Weird car is acting up incident at Co op

[JMaj7]

Hey Beyond!
Here's the story. I went to the Co op full-serve gas station on 17th SE and asked the lady to check my oil (while she was filling my car up) while I went it to grab a few things from the store. She mentioned it needed about a litre and I asked her to top it up. Now, the car just stalls randomly but it manages to start up every now and then. It stays on if I leave the ignition turned on the starting point and if I let go it dies. It seems to be getting worse. When I opened up the hood and noticed that the lady forgot to put the lid on the place where the oil goes. Could this be it? It's a 1999 Acura 3.2TL. Does the lid make a difference? I checked the battery and it seems fine (no dimming or sign of the alternator not keeping it charged). Anyone have this happen to them?
TIA!

[syritis]

i bet you a connector got knocked off it's sensor, see if you computer will throw a code to tell you which one.

[JMaj7]

Shouldn't the check engine light come one to alert me of a message?

[syritis]

if it's causing the car to stall, yes
some "less" important codes won't turn on the check engine light though.

or if the intake hose comes loose it'll stall it without a code. but i haven't seen a metered air intake since the mid 90's

[JMaj7]

My apologies for the painful title..:)

Soooo..it wasn't the lid right? That wouldn't have broken it someway somehow?

[syritis]

no, most newer vehicles will throw a code if the gas cap isn't sealed. but i haven't heard of and oil cap code. still i wouldn't doubt that the problem is stemmed from her being under the hood.

what the ignition is doing is that while it's i nthe start position it fallows a different "map" and usually omits some sensor reading to start the motor, or the starter is just keeping it going. once you switch it back to the on position it will need all the readings it can get to maintain idle.

[-TOFU-]

check your oil, she might have overfilled it. same thing happened to me after I took my car to the dealer for an oil change and it started to stall after that, I took it back and they said the oil was over filled.

[UndrgroundRider]

Originally posted by JMaj7
My apologies for the painful title..:)

Soooo..it wasn't the lid right? That wouldn't have broken it someway somehow?

It definitely was not the lid.

[shakalaka]

Check the dipstick level that it isn't over filled or anything. Once you get it resolved NEVER let the co-op lady under your hood.

[gqmw]

Probably overfilled. It's not the lid.

And yes...definitely don't let her under your hood.

[JMaj7]

lol
i've learnt my lesson. I'll scan it at my neighbour's shop tomorrow. I hate unexpected expenses!!

[Ukyo8]

why would you let a co-op lady check your oil? :facepalm:

[chkolny541]

Originally posted by Ukyo8
why would you let a co-op lady check your oil? :facepalm:

it seems like a pretty simple task, and difficult to screw up, but then again there will always be that1 person that can manage to screw it up

[asfjasljj]

how many km on your 99 TL? what i know of is when its stall on starting point cuz of bad ignition.


ps: i also got a 99 tl with same problem but currently im doing a 6 speed swap :poosie:

[Ashers]

Did you put the oil cap back in place? Or is it still missing? If the cap is missing then you might run into some issues. I'd check the oil level too.

[SJW]

Until you have pie or sandwich problem, leave the ladies in the kitchen ok?

[frozenrice]

Maybe she was confused and put in 710 fluid instead of 5w30.

[sr20s14zenki]

Uhh the lid will definately make a difference in some cases. Why dont a few of you go and start your cars and take the oil cap off and see what happens.........

i believe it has to do with how that particular engine's pcv is set up. Example: had an 1990 corolla gts, 4age engine, stopped, grabbed gas, grabbed oil, left the gas station. Car was running like garbage, trying to stall, and just being difficult. Pulled over, found oil cap was off, put it on, problem solved.

[Kennyredline]

Originally posted by Ukyo8
why would you let a co-op lady check your oil? :facepalm:
:werd: I get bitchy when someone wants to do something with my car, even if I want them to.
The motto "If you want something done right......" holds true here!

