I got the fortune of doing a little work on my neighbors father's 2002 Bentley Arnage. The 6.75L Rolls-Royce engine is supplemented with a gigantic Garret T-4 turbocharger. While not the most eco-friendly engine on the planet, it really is a beautiful powerplant. As I was about the mow the lawn this morning, I noticed my neighbor and his father had the Arnage up on ramps and the hood was up. Being a tech geek, I skipped over and asked if they needed any help. I turns out that the oil fill cap for the engine had liberated itself somewhere between the airport in Wheeling, WV and it's current location here in New Albany, OH. It's only about 100 miles, so the cap had to make a quick escape. In order for it to come out, the dowel pin for it's hinge would have to be removed, then the cap would have to elevate itself off the oil fill mount about 8mm. It's a two-parter. LOL In addition, the engine bay is TIGHT; for the large, approx. 80mm (about 3") metal cap to fall down and wiggle it's way to the ground would almost take some human help, or a boatload of luck. From the looks of things, luck was the answer. So, a new oil fill cap was ordered. Mind you, this is not a Hyundai. There's no plastic oil fill cap that threads onto one of the valve covers. This is a Bentley! The oil fill cap is much like the old-school fuel doors: It's got a spring-loaded clip on one side, and is hinged on the other. You don't want to know what a new cap costs. Trust me. Here's a hint: the dowel pin alone was $24!!! Anyway, one was ordered but would take 4-5 business days to arrive. We needed a quick solution to the missing cap so he could continue his trip up to Michigan, where the new cap would meet him. Here's what I came up with.... An open oil fill is an unhappy oil fill: NOTE: The rectangular shaped blocks that say "BENTLEY" on them are *not* the valve covers. They are part of the intake! If you look closely in the pics, you can see the silver valve covers below the intake. A 2" Quik-Cap from Home Depot (like the kind I use on my floor jack) makes a handy temporary plug, and fits PERFECTLY in there: That's better. A pair of long zip ties were used in a twisted-X pattern to secure the cap to the fill hole: This is, of course, by no means permanent. It's just a temporary fix until the new cap arrives. Oil level was checked and confirmed that it was right at the FULL line. Thankfully very little oil was lost during the time the cap was gone. We let the car idle for a while and the cap held just fine. Oil pressure was well within spec. A couple of shots to the throttle, then a few starts and I was sure the makeshift cap would hold for his trip. I gave the owner a couple of extra zip ties just in case. :grin: Being the poke-arounder type person I am, I also noticed that the brake fluid reservoir attachment bolts had made a break for it along with the oil cap! Since the reservoir is under the engine dress-up covers, it's not something you'd see unless you pulled them off. The bolts could have come off a long time ago. Again, a quick fix until new bolts can be installed: A pair of heavy-duty zip ties now hold the reservoir in place. Excess zip line was trimmed for a nice clean look. I checked the lines out of the resevoir and they were still sealed and not leaking. Brake fluid level was just below "MAX" so no new fluid was needed. With the quick corrections done, the engine dress-up covers went back on: All back and working properly. I consider myself very lucky to have been able to work on such a fine piece of engineering, even if it was for a couple of temporary fixes. I hope you all enjoyed the peek as well.
Ah... Gotta love "old fashioned Ohiah engineering!!!!!" :grin::usflag:The British couldn't have thought of a better fix..... even if "zee Germans" were coming. izza: :grin:
Kev, your slipping, you forgot the: "tools needed" and the "difficulty rating" sections of your DIY:usflag: PS the house next door is for sale, would you and Rach consider Long Island as your next home? As Mr Rogers says, "Won't you be my neighbor?"
very nice and good work rigging that thing up to work again!...however PLEASE ask him to clean that engine! hahahaha
This wasn't really a DIY article. More of a "Holy Crap There's A Rolls-Royce Engine In My Driveway" article. LOL Sorry Joe, but we got really spoiled when we lived there. I mean, in Long Beach...ON the beach. That'd be tough to beat. :grin: Thanks! In the owners defense, he *did* have a missing oil fill cap for a few miles. :grin:
Good work Kev, but if it was me, I would have used a hammer and some duck tape...course I may have then become a pariah in the neighborhood. lol.
