Thanks for the heads up Joshua!
As mentioned above - I also wonder if overtightening is a factor.



Thanks for the info Bob!

 

lol, sometimes I consider myself a gorilla for tightening things too much, but for a plastic cap, you can't tighten it too much. The reason they loosen, even the alum caps is because of the vibration of spinning an motor up to 9k rpms, there will always be vibration.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by CoralDoc
[B]The OEM oil cap in my car has started to fall apart! Specifically, there are small areas of the thread that are chipping off. Of course I'm now concerned that these small pieces of plastic may cause problems in my engine internals (blocking oil passages, for example). There are now 5 spots on the threads of my oil cap with small chips missing. Can anyone explain what's going on here?

Please inspect your oil cap and let me know if anyone else is experiencing this issue.

Here are a couple of photos to document the situation:

 

Thanks for all of the feedback. The chipping pattern does look consistent with overtightening, buy I certainly don't have "gorilla hands". The cap has never come loose on me either.

I would have never otherwise considered an aftermarket aluminum cap, but may pick one up to avoid this issue in the future.

 

CoralDoc, I bought my aluminum cap for two reasons: it looks better than stock and peace of mind. I do have "gorilla hands" and put mine on as tight as I can get it. I have a bit of a problem getting it loose, sometimes, but it has never come loose on it's own. I thought that the aluminum would hold up better than the plastic cap would and this seems to be the case.

Also, sounds like the price is the same or better than stock.

 

lol guys, I didn't say all of you have gorilla hands, it was just a figure of speech. hehehe.

 

I have 22k miles and little hands - no problems with the cap.