I left my oil cap off for a 2hour plus drive and didn’t even realize!
So I have a 1998 Honda Accord at 298k miles on it
and have been dealing with a minor oil leak for over
a year now. I’m a college student and this is my car
I use to commute to school everyday until I can fix
my other car. My dad knows a lot about cars and
RV’s and usually teaches me stuff about cars so I
know a little. Recently I had to drive back to college
and my dad had just cleaned out the oil distributor
and changed my oil the day I was leaving. I drive for
about an hour stop to get gas and wait about 5
minutes to check my oil and I notice it’s low already
and usually it doesn’t leak that much so I was
worried he made it worse. I put my oil in and started
off for another 2 hour 15 minutes drive until I got
back to my apartment. I didn’t make any stops and
most of the time while I was driving I could smell
the oil but usually I smell it coming through the
vents because it’s leaking but this was worse then
usually and stupidly I just ignored it. Once I finally
got home I realized my engine was smoking a little
bit and that really scared me. So I let it cool down
for about 20 minutes and opened the hood and
noticed I left the fricken oil cap off but luckily it
stayed under the hood I think when I checked
my oil 2 hours back it just looked low because it
was thin. When I check it before I warm up my car
the oil is thicker so maybe I over filled my oil??
Anyways the next day I drive it to the grocery store
about 10 minutes away and still smell the oily smell.
I park and it’s still smoking a little bit! This time I had
remembered to put the oil cap back on so I don’t
get why it’s still smoking. There’s water or oil down
the front bumper and it won’t dry it’s been there
since I first noticed so I’m thinking I really screwed
up this car. I included a picture of what the undried
water or oil looks like. I don’t know what to do and
am too scared to tell my dad what I did because I
don’t want him to yell at me so could anyone please
tell me what to do or if I should just let it sit. I have
to drive to school tomorrow which is a 20 minutes
drive early in the morning and I don’t want it to start
smoking again. Please and thank you!
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