DID I DESTROY MY ENGINE?! Need encouragement

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Completely different engine but..
Years ago I worked with a small landscape contractor. The guy that ran the crew I was assigned to was paid to use his own truck for work. As we were riding down the road the Ole 350 started knocking horribly. We pulled over and checked the dip stick. Nothing but smoke coming from the tube. Dry as A bone. We searched the truck for oil and found a half quart of sae40 which we used for the tiller, a mostly full quart of bar and chain oil, a mostly full quart of atf, several 6 Oz bottles of 2 stroke oil and a little power steering fluid just to see the tip of dipstick wet with the mix. The truck started right back up and chugged along for several more years. Didn't even smoke.
 
Got a ride with a kid I knew in high school, way back when. Truck started knocking, so he stopped and put in 5 or 6 quarts. I was shocked! He said no big deal, he'd done that for the last 20 or 30k.

318's could take some abuse.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
Got a ride with a kid I knew in high school, way back when. Truck started knocking, so he stopped and put in 5 or 6 quarts. I was shocked! He said no big deal, he'd done that for the last 20 or 30k.

318's could take some abuse.


Yeh, BUT...

How often had he "done that for the last 20 or 30k."?

As described, sounds like that engine was broken, so it'd taken too much abuse.
 
Originally Posted By: user52165
You offered additional proof that about 1/2 - 1 qt of oil remains in an engine when drained. Those who think they will get every last drop need to do further research.


There is definitely a good mount of oil remaining in an engine after shut down and letting it drain! When I changed out the rear main seal on my Cherokee, I let it sit for a few days with the drain plug open so it wouldn't leak in my face. I was really surprised at the amount that came out when I had to loosen up all of the main bearings. And, it say for 3 or 4 weeks with the main bearings loosened up (long story) and there was always a good bit of oil underneath it after each time I would go to work on it.
 
As a youngster I had a buddy with a corvair van, yeah it had some leaks here and there, and unless I took care of checking the oil nothing got done. And I don't even think there was a gauge or idiot light that worked on it. One day driving along in a small outskirt city it started slowing down, and then stopped.
Yeah the engine seized up. So I checked the oil level and yup zero oil on the stick, and I have no idea how long it was running that way, could have been since we left home it had zero
oil pressure, the leaks were not fast and didn't leave a line on
the road. Lucky us there was a Shucks right across the street
where we parked, so I went in and got 3 or 4 quarts, put it in,
said "go ahead start it up", friend turns the key and starter
goes clunk clunk, so I try turning it by hand, its locked up nicely, so I'm thinking (it has an automatic transmission)
since I know it has a rear pump and we are at the top of a hill
and need at least 35 mph to make it work lets try to push start
it and see if we can break it free. So we started pushing and made it through the first stop light, and just before the next
one we got that magic 35 mph, I said put it in D, he did, and
it broke free and started up. And in the course of many weeks and
months after that we did that same procedure many times. I don't
remember any extra noise it made after all this.
So from that and other experiments when I was young and dumb,
I know for a fact if it ran 5 minutes especially with no load
it would not hurt it. Now if it was a big industrial diesel engine they will go for a half hour before they seize at a high
idle with no oil pressure, I do have experience with that. It also depends on the bearing material how well it handles the lack of oil pressure.
 
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Originally Posted By: Ducked
Originally Posted By: supton
Got a ride with a kid I knew in high school, way back when. Truck started knocking, so he stopped and put in 5 or 6 quarts. I was shocked! He said no big deal, he'd done that for the last 20 or 30k.

318's could take some abuse.


Yeh, BUT...

How often had he "done that for the last 20 or 30k."?

That engine was pretty durable but it definitely was a burner, it wouldn't be hard to have it run low. It also was a MAJOR gas hog.

As described, sounds like that engine was broken, so it'd taken too much abuse.
 
Originally Posted By: camrydriver111
Originally Posted By: CKN
If a dealer did this - this thread would have a whole different tone...


Or a quick lube.


Of course it would have a different tone...why wouldn't it ?
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: camrydriver111
Originally Posted By: CKN
If a dealer did this - this thread would have a whole different tone...


Or a quick lube.


Of course it would have a different tone...why wouldn't it ?


Because the human race isn't perfect in case you haven't noticed. Not even at dealerships where you give them your money....
 
Next time you can pull the fuse to the fuel pump, and that way you can run the starter without it actually firing up. Good for PS fluid transfer, oil pressure prime, compression test.
 
Originally Posted By: olddognewtrks
Today has been one of those horrible days. The biggest horror-Changing the oil and filter on my '05 Honda Element/2.4 liter, and partial R and R on the P/S fluid. Had a huge brain poot and ran the engine twice with NO oil, for about 20 seconds each time, when trying to get more P/S fluid into the reservoir.
No nasty noises after filling it and running it at idle. Please tell me that Honda engines can tolerate some stupidity abuse without spinning a bearing.
Also, what else should I be looking out for in the future. I really, really hope I haven't wrecked my car.


late seeing this, but to re-assure you, back in 2011 our son hit a road hazard with his 2008 Escape and sheered the oil filter off, causing catastrophic rapid oil loss. He decided to drive it home "nice and easy" as he put it, with no oil, for approximately 3 miles. That was @ 67,000 miles. It has about 131,000 on it now and purrs like a kitten. It has the 2.3L four cyl and the dipstick tube base is part of the oil pan. he'd also put a big hole in the base area of the dipstick tube so had to swap out the oil pan. Went and got a boneyard oil pan from a salvage place. Friend that's a mechanic cleaned it up and installed it. Asked him to look around best he could inside the bottom end when the pan was off, to inspect for possible damage. He said it looked okay.

Just wanted to offer this as proof that some engines can tolerate a dry sump run. Yours was just at idle very briefly, his was under load driving 3 miles with full lifter clatter going on, etc. Actually amazed me once I got past the initial anger phase.
 
Originally Posted By: CKN
If a dealer did this - this thread would have a whole different tone...


Yeh, BUT....If a dealer did this, you wouldn't know.
 
Hi Gang; Just a follow-up post on my merry misadventure. Just completed 1200 or so of mostly highway miles, and it didn't blow up or make rude noises. Some of the highway miles were in the Ozarks, where you climb 1/4 to 1/2 mile hills at 65 with the trans shifting down a gear and the engine spinning at 4,400 rpm's. Sounds just like it always did, and got the usual gas mileage. I will, of course, have this boo-boo in the back of my mind for the life of this vehicle, but it's nice to know that modern engines are this good.
Oh, by the way OneEyeJack, your bucket list comment made me laugh out loud. Thanks, I needed that.
 
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