. When I was pouring from the 5 gallon mobile one jug a piece of the foil seal fell down the fill tube to the engine. Not sure what to do now. Removed the fill tube but could not see it anywhere. Any chance it would make it to the pan?

 

Uh yeah it’s now in the pan.

How large of a piece are we talking about here?

 

Mirror and light, find it!

 

On the plus side it will probably be stopped by the screen filter on the oil pick up tube in the pan.

 

Looked to be smaller than a dime.

 

That’s what I was hoping for. Should I change the oil again after a couple hundred miles?

 

disconnect the battery before something worse happens


pull the valve cover and pray

 

The problem is if it didn't go to the pan, if it cannot flow through the ports or worse clogs a port, that could lead to premature wear.

 

i wouldn't bet on it

don't start it until you find it. if you already did, go trade the thing in tomorrow.

 

Holy guacamole!!! Do they have those at Costco??

 

Good thing it's a seller's market for Tundras right now.

 

Damn.... this is my greatest fear... this is why I fully remove the foil.... eitherway.. shit sticks to something usually so it may be somewhere in the middle stuck on some component or at the bottom... get a bore scope and chase it down... best advise I could give you... nothing like clogging an oil channel and oil starving something...

 

Drain the oil, might shit it out or maybe it'll go to the drain hole and you can pick it out. Otherwise good luck hunting.

 

Yeah drain it and see if it come out.

If the truck is under warranty start it up and let’er rip!

They’ll replace your engine, and may or may not tear down your old one…

 

Drain it and pray, then drop the pan if it doesn't show.

 

Pull the plug, drain the oil keep the plug out and shop vac the fill tube

 

Why are you guys scaring the HELL out of this guy. Common sense tells you if its the size of a dime it is still in tube or at top of fill area, and a simple long magnet or grab stick could pick it out. Or if that size , won't cause any damage , because it is foil and it won't collapse, or get sucked into any ports, because all the upper oil system is gravity fed and no pressure at all. I'm not exactly sure what channel the oil takes from the filler port , but I can almost bet it's not a direct drop to pan , so draining oil would not get you a pc of foil. If anything ,I believe the oil filler tube just pulls out , and your foil will be setting right there. And if some how it does get to pan , which I still highly doubt, it won't pass thru the drain hole. You would have to drop the pan. I would start by removing the filler pipe and looking . Agree with others about don't start it yet , it can't be far from filler tube.

 

Aluminum foil w/a magnet aaa ok

 

Not. Helpful.







































But pretty funny.

 

Is it alum foil ?? or a tin foil??? do you really know, or just a guess. I'm only saying it can be reached from top end, if it's the size of a dime. I had to check , my Mobile one is Alum. my boat oil jug must have some tin it does pick up with magnet.

 

OP's post tells us he removed the tube.

 

I like your point. FYI… the oil is pressurized over the valvetrain and down into the tensioners and oil control valves.

However, your right about no oil pick ups there. There’s really nothing it will hurt there. It could temporarily block a drain hole in head, but that won’t hurt anything.

I’m sure it will make it’s way into the pan in short order.

Another vote for look first, and the run it if not found. I would probably pull the valve cover off though to look.

 

Yeah worst case just pull the valve cover

 

I’d pull the valve cover, high percentage chance it’s sitting there. Otherwise I’ve seen crazy amounts of metal in oil pans over the years and the engines just kept going like there wasn’t a thing wrong.

 

Amsoil bottles don’t have foil, just saying

 

most mobil one bottles I've seen have a plastic seal.

edit:

The drain path for oil back to pan and suction side of oil pump is through multiple very large drain ports in the head as well as a large channel in front of engine formed by timing cover.

There is a mesh screen to keep large debris out of oil pump.

Edit again.

It looks like the fill port is positioned right near the timing chain and phasers for a direct route to the pan.

So if its anywhere its probably either in the pan or stuck to something on the chains or timing cover.