just accidentally cranked my car with no oil!!!!!!

[jakelandry]

Ok i am flipping out right now. i just dropped my oil pan and i took a break while i was waiting for it to dry and like a dumbass i walked out and thought ill move my car and clean up all the mess under it. Regardless, i feel like a complete dubass and im scared to death, im not starting this thread to be ragged on or treated like im stupid i just want to know how serious of damage could be done to a motor running for about 15-20 seconds with no oil. I know it is perminant damage, but how bad?

 

[Alan11]

Ok i am flipping out right now. i just dropped my oil pan and i took a break while i was waiting for it to dry and like a dumbass i walked out and thought ill move my car and clean up all the mess under it. Regardless, i feel like a complete dubass and im scared to death, im not starting this thread to be ragged on or treated like im stupid i just want to know how serious of damage could be done to a motor running for about 15-20 seconds with no oil. I know it is perminant damage, but how bad?

We can't know the damage. It can be no damage at all. Or Very serious damage.
Your best shot at this will be to check you Rod bearings and you crank.

 

[jakelandry]

We can't know the damage. It can be no damage at all.
Your best shoot at this will be to check you Rod bearings and you crank.

Ok so i should drop the oil pan again and check the clearance? how should i check ? In order to check the bearings i need to take the bottom of the rod off right?

 

[Alan11]

What were you doing removing you oil pan in the first place.?
If you haven't done it before, have someone with experience do it. A small mistake can cause you to break you engine.

 

[jakelandry]

What were you doing removing you oil pan in the first place.?

I had to drill and tap the oil return line due to the fact that the threads were gone. But in all honesty im not worried about that right now, i cant tell of any significant wear just from dropping the oil pan and looking over the exterior of the rods can i? Like the clearance between the rod and crank on the sides? Would there be shavings in the pan?

 

[xxxspeedxxx]

this is so scary. hopefully there is no damage.

 

[Alan11]

I had to drill and tap the oil return line due to the fact that the threads were gone. But in all honesty im not worried about that right now, i cant tell of any significant wear just from dropping the oil pan and looking over the exterior of the rods can i? Like the clearance between the rod and crank on the sides? Would there be shavings in the ?

You can't tell without removing the Rod Caps.
And i don't think there would be metal shavings in the pan since it was a small amount of time. Like i said before there could be no damage at all. I have ran an engine with little amount of oil for about 45 seconds and no damage was caused. The thing is that you crank was really dry so there is possibility of damage.

 

[jakelandry]

I mean it still had some oil remaining on the crank and rods and whatnot, from draining it about an hour and a half ago but that wouldnt be enough to protect it for 20 seconds huh?

 

[garner]

I think you might be fine since it wasn't for very long. You'll find out though when you start driving the car

 

[Alan11]

Yeah just put new oil, start it up. Let it warm up. If you hear any knocks then its rebuild time.

 

[jakelandry]

Well regardless, the car will still be driven so no matter what anyone tells me or anything what will happen will happen. I guess i just needed to hear some positive reassurance, if anyone else has ever had a similar experience please dont hesitate to chime in.

Its been about 2 hours now since i applied the rtv, is that long enough to fill it up and crank it to see?

 

[Heartless]

Better safe than sorry and pull the oil pan to recheck everything, granted I have a friend who drove his awd for 5 miles without oil, poured in some new oil the next day after fixing his loose oil filter and is still driving without problems to this day. But dumb luck is rare and your better off having a look at the bearings. Chances are the film of oil didnt collapse and your fine but why chance it? Taking the time to look at bearings vs a new bottom-end your choice...

 

[jakelandry]

Well I diddnt pull the oil pan off because the wear is done. Its there wether I know it or not so if anything goes wrong... well i want to go forged internals anyway. On the bright side the 6 bolt swapped in supposably only has about 50k on it so as long as i change the oil regularly and whatnot i have the assurance of knowing what abuse it has been through. But as an update i put oil in and cranked it and it seems fine. Seems to run just as good as it did before. No odd sounds, no clanking, screeching, or knocking. The lifter tick seemed a little louder but im assuming that was because of the oil i used this time. Otherwise it SEEMS ok. Just a word to the wise, dont stay up past bedtime working on your dsm.

 

[daplatano91]

Well now that its running again if you want to be sure everything is okay pull back down the oil pan if you got metal shavings its time to rebuild.

 

[96WhiteTSi]

I have started engines after draining the oil. Never did any damage to them... UNLESS its a fresh rebuild and never seen oil (not your case I guess) remember there is already a coating of oil... as long as there wasn't crazy revs and stuff like that... some idle SHOULDN'T hurt anything....

 

[400hp93talon]

It's fine as long as you didnt let it run for an extended period of time, The oil thats already on the bearings saved it trust me your ok!!

 

[jakelandry]

Man thanks for the positive reinforcement everyone. It does seem to be just fine. I put a magnet on a stick through the oil drain hole and moved it every which way, scraped the crank area with it and everything and i got nothing, not that thats a definitive way of checking but its more positive reassurance.

 

[evo1rice]

Although there can be damage, the bearings can stay somewhat lubricated even after you removed the oil.

 

[redyute1]

You should be fine,just pure in new oil let her idle and warm up,take her for a drive ,no knock means she is good.

 

[g4ebguy90]

I dont know about damage i would go with accelerated wear on some internal engine items.... AS far as crank and rods i bet minimal because those probaly still had oil on the bearings, top end might have gotten the worst of this, but still minimal

 

[onelowgst98]

you should be fine as long as it didnt run long

 

[SuperFudge]

Close call, but seeing that it has only been running for about 15 seconds you should be fine. I had a friend drive with next to no oil on the highway for about ten miles. Unfortunately in that case the sucker locked up.

 

[Fejery4491]

You'd be surprised how long an engine will run without oil, the oil remaining in the bearings still lubricates for a short time. So I'm gonna put my money on your engine being fine!

 

[JusMX141]

You've done more damage to the turbo than the engine if anything- a turbo without oil for two seconds will be damaged quicker than an engine without oil for two minutes.

 

[cliffkemp]

Well I diddnt pull the oil pan off because the wear is done. Its there wether I know it or not so if anything goes wrong... well i want to go forged internals anyway. On the bright side the 6 bolt swapped in supposably only has about 50k on it so as long as i change the oil regularly and whatnot i have the assurance of knowing what abuse it has been through. But as an update i put oil in and cranked it and it seems fine. Seems to run just as good as it did before. No odd sounds, no clanking, screeching, or knocking. The lifter tick seemed a little louder but im assuming that was because of the oil i used this time. Otherwise it SEEMS ok. Just a word to the wise, dont stay up past bedtime working on your dsm.

What kind of oil do you use. If it is synthetic, more than likely, you are going to be fine. The engines are pretty tough and you probably had a little oil in the system (lines and stuff from the oil filter) and for what little you ran the engine, I am sure it got a few squirts of oil before it was starting to run dry. If you use just regular oil, it could have done a little but, not much or enough to worry about really. Odds are, if it did some damage, it is more due to other issues than just running the car as you did with no oil.

I work around pumps that pump oil and oil/water mixes. When we service them, they have a small amount of oil and oil/water mix in them even if we goof up and turn them on for a little bit (seconds) before making sure they are primed and ready. They still squirt out a little fluid and that little bit can make a difference between rebuilding and being able to run for a short time and do, virtually, no damage.

I would not worry about it and just be more aware. It happens to all of us at some time or another.

You've done more damage to the turbo than the engine if anything- a turbo without oil for two seconds will be damaged quicker than an engine without oil for two minutes.

I could be wrong but, thought his car was NT. I think he will be fine for what little time it was running.