Car started with no oil

[Meder]

Without going into the long story, my car was started without any oil about 1200-1500 miles ago. It was started for about 1 second, maybe 2, and was turned off right away.

I have not had any problems with the car, I figured this isnt that big of a deal. I am sure the car does not get oil into the engine right away on start up anyways.

Am I wrong? What, if anything, should I check out?

[phillyb]

wait, so it started...didn't have any problems, and then you added oil and drove it for 1200-1500 miles?
idk man, you hear any funny noises?

[Meder]

No, the car was started after an oil change before adding the new oil. The car was running for about 1-2 seconds and shut off. It has been running fine for about 1200-1500 ish miles now.

In short, my car was ran without oil for 1-2 seconds.



edit- sorry, yes. The car started up fine and it had no oil, idled for less than 2 seconds and shut off.

[red07]

I am guessing that the car was post-oil change. If so, figure there is a 1/2 quart or so of residual oil that doesn't drain out, maybe more based on the balance shaft assembly.

If the engine was shut right down and at no time was there any engine loading, you are probably OK. Note that I said probably.

No CEL's, no funny noises, car runs good, fuel consumption normal, no major oil loss, you're most likely fine. You could check the fundamental vital statistics of the engine: oil level, coolant level, do a used oil analysis, check compression, check boost, etc etc.

[Meder]

Yes, the usual fluid/what not are all fine.

The car was driven about 30 minutes before, got home and changed the oil right away. 2 seconds or less of no load idle should not have caused any damage that I can think of..


Its been over 1200 miles and car is fine. Whats the difference between what I did and what the car would do on a cold start when all the oil is at the bottom of the pan?

[red07]

Good point, typically oil starvation failures either make noise, or the engine stops cycling.

The hot engine may have been a good thing. All the parts were freshly coated w/ oil, and not all of it had dripped back down to the oil pan. If the car was cold, then most likely more oil would have been in the pan.

The local Goodyear service center had a really funny story: guy w/ a Civic pulls into the shop w/ check oil light on. Turns out the guy drove the car along the freeway 20+ miles w/ the light on. Car is idling like stock.

They rip the filter out, drain the pan w/ loose drain plug.... <1 quart comes out (5ish quarts capacity). The filter is also wet, as opposed to dripping. They then fill the car w/ 5 1/2 quarts, new filter, the car fires right up. That customer apparently kept the car another 3 years, and finally (you guessed it) the motor lets go... @ 180k miles.

Kids, don't try this at home.

[fbpem1]

on infiniti's (which i'm sure are much more sensitive to oil level than mazdas) it takes about 30 seconds which is rule of thumb around here you will have problems 2-3 seconds ehh not a big deal.

I had a customers car running (qx4) down the highway after she just got an oil change at jiffy lube drain plug fell out, saw the oil llight come on shut the car off came to my dealer i looked saw no drain plug under there put one in filled it up with oil took it to my bay drained the oil put a new filter on it and the car has been runing for i think last time she came in it was about 35 thousand miles ago car is still running like a top. Long story short 2 seconds of idle not bad dosn't matter just try not to do that too often lol. Well she wasn't a customer of mine before that happened but after it was fixed and the oil change done correctly she is a customer of mine and has been for 3 years now =P

[jweller]

Originally Posted by red07 The local Goodyear service center had a really funny story: guy w/ a Civic pulls into the shop w/ check oil light on. Turns out the guy drove the car along the freeway 20+ miles w/ the light on. Car is idling like stock. They rip the filter out, drain the pan w/ loose drain plug.... <1 quart comes out (5ish quarts capacity). The filter is also wet, as opposed to dripping. They then fill the car w/ 5 1/2 quarts, new filter, the car fires right up. That customer apparently kept the car another 3 years, and finally (you guessed it) the motor lets go... @ 180k miles.

Thats a D series. you CAN'T kill them.

to the OP, i wouldn't worry about it. Theres a enough oil left on the friction surfaces to survive that

[mazdaspeed619sd]

a all motor would be more vulnerable to oil shortage then a turbo motor? I am lost with that, sorry. Not to be cocky, but i am really lost with that.

[Lex]

There is more oil that sits around in the turbo oiling system .... although the oil pump wouldn't be able to circulate that anyways so there isn't much sense to that argument.

[SSinstaller]

Your probably fine, but it wouldn't hurt to send an oil sample off to be tested after your next few changes...

[Radioactiveman]

well with no load, and you change your oil regularly then 1-2 seconds is nothing, you can ususally go until the light comes on. I was a honda tech and had one come in with 92k on it and she never, and I mean never changed the oil. the light was on for 2 weeks before she brought it to us. to say the least the top end was nothing but sluge. we told her she needed and engine.... she bought a new car....

none of us could believe it even ran. but we put oil in it and sold it at acution.... so 95 accord blue. thats all I remeber.

[killa cam]

you can't kill honda motors... i went to a demo derby once, and there was a civic that lost it's cooling system in the first impact. it still ran hard and eventually won. all without a cooling system! those motors are tough...

[rodrigo]

1-2 seconds with no oil I wouldnt even think twice about. (wouldnt do it for fun either)

move on and dont do it again...I dont see it being a big deal.