Magred2001vette

iTrader: (2)

My friend just had his '97 model double overhead 32 valve Cobra motor rebuilt($3,500) and got it back this week. He spun the rod bearings from racing with low oil. At the time did not know where the oil was going. So he picks the car up and starts to put the 500 break-in miles on it and later that night comes by my house and I just happen to check his dip-stick and it is BONE DRY! We put a full 5 quarts in of the same Mobil 1 synthetic he had from the motor being rebuilt and noticed it puring out the bottom through a oil coolant line adaptor....anyways he still drove 80 miles without oil, but the motor still sounds and runs fine!!!!!!

ANYBODY HAVE ANY STORIES OR OPINIONS OF RUNNING THEIR CARS WITHOUT THE SYNTHETIC OIL...lets hear them

GuitsBoy

iTrader: (4)

If by the grace of god the motor is still running okay, dont LOOK for problems with it. I assume you fixed the leaking hose adapter? Fill her up with more oil, check for more leaks at idle. Check you dipstick. Take for short drive (under mile). Check oil level. Take for slightly longer drive. Check oil. If everything seems good, go burn a tank of gas and check the oil level. You might be using alot of oil between changes - or possibly between gas stations.

Bad30th

iTrader: (13)

He's lucky he wasn't visiting the rebuild shop again ! Thank goodness you guys noticed it !

Bad30th

Magred2001vette

iTrader: (2)

All this makes me wounder just how long a motor that had Mobil 1 synthetic will run with NO oil?

IntenseSS

I met a guy at a car show a few years back who told me that he would only use castrol syntec, because he was in the middle of no where and found out that he had a real bad oil leak. He said that he was lossing a quart every couple of miles. So he drove it back to his work fixed the oil leak and did a compression test and every thing was fine. Before this happend he only used castrol syntec. He said he drove 60miles with no oil stop and go (chewing his nails the whole way). This whole converstation came about beacuse I told him that my car has never seen any oil but castrol syntec(it came from the factory with it in it).

CamaroSS_2002

iTrader: (4)

What kind of car do you drive that came with castrol syntec???? or did you mean M1 cause that's what the LS1's after 00 came with

JZ'sTA

iTrader: (23)

WOW very lucky.
Things should be okay if the motor is still running fine.
Fix her up and check it a few times to make sure problem is solved.

Classic

iTrader: (3)

The SLP cars had an option for castrol syntec from the "factory" -- SLP lot. I think they quit doing that in 01 but I'm not 100% sure.

Another_User

If you aren't too busy run a compression check, and maybe pull the valve covers, but don't pull the whole thing apart. If those parts look fine you should be ok. After that point, run it (with oil) until it dies, because nothing else you can do will really make a difference unless you want to rebuild it again for $#1Ts and giggles.

Scalpel

iTrader: (4)

How does a compression test tell you if your bearings are fine? I thought the purpose of a compression test was to see how well your CC were sealing with the intake and exhaust valves closed, I'm confused as to where having good compression can rule out engine bearing damage due to running an engine with little to no oil?

Thanks.

Another_User

It's not going to rule out bearing damage. The point is, you have to rip the whole thing out to check. If you have to rip it out, you might as well rebuild the darn thing again. He can spend a ton more money now, or have a slight...but not impossible...chance of bearing problems.

Look at it this way...worst case scenario is a bearing locks up and he throws a rod straight out the side of the engine. Best case, which is more likely, that he just accelerated wear a little bit, or maybe he was lucky and there was enough oil in the bottom to keep the crank a little wet. It comes down to risk I guess. Definitely spend a ton of money to be 100% sure it is ok, or maybe spend a ton of money repairing the engine later on.

The compression check is just to make sure that the rings are not screwed, because if they are he might as well rip it back out. And the valve covers are easy enough to pull just to make sure nothing looks flaky topside.

Scalpel

iTrader: (4)

Why would the rings get screwed in oil starvation?

Do you get galling of the cylinder walls with no oil to scrape down?

L-EATER

iTrader: (2)

When the relief valve stuck in my 6 liter oil pump, I had M1 in there. I started the engine like 5 times with 0 pressure, total of maybe 1 minute run time. When I tore it down, the entire motor was toast. Scored cylinder walls, galded pistons, scored crank, etc. I am raising the BS flag on driving 80 miles with NO oil. Oil cools the internals of the motor and 80 miles with no oil and it would have melted down bigtime.

BigDaddyZ28

As a matter of FACT, Castrol did come in some Camaro's. They had a special offer available at the time of purchase (Yes, This option cost money...) where the dealer would swap out the oil and some other fliuds for Castrol brand, and if you could prove afterwards that you used Castrol for your regularly scheduled oil changes and such Castrol would extend the warranty to 100,000 miles (for oil related problems). No Joke...

Mobil One ever done that? Nope...
And my 2001 Z did not 'come' with M1 in it... I would guess that it came with the cheapest junk that they had laying around at the time...

Scalpel

iTrader: (4)

My brother's full optioned '00 SS Camaro came with Castrol Syntec from the factory. It had a large Castrol Syntec sticker on the air lid, too.

Another_User

I am betting there was enough left to slosh around myself. Heck, VERY CAREFULLY drain ALL of the oil, then refill your 5 1 quart bottles, and see how much is left over. If none is left over then that is another story.

Scalpel

iTrader: (4)

I agree with this one.

I wonder if it's an issue of combined oil loss with an defective dip stick, i.e. it's not mounted correctly?

unit213

I ran my gas powered edger for 10 mins without oil and that bitch seized up like a rock.

Moral of the story, so will a motor with no oil. I doubt anyone made it 80 miles with zero oil.

sross

iTrader: (1)

A dry dipstick doesn't necessarily mean NO oil but definitely LOW oil...

ss rally red

iTrader: (8)

Most dip sticks are 1 & 1/2 qt from not showing on the stick and the "full mark", this is the amount I would start with to confirm the level.