How long can an engine run without oil?

[PaJohn]

Just got back from dropping my Audi S4 off at the shop. Had it faltbedded back from NJ. On my way back from NY, I couldn't avoid a large object that fell off a truck in front of me. Turned out to be the pad form an outrigger. Unfortunately my car was too low and it put a huge hole in the cast aluminum oil pan. I drug it along until I could get the car stopped on the shoulder. When i saw smoke, I immediately turned it off. Huge puddle of oil under the car. No oil loights went on and the engine sounded fine until I turned it off. What do you think? can GC protect the engine after the oil is drained out? :-( Time to finish my scotch now

 

[Patman]

It sounds to me like your engine was running for no more than a minute like that, so I'd imagine there would be no harm done.

 

[PaJohn]

Thanks Patman. Probably ran at idle less than 30 seconds. I sure hope you're right. I really like this car.

 

[Chris142]

The huge puddle of oil under the parked car tells me that there was still some oil in the pan when the engine was shut off.

Prolly not much but enough to keep the oil pressure up till you got stopped.

 

[Pablo]

wow bummer - I'll bet my wallet no harm done.

aluminum oil pans have pluses and minuses....which reminds me I need to put the skid plate back on the wife's Volvo.

 

[labman]

No sweat. When my truck was new and I was running Pennzoil dino, my wife called me to say that after running a while, the oil light didn't go off I have heard of several moderate amount of no oil operation with no harm. Remember all the demos with the oil drained.

 

[KW]

About 50 miles with a SBC. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[CONMCK]

Once a new pan is installed and you are on your way, why not do a short OCI and have the oil analyzed for wear metals and cut the oil filter apart and see how it looks inside. This should give you some sort of wear indication.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by PaJohn:
Thanks Patman. Probably ran at idle less than 30 seconds. I sure hope you're right. I really like this car.

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Sounds like you weren't using much power once your car got gut shot. That's even better. You have reason to be optimistic.

If you really want to be sure, have your mechanic check the rod and main bearing that are at the far end of the oil gallery while the pan is off. I would be tempted to not do that unless I had a mechanic I had a lot of faith in or was doing it myself.

 

[55Test]

Something similiar, but not as serious as that happened to me back in the summer in my Geo Metro. I was just driving along the highway when I heard a loud thud. I didn't think anything was wrong, maybe I hit a rock I reasoned. A few seconds passed and then I saw a bolt tumble out behind the car. I then realized something was quite wrong so I proceeded to pull over onto the shoulder. This took maybe 10-15 seconds or so. I got out and noticed oil smoke. at first I thought I threw a rod, but then I got down on my knees and looked under the car and saw my friggin oilpan drainbolt was gone! Luckily I had my cellphone with me, I called a friend to help me out. I figure the car ran 20-30 seconds from the time I heard the thud to the time I pulled over and shut off the engine, keep in mind I was doing about 70 mph at the time this happened. I had to abandon the car for about an hour while I went back to town and got me a new bolt and a jug of oil. When I got back there was a fairly large puddle of oil on the ground, and a nice streak of oil from where the bolt fell out to where I stopped so I guess I didn't pump the engine totally dry in that amount of time. I put the new drainbolt in, poured in some oil and took off. Engine seemed none the worse for wear. After I started driving I realized I should have picked up a new oil filter while I was at it, I could have had myself a nice roadside oil change

 

[jhnrckr]

Do a leak down test to find out if the rings got torn up, when the pan is down for replacement you should be able to see any kind of bearing shrapnel in the bottom of the pan if real damage occured. How big was the puddle of oil when you first noticed it? I have run sbc motors with 3 quarts in a 7 quart pan and still had perfect oil pressure.

 

[Steve S]

I used to do fleet work and alot of times I would pull the drain plug and a couple drops of oil would drip out. Fill up the crankcase and off the vehicle would go. If the oil pan has to be removed you can pull one of the main bearing caps off for a look at the bearing. probably no problem. The main and connecting rod berings Will take the damage.

 

[DSteven]

Wow! That is frusterating. My 96 STS had an oil cooler line break 1yr ago. I drove, not fully knowing, for nearly 5 miles that way. It clattered, but with the repair of the line and fresh oil it was fine. Also, a professor had her Chevy Prizm in for an oil change, and when completed the dealer brought it back to campus. She drove about 1-2 miles and it quit. The dealer forgot to fill with oil. Total driving without any oil was ~5 miles. After a refill, the car was fine, but apparently used a little oil. Both engines were essentially fine; however, I don't imagine these happenings were good LOL.
If this episode is not your fault, and you have a lot of pride in the way the engine was before the accident, certainly think about the proper replacement or compensation you will need to have the car in the condition it was before the accident. If you can live with it, chances are it most likely will be fine. Either way, good luck!

 

[PaJohn]

Here's the damage.
http://forums.audiworld.com/s4/msgs/1856466.phtml

 

[Audi Junkie]

That sucks.

 

[SteveD2]

I ran my 150hp Mercury outboard without oil for about 10 minutes at 6000 RPMs before it seized.

After I remembered the oil, it ran fine the rest of the day. When I tore it open, there was surprisingly little damage done - crank journals were all fine, and 5 cylinders still looked almost new. One of the cylinders had some large gouges though...

 

[KW]

If you got to the side of the road pretty quickly and did not load the engine hard you are in good shape. Even if all the oil was gone from the pan it will run for a pretty long time on just the oil coating in the motor before anything bad happens. I'd fix the oil pan and press on.

With just assembly lube I drove from Fort Walton Beach to Gulf Breeze and back hauling scrap metal. And a couple of weeks of running around town. I did not get the rear cam bearing pressed in far enough and the result was 0 oil pressure with a warm motor. When I pulled it back apart the rod and main bearings were ok'ish and the valve train had to be replaced. Pistons and rigs fell into the ok catagory after some sanding. Truck runs like a champ still today.

 

[k1xv]

About 35 years ago Texaco ran a Havoline TV commercial where they filled a New York City taxi with Havoline, drove it for a while, then "drained all the oil that would come out" and then "drove it all around Manhattan" without any engine damage.

They only ran that commercial for a short while. Somebody probably got nervous about it at Texaco. However, I think that what it says is that an engine can run a while without oil, but I don't know if I would want to drive it "all around Manhattan".

 

[Flashlightboy]

At least from Santa Monica to Santa Barbara.

 

[Oilua]

I once finished a rebuilt 1972 Toyota Corolla 2TC Hemi and forgot to add the oil while starting.It sounded good on the the start and I left it on for 20 minutes before hitting the road.It still ran on the road for another 10 minutes before it seize up.
I also had a 1980 Toyota PU that I had to add nearly 4 1/2 quarts of oil.but this truck didnt die on the road.It is still running today by another owner.