Ran 3.0 H6 with no oil!

I doubt there's any way to know if you've reduced the lifespan of the engine by 5,000 miles or 50,000 miles or 150,000 miles. At least it was idling and not under 'heavy load'.

I suppose you could have a compression test done and if that was low (how low?) you might switch to a high-mileage oil or ???

Boy, I _wish_ I could say that I've never done anything like that, but alas . . .

Everything inside of a working engine is pretty oily; even after you drain the oil pan, there's still lots left. Additionally, the crank and rod bearings hold oil in the bronze bearing material by design. As long as you didn't allow a lot of heat to build up in the engine (as would have happened if you had jumped in and gone to the liquor store or something) it's unlikely that you damaged anything. Worst case, you "aged" things a little, but since the engine was only at an idle for a few minutes, I can't imagine that even that would be significant. If you want to do something to make amends, you might consider putting in a good oil additive, driving it for a few miles, and then draining and refilling with fresh oil. This will clean up any sticky "stressed" oil deposits you might have created. Might even quiet those lifters a bit. And John . . . _do_ put the oil in this time :-)

ByeBye! S.

Steve Jernigan KG0MB Laboratory Manager Microelectronics Research University of Colorado (719) 262-3101

On the plus side - VERY THOROUGH OIL DRAIN TECHNIQUE!

I would think with modern lubricants, and since you only idled the engine for a short time that you didn't cause a lot of damage. If it were 30-40 years ago I'd be a little more worried, but these days...

What kind of oil do you use? If it's a synthetic you've probably done no damage at all.

Thanks to all for a bit of comforting. I probably needed that run to the liquor store after having done this! As for the thourough drain technique? Yes, I had thought about that 8-)... normally when I remove the oil filter, it's still about half full of old oil. This time it was empty. Also, when I checked the oil after starting the engine, the oil was not the clear oil you normally see right after changing the oil... it had a bit of a darker brown appearance. Maybe I ended up getting some crude out of there. I don't want to get too optimistic. I put Castrol GTX 5W-30 in this time. I've never used synthetic... don't know why. I had been using high mileage oil for the last 50,000 miles. For some reason I just got 'regular' oil this time. I like the idea about getting an additive and changing the oil shortly. I'll do that... and you can *bet* it'll be a long time before I do this again! So while we are on the subject... and I know this can get religious, but what are everyone's opinions on the different types of oils to use? I've never been partial to one brand or another. I've gone back and forth between 5W-30 and 10W-30 in this car... using high mileage recently, as mentioned above. Never have tried synthetic. I guess I'm too old fashioned. Thoughts about oil? John

I started using Castrol GTX somewhere in the late 70's/early 80's. I had a '79 Corolla 1200 that went 50,000 miles and met it's untimely end when a Mustang pulled out right in front of me.

The next one was an '80 Corolla that got Castrol GTX (3.5 qts) with a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil mixed in for good measure. I used to use Lee filters but when they went away I started using Toyota filters (Consumer Reports did a filter test. Lee rated fairly high, but a sidebar said, if you own a Toyota you get the BEST filters made, so I stopped using Lees.) That car went 244,000 miles before being traded for an '85 Corolla GTS. That car got the GTX/MMO mix and is sitting in my backyard with 259,000 showing on the clock. It got mostly Toyota filters.

I have an '89 Mazda 626 I bought in 2006 with 158,000 on it. It, too got the GTX/MMO treatment, but started developing a nasty clacking noise. After poking around Google I found this is common because the Hydraulic Lash Adjusters used in this car collapse over time and need to be replaced. I bought a box of 4 for $58 at the local AutoZone, but for laughs I did an oil change before installing them. This time I used Quaker State High Mileage oil with Slick 50 already in it. After about 50 miles I brought the HLAs back and got my money back. It has 188,000 on it now and when the HLAs start clacking I change the oil with QS Hi-Mileage and it goes away. (Phew!)

