No Oil Damage?

lolo2

OK, I am completely thick and deserve to be completely bashed. I forgot to check my oil for A LONG TIME. And not surprisingly my car retaliated and wont start now. There wasnt a drop of lubricant in it. Does any knowledgeable car person now what kind of damage this can do to an engine? Could it be irreversible? Any idea of what kind of costs im looking at? [I dont want to faint at the mechanics if he gives me a collossal quote] Any help appreciated!!

prospect

Well it depends,

But, no oil, very low oil, old oil & too much oil are all VERY BAD...

The last person I know who let their car go dry of oil ended up with a €6500 bill.

seamus

At best, you've managed to do minimal damage to the engine. More likely, the pistons have taken a disliking to the cylinders, beaten the ****e out of them, and now both are worse for wear. I managed to let a motorbike engine run dry once, and despite it still going for another few months (obviously I did put oil in afterwards), I had a mechanic check it out, and he recommended nothing less than going down to the breakers and finding myself a new engine.

MercMad

Its unlikely that the car has refused to start due to no oil. Normally lack of oil will cause a running engine to seize up whilst driving !

Does it make any attempt to turn over ? Tell us exactly what happened since you last drove it !

lolo2

:eek: oh be the holy. i was thinking it might be bad. i suppose i will have to have somebody take a look at it and see what the damage is. cross your fingers for me lads! the house just flooded as well, love january. plumbers and machanics - always cheap to call out. hopefully it can be salvaged. thanks.[no offense to any mechanics!! ]

lolo2

so maybe there is hope mercmad!

i read somewhere on the very reliable internet that it would have been making loud noises if it was being damaged by lack of oil. It was fine on thursday nite. then i tried to start it last night [sunday] not having driven it since then. the lights that are supposed to go on while the car is trying to start are going on, but its just making that really dry sound. needless to say, obviously i have put a litre of oil in it now. but still the same dry sound when i try to start it.

pontovic

That could be your battery. Try to get a jumpstart.

Alun

lolo2 wrote:

needless to say, obviously i have put a litre of oil in it now. but still the same dry sound when i try to start it.

You'd have to put a damn sight more than 1 litre of oil in it!! Check your manual, it should say there what the normal oil capacity of the engine is.

lolo2

horn and lights working so does that mean it aint the battery?

seamus

Not necessarily. The battery may contain enough power to just about switch on the lights and blow the horn, but not to start the engine. Even though the lights may turn on, they may not be as strong as usual, which would indicate a low battery.

t5pwr

I would get someone who knows something about it to have a look.

As Alun said a litre of oil is well short of enough, plus you want to put in the right grade of oil too, not just any oil.

You may just need a jumpstart but you may also need more oil if it was low in the first place and you can damage the engine also by putting in too much oil...

lolo2

i have somebody coming but does anyone know what the light on the actual battery [i.e. not the light on the dash] means if it is green? [its an opel corsa]

Alun

A light on the battery ???? That's a new one on me.

lolo2

yea, i just saw onHalfords aout indicator lights on batteries themselves. "Commonly, blue = condition OK; red = add distilled water; white = charging necessary" of course mine would be green!

MercMad

No the Opel batteries have a green indicator. If its green it normally means the battery is okay !

Maybe its a starter motor !

What actually happens when you turn the key, does it just click or does it make a churning sound at all ??

Check the oil level too before driving it. It should be near the higher markj on the dipstick before you start it !

lolo2

thats what i was afriad of, green-for-good-to-go.

when i turn the key it makes a dry kkkk sound, not clunking. my 3-dimensional car person should be here soon to check it out, will fill up the oil to the proper level before we do anything.

maidhc

t5pwr wrote:

As Alun said a litre of oil is well short of enough, plus you want to put in the right grade of oil too, not just any oil.

Id say the engine will be thankful for any kind of oil... 2 stroke, vegetable, hair oil..

The chances are you have shortened the life of your engine considerably, although if it cranking over it probably isnt dead, but something else which is impossible to diagnose over the internet (it could well be the fuel pump under the rear seats though...).

Hagar

Is there a dipstick in the car ? Other than yourself ?:D
At the very least put a high quality low viscosity oil in until the level reaches the minimum mark on the dipstick. The low viscosity might be enough to penetrate in areas of marginal damage just long enough to get it to a decent garage.

mike65

when i turn the key it makes a dry kkkk sound, not clunking

That sounds like the starter wont turnover properly. Soleniod/flywheel? The starter could be loose.

Mike.

lolo2

It wasnt as dry on oil as i thought, dipped it on a bit of a slope. oil at correct level now. anyway, crisis averted, my mate had a look [mechanic] and reckons it just lost compression because it wasnt started for three days. got it started anyway - so if it happens again im to change the sparks and after that look at electronic probs.

thanks so much for all the tips - has taught me to actually read the booklet that comes with the car! [who reads manuals eh?]:D

maidhc

You are supposed to change the oil in cars every so often. Now might be a good time to do that.

jayo99

is your mate [mechanic] qualified ????

An engine doesnt lose compression just because it wasnt started for a few days !

lolo2

master mechanic had a sucessful garage for over 10 years

RoundyMooney

What a comedy of errors...

OP, take a night class or something. Soon.

AMurphy

lolo2 wrote:

master mechanic had a sucessful garage for over 10 years

"Master Storyteller" more like it. If cars "lost compression" after being stopped for a few days. Airports car parks would be full of dead cars.., which they are not.
items with little used engines, like boats, lawnmowers, chainsaws, combines, etc would never start on demand, but they do.

There are many reasons why they may not start, but "loosing compression" is hardly one of them.