why i deserve to die, but need some help first

[90hp@theflywheel]

so, i put some oil in my car tonight, and if you cant guess, i forgot the damned oil cap...
needless to say it is a huuuuuge mess under my hood, the car is fine, but its just coated in oil. i am aware of the fact that i am an idiot and shouldnt be allowed to drive a car, should kill myself, or whatever else anyone who feels like making fun of me for it feels like saying. the problem is, i dont know what to do about the mess. ive already repalced the oil cap, but i want to get the oil off.
HOW?
im hoping at least one other person on this board has done that and/or knows someone who has, and will feel so inclinedd to suggest just what the hell i do about the mess, i dont imagine i culd just hose the thing off, or could i? i dont know im clueless and would appreciate any (helpful) input...

[Ryan Stewart]

simple green and then LOTS of water..

[Werksmini]

What kind of damage can happen if you forget the cap and run with it for a while?

[Fred]

Hosing it off at a local car wash won't do much since oil and water don't mix. You can either spend a lot of time with an engine degreaser getting everything out or you can pay a shop to do a quick steam clean.

Fred

[Ryan Stewart]

What kind of damage can happen if you forget the cap and run with it for a while?

Not much until you run out of oil. There never is much pressure in the head, having the cap off just cases a vaccumm leak. A mess is the worst short term result unless someting falls in...

[Werksmini]

Cool, im more of a fucking moron and left of the cap. I found it thugh. :oops:
But now it idles stragely some times, im gonna do an oil change tomorrow and see if that fixes it.

[808BMW]

Bah, leave it. My dad has done it at least 15 times with his truck. If it's greasy, it keeps the dirt from getting to the metal, cause the grease blocks it :P

[OreoGaborio]

don't worry bro... there's plenty of guys & girls on here & elsewhere who have forgotten to replace the oil cap... and i'm one of em ;)

[nando]

funny, I've done this on my car and no oil came out at all. It sure ran funny because of the huuuge vaccum leak!

[a3ternus]

"So,There are more than one idiots here ?!?"

Just j/k...
I did the same once,had a short trip (motorway),came back and tried to retrieve the cap which has stuck somehow in a corner of the engine bay...LOL.
Btw,the car was a Rover 414Gsi and nothing bad happenned to it.
A3TeRnuS

[rs4pro3]

I did it once in my 85 318i I drove for 30 miles with it off and there was no sprayed oil under the hood anywhere. :D I had checked the oil in a hurry as the car was leaking then, but I had to get somehwere quick and completly forgot to get the oil cap.

[Digitalwave]

Simple Green rocks, Gunk might work well too.

[F|2eeSTy|e]

Re: why i deserve to die, but need some help first

so, i put some oil in my car tonight, and if you cant guess, i forgot the damned oil cap...
needless to say it is a huuuuuge mess under my hood, the car is fine, but its just coated in oil. i am aware of the fact that i am an idiot and shouldnt be allowed to drive a car, should kill myself, or whatever else anyone who feels like making fun of me for it feels like saying. the problem is, i dont know what to do about the mess. ive already repalced the oil cap, but i want to get the oil off.
HOW?
im hoping at least one other person on this board has done that and/or knows someone who has, and will feel so inclinedd to suggest just what the hell i do about the mess, i dont imagine i culd just hose the thing off, or could i? i dont know im clueless and would appreciate any (helpful) input...

It's sad that some peoples reply's in the past, jumping all over other people, and just all around rude behavior cause people to post messages like this. :evil:

Everytime I put oil in my car I find myself second guessing if I remembered to put the cap back on. I guess it is a good thing you found out soon enough. When I was putting my car together the engine was a mess, but quite a bit of degreasing, scrubbing, and washing off w/water made it a little more pleasent. As Fred said, I think this might work out good enough for ya.

[90hp@theflywheel]

thanks for all the help, i never would have thought of using simple green on my car to be quite honest. and also, i have had alot of expiriences where, on message boards and forums, i ask simple enough questions just looking for input or help, and had the whole situation just turn into "trash on n00b day". in other words thank you all for not being douches, i really appreciate it. and one more thing, how much does it run for the shop to run a steam clean, because it seems no matter how often i clean the car, i still think its dirty because i can never get my engine clean, there are just too many places i cant reach.

[BS87]

My mother did this once to her toyota.. Except she semlled the burning oil & saw the smoke from the engine.. and kept driving. About 2 quarts of oil all over the engine... she got it steam cleaned for about 25$ i think, and it came out looking dandy.