I accidentally broke a plastic part in the engine bay and bits may have gone in the engine oil. Do I need to worry?
Hello Scotty and co,
So it's that time of year where my 2011 VW Jetta with the 2.0L 8v petrol engine needs an oil change. While I was prepping the car for the oil change, I accidentally broke the oil dipstick tube, which was made of plastic ravaged by age and Florida heat. I got a replacement part easily and I still intend to change the oil, but I worry some of the plastic bits may have gotten into the engine.
Do I need to worry? Or will the plastic burn away when the engine runs after the oil change?
Do I need to worry?
Possibly. Depends how fine the screen is on the oil pickup and whether the plastic bits are small enough to get sucked into the oil system. To be on the safe side I would not start the engine until the oil is changed. Safest would be to remove the oil pan and clean it out.
made of plastic ravaged by age and Florida heat.
Florida heat hasn't got anything to do with it. Engines run at 200 degrees.
It broke because VW makes junk. Broken dipstick tubes (and other things) are common on them.
I worry some of the plastic bits may have gotten into the engine.
Absolutely no way. The dipstick goes straight into the pan. Oil from the pan passes through a fine screen before the oil pump pump it through the oil filter, and then to the rest of the engine
So if you don't start the engine then everything should stay in the pan.
If no big chunks got in there then it should be OK, and the crumbs will come out with the oil change.