I swapped all my older cars over to QS and it seems to be OK. I have an '88 Supra I was using GTX in until the success with the Mazda, and an '89 GL Coupe AWD that also gets the QS H/M oil.

The only thing I am still using Castrol in is my 2005 Scion tC, and I use genuine Toyota filters with Castrol Synthetic and change it around 4,500 miles. All the other, old cars get oil changes around 3,500.

I've used the Quaker State w/Slick 50 before. Might go back to that. I've never used MMO. I'll try that this time out. Thanks! John

I might be tempted to do another oil/filter change after 300-500 miles or so. Just in case you had some 'coking' or other issues going on and those materials are getting cleaned out with this new oil.

Will do. I am just a bit over 500 miles. No problems. Keeping my fingers crossed. John

Uh, this time, put your car keys UNDER the jug of new oil.

;^)

Carl

Carl - That is certainly great advice! 8-) I know the shock of this event has been permanently ingrained into my brain so I know I am going to be triple cautious in the future! John

Back in the goodle days when we used to just drain the oil into the ground I was 7 miles from East Overshoe, NH and drained the oil, then filled the crankcase, and THEN realized I hadn't put the drain plug back in!

I did it AGAIN 18 years later, only this time let the Slick 50 run right out into the drain pan!! ;p

When I was a teen, I was changing the oil in my dad's truck and, as i was filling it up, I noticed something flowing past my feet! Yep, didn't put the drain plug in.

lol!

Carl

This is seriously funny! (no it's not)... but it's nice to know I was not the only one! John

I topped of my oil level with MOM a few days ago. I also put some in my fuel system (which somehow seems weird to me). I've got about 700 miles on the car since the 'incident' and am looking at changing the oil at about 1000 miles. I think I'm going back to Quaker State 5W-30 with Slick 50. John

I have no experience with MMO. I do try to use Techron once a year in a both my cars cause I 'think' it may actually help clean injectors.

I think that concensus is that little damage was done. I'm normally an optimist, and hate to rain on parades, but I feel you should know something I know. A light rod knock can sound like a noisy lifter. I know this from experience. I have a story of an oil-change catastrophe.

I had an 84 Mercedes Diesel with the supposedly bullet-proof engine. It doesn't have a typical spin-on oil filter. It instead has a housing that the filter goes into with a lid that is held on by two nuts and sealed by an O-ring. When I changed my filter and put the lid back on that O-ring fell off the lid down into the chamber with the filter. So it didn't seal. I filled the oil, did the check for the puddle of oil under the car, saw none since oil isn't pressurized in that container until the engine starts, and called it good. The next day I drove it, starting out early in the morning while it was dark. This meant that I didn't see the wide stripe of oil freshly formed on my driveway as I backed out. For months you could trace my journey over the next quarter mile by following the dark trail. I drove about a mile before I realized I had no oil pressure. I shut it down, had it towed home, and researched options. I decided to fill it up, run it for a minute, then change the oil to get out any shavings collected in that minute. After that I started it up and it had what to me sounded like heavy valve tapping. Long story short it made it about 11.5 miles further. Unfortunately I was on a 12 mile journey. The first few miles of that journey were fairly normal, but it started losing power, then got louder, then eventually failed gloriously.

Part of me doesn't want to post this and concern you about something that might not be an issue, but I'd hate to see you use this car for a long trip and get stranded a long way from home. I'd have a skilled mechanic look it over with a stethoscope to see what he thinks the sound is. Hopefully it is just lifters. Perhaps they haven't filled yet.

Obviously you havne't done as much damage as I had done, so hopefully if your engine does deteriorate more, it will be more gradual and you will have plenty of time to detect it and act.

Either way, I wish you good luck with it.

Bill

My daughter didn't think it was funny! She went in the house and told my wife "Dad's so mad he's even MAKING UP new swears!"

;)

I think it's some kind of Right of Passage.