Fengstar

Hey I hope this the right place to post this.
I have an 02 ap1. Haven't driven it in a few weeks so decided to top off the oil. When trying to unscrew the oil cap it just snapped in half! The cap and part of the thread came off while a good inch of the threaded part is still stuck on the threads. How do I go about this? Thanks!

windhund116

Rubber stopper you can fit into the remaining threaded part. Then, twist it and remaining cap out?l

rpg51

Maybe use a sharp wood chisel to get it started and then just turn it out. Worse comes to worse, you could pull the cover off and work it from the underside. What a pain! Replacement caps are available, thankfully, They are not expensive, and its one of those things that it might make sense to have a spare. They get lost all the time. The rubber gasket gets hard and compressed and that causes the darn things to get stuck on there pretty good. I just replaced mine and it works a lot better with a fresh gasket.

zeroptzero

with the top broken off there shouldnt be much tension left on it, if it is really tight the chisel idea sounds like a good way to do it, sharp flat head screwdriver with a hammer should work too.

Car Analogy

At first I was thinking the chisel idea meant use it like a screwdriver after hammering it into the plastic.

But maybe instead of straight down you meant chisel at an angle? Like use the chisel on the outer edge, hammering in the loosening direction. Like inch it out one blow at a time.

That might work better than chisel as screwdriver. So don't let chisel slip.

Fengstar

Thanks for the quick replies!
Where can I buy the kind of rubber stopper for this application? Does any auto store like pep boys have it?

And for the chisel solution, isn't it risky since part of it can break off into the engine? Or am I understanding it wrong?
I can try to hammer a screwdriver in the loosening direction but before I do that thought I'd make sure haha.

zeroptzero

Remove the valvecover, it is very easy to remove and reinstall. Then work on it from both sides and no worries about stuff falling in.

Car Analogy

Removing valve cover is the safest way.

Use a chisel the same way you're considering using screwdriver. Chisel will just bite better and less likely to slip.

rpg51

The safest way I agree is to pull the valve cover and do it on the bench. Not hard to pull the valve cover. Might as well check the valve clearances and adjust if needed while you are in there. Kill two birds with one stone. The first thing to do is to get another cap.

It is a little weird that the cap broke in half like that. Makes me think the cap threads might be jammed in there pretty good for some reason. Otherwise why would the top half twist right off the bottom half. If so, I would definitely pull the cover off. Usually its the gasket, or lack thereof. I think the gasket sits on the top of the cover and it can get jammed on too tight pretty easy. Do you have a picture of what it looks like now? I'm not clear where the cap broke.

rpg51

Yea, this is what had in mind. Its hard to picture what the thing looks like and so hard to make suggestions. I'm now in the pull the cover camp. I would not want bits of plastic getting in there. If it doesn't just twist right out with fingers and a rag then it seems like it must be cross threaded or glued in there with old oil or something.