[PRELUDEZZZ]

Originally posted by Ukyo8
why would you let a co-op lady check your oil? :facepalm:


he think shes a mechanics ...:rofl:

[Ukyo8]

Originally posted by Kennyredline

:werd: I get bitchy when someone wants to do something with my car, even if I want them to.
The motto "If you want something done right......" holds true here!

no kidding, even when those people at the full service stations want to clean my windshield and tail lights with their dirty ass squeegee I tell them to stay away haha :rofl:

[nobb]

Im guessing she overfilled it. How did she manage to suggest that you needed approximately 1L just by looking at the dipstick? It only tells you low, med, high, but not the volume.

[jwslam]

Originally posted by nobb
Im guessing she overfilled it. How did she manage to suggest that you needed approximately 1L just by looking at the dipstick? It only tells you low, med, high, but not the volume.

nobb is noob
the dipstick is calibrated to be ~1L from low to high.

[Neil4Speed]

The cap shouldn't make a difference. I remember, I had to do a small top up of the oil on my old Legend and I stupidly forgot to put the cap back on :facepalm:, I drove like that for about a day or two, and then decided to check the headlight aim, and sure enough no cap! Didn't make a difference in performance.

I agree with the others who posted here and said that they probably overfilled the car.

[Mibz]

Originally posted by jwslam
the dipstick is calibrated to be ~1L from low to high. Somebody please tell me I'm not the only one who didn't know this!

[JRSC00LUDE]

Originally posted by SJW
Until you have pie or sandwich problem, leave the ladies in the kitchen ok?

lol

[2EFNFAST]

Originally posted by Neil4Speed
The cap shouldn't make a difference. I remember, I had to do a small top up of the oil on my old Legend and I stupidly forgot to put the cap back on :facepalm:, I drove like that for about a day or two, and then decided to check the headlight aim, and sure enough no cap! Didn't make a difference in performance.

I agree with the others who posted here and said that they probably overfilled the car.

I would have thought it would have affected some pressure reading.

Kind of like how if you don't fully click your gas cap, your car goes 'ZOMG! CHECK ENGINE FOR YOU!'

[Neil4Speed]

Originally posted by 2EFNFAST


I would have thought it would have affected some pressure reading.

To tell you the truth, I thought the same thing, how would the engine had kept pressure if it wasn't completely airtight?...

Anyone want to clarify this for me? lol

[theken]

wow people didn't know the low meant a litre. lol car forums

[gqmw]

Originally posted by Neil4Speed


To tell you the truth, I thought the same thing, how would the engine had kept pressure if it wasn't completely airtight?...

Anyone want to clarify this for me? lol

I would assume the car would sense it, but perhaps your car just happened to not have any type of problem or light go on?

I don't know...never had that happen to me before.

[scat19]

Originally posted by Mibz
Somebody please tell me I'm not the only one who didn't know this!

This is true. I have two notches in my european car, same thing - 1L difference.

[Zero102]

Originally posted by jwslam


nobb is noob
the dipstick is calibrated to be ~1L from low to high.

Werd.

Some are 1 quart, some are 1L (although most are 1 quart). 1 quart is 946mL which is close enough to 1L that it doesn't really matter if you buy a 1L or 1 quart bottle, it will take 1 bottle from low to high on almost any car built in the last 20 years.

[spikerS]

I really doubt that over-filling the crank case even by a full litre would cause these issues.

[bjstare]

Originally posted by Mibz
Somebody please tell me I'm not the only one who didn't know this!

I had no idea either! Ridiculous.

[Tomaz]

Originally posted by gqmw


I would assume the car would sense it, but perhaps your car just happened to not have any type of problem or light go on?

I don't know...never had that happen to me before.

I guess it depends on the way the motor is built. I have never had that issue before, but know a few people who have experienced your symptoms in similar situations. Put the cap back on, see what happens.


PS: the marks on the dipstick are measured intervals!

*The More You Know* lol

[Graham_A_M]

There is no way an oil cap that wasn't put back on would cause this. There are no sensors that monitor such a thing. Even if they were, why would they cause any stall related issues and not show a code?

There must have been a sensor that was bumped out of place or a wire disconnected (etc etc).

Besides, did that lady even know which type of oil to put in? did she ask if it was 5-20, 5-30 or 10-30 (etc) ?
Its never a good idea to let these kids touch anything....ever.