Mates car run out of oil

GT3 · 8 Apr 2006 at 12:25

Oh dear, my friend has had his 106 GTI about a month. Its only on 19,000 miles and it was full of oil when he got it. This morning he came to start it and it was VERY rough and both the oil level light came on and the engine management light. Obviously he turned it off straight away and checked the oil which was indeed empty (below minimum) so he filled it up with oil and started it up. Straight away it was how it was before with the engine shaking very violently but calmed down after a bit but when revved it sounds like a tractor.

Whats wrong with it, I'm assuming something has seized? New engine time?

Ev0 · 8 Apr 2006 at 12:30

Most likely, happened on my old car just after I bought it

agw_01 · 8 Apr 2006 at 12:35

Don't panic yet.

My GSi did this a week ago. Started it up to head some major top end knocking.

Jumped out, checked the dipstick and there was nothing on it. I drove the mile to Halfords very very slowly, filled up with oil and started it back up. Still knocking

Decided to cut my losses and drive the 5 miles to work. As I pulled into the car park I thought... that sounds quiet. The knocking had gone and I've had no problems since

You won't have done any damage if it was only running for a second or two with no oil. It takes a couple of seconds for the oil pump to circulate the oil anyway.

geiger · 8 Apr 2006 at 12:43

Where did the oil go though, shouldnt happen on a new motor. Tell him to check the oil and water before he starts each time now

timbob · 8 Apr 2006 at 12:46

geiger said:
Where did the oil go though, shouldnt happen on a new motor. Tell him to check the oil and water before he starts each time now

That's what I'd be worried about, where the car's put a couple of litres of oil over a few weeks....

Has he checked underneath for any oil leaks?

agw_01 · 8 Apr 2006 at 12:55

timbob said:
That's what I'd be worried about, where the car's put a couple of litres of oil over a few weeks....

Has he checked underneath for any oil leaks?

On my car, I think the question to ask is... where the car hasn't put oil... I think only the headgasket isn't leaking

GT3 · 8 Apr 2006 at 12:59

Its not leaking from anywhere visible such as sump, headgasket, cam seals, rocker cover. And has been running fantastic for last few weeks. He says its running ok now but still a slightly strange noise from the engine.

Enfield · 8 Apr 2006 at 13:54

Any blue smoke from the exhaust?

GT3 · 8 Apr 2006 at 13:59

Enfield said:
Any blue smoke from the exhaust?

Nope.

ShakenNstirred · 8 Apr 2006 at 14:38

he needs to learn to check his car aleast once a week, all the fluids

Vertigo · 8 Apr 2006 at 16:06

agw_01 said:
Jumped out, checked the dipstick and there was nothing on it. I drove the mile to Halfords very very slowly, filled up with oil and started it back up. Still knocking

So you had no oil in the car and despite Halfords only being a mile away, you still drove there!? :eek:

agw_01 · 8 Apr 2006 at 17:50

Vertigo1 said:
So you had no oil in the car and despite Halfords only being a mile away, you still drove there!?

Yep

It was actually nearing two miles.

I was being very very gentle with the throttle and was coasting whenever possible in order to stop the engine getting warm.

When my mums' Escort ran out of oil, she got onto the motorway before it conked out, and some guy over at Rovertech, when he was scrapping an old 414, he was hitting the limiter for 7 minutes before it conked out.

The sump wasn't empty though, because when I checked the dipstick before adding oil, it was giving a reading... so the oil in the sump was probably just a tiny bit away from reaching the bottom of the dipstick.

It's not something I'd like to find myself repeating though. I got lazy since I picked the 220 up. I used to check the 214's levels about 3 times a week.

Scania · 8 Apr 2006 at 18:24

ShakenNstirred said:
he needs to learn to check his car aleast once a week, all the fluids

Every day is the prudent move, I try to do this with both my HGV and my car.

[TW]Fox · 8 Apr 2006 at 18:34

agw_01 said:
Don't panic yet.

My GSi did this a week ago. Started it up to head some major top end knocking.

Jumped out, checked the dipstick and there was nothing on it. I drove the mile to Halfords very very slowly, filled up with oil and started it back up. Still knocking .

How on earth does a car enthusiast manage to neglect their car to the extent that there is no oil on the dipstick whatsoever?

Your car either has a very, very serious mechanical issue and is burning oil very fast, in which case get rid of it before it becomes more serious, or you don't look after it quite as well as you'd have us believe

agw_01 · 8 Apr 2006 at 18:48

[TW]Fox said:
How on earth does a car enthusiast manage to neglect their car to the extent that there is no oil on the dipstick whatsoever?

Your car either has a very, very serious mechanical issue and is burning oil very fast, in which case get rid of it before it becomes more serious, or you don't look after it quite as well as you'd have us believe

I used to religiously check the levels on the 214. I was always quick to find the cause of any problems and fix them within a week.

The guy I bought the 220 off (he bought it from a member of MG-Rover.org) told me that the sump gasket was leaking. Fair enough, I'll change it when the weather gets better.

I don't know why I didn't check the levels weekly, I just kept forgetting I guess.

It does burn oil if you rev it hard from cold, but I never do so I'm not too fussed about that. I'm putting it down to the valve stem seals, but then it's not uncommon for an older car to do this during the cold months. I had someone follow me a few days ago while I was booting it and (despite the fact that they couldn't keep up

) they said that they couldn't smell anything.

Having a good look under the engine when I changed the suspension, going from the state of the sump and oil filter... I think it's obvious where the leak is

I never get any spots on the driveway though, so maybe the pressure while driving forces the oil out.

I filled it up last Friday and have done about 400 miles since then with no problems. I don't even think it's dropped.

jon.bda · 8 Apr 2006 at 20:07

geiger said:
Where did the oil go though, shouldnt happen on a new motor.

In the last couple of weeks we've had a Discovery V6TDSE with about 1500 miles and a Golf TDi with less than 500 miles on the clock in, both dry of oil...

tb2000 · 8 Apr 2006 at 21:09

I know it sounds silly, but has your friend checked the sump plug washer to check for leaks? Or indeed that there's a sump plug in there?

I only say this as we had an Iveco van in at work a few weeks ago for a service and we found that the gearbox sump plug (in this case) wasn't just missing a washer, the whole plug was completely missing :eek:

without hardly a drip of oil in the gearbox - and they wondered why their gearbox was starting to get noisy and notchy!

benneh · 8 Apr 2006 at 21:14

I once ran my 318i for a fortnight with no oil in whatsoever, then after a 200 mile round trip to the beach with a bunch of friends we were trying for a top speed run on the motorway and there was an insane tapping noise that started at about 120. Carried on to the service station about 2 miles further, filled it up with oil and 2 minutes later the tapping dissapeared. Bulletproof!

.

I wouldnt worrie just yet, fill it up, run it for a while and it should be fine.

Baron G · 8 Apr 2006 at 22:43

This a pet peeve of mine - surely in this day and age, we must be able to think of a better way to check oil levels than popping the hood and examining a dipstick every couple of days.

I reckon manufacturers like the idea of people running their engines dry as it ensure a regular supply of expensive repairs for their dealers.

/runs off to check oil for the first time in weeks :rolleyes:

NickXX · 8 Apr 2006 at 22:56

Baron G said:
This a pet peeve of mine - surely in this day and age, we must be able to think of a better way to check oil levels than popping the hood and examining a dipstick every couple of days.

I reckon manufacturers like the idea of people running their engines dry as it ensure a regular supply of expensive repairs for their dealers.

/runs off to check oil for the first time in weeks

I think new Mercs will tell you if the oil needs topping up before it gets critical. They don't seem to have dipsticks anyway.