Author Topic: how much damage did i cause? (Read 4194 times)

catlin_cava · « **on:** April 22, 2009, 06:06:17 pm »

i hate to say it, i don't check the oil every Day like i should... the last 2 days the engine has been ticking a bit more then normal i check the oil...... none at All,

maxfax · « **Reply #1 on:** April 22, 2009, 06:12:49 pm »

Chances are the ticking was the lifters.. If there would have been absolutely no oil there would be alot more than a tick.. How much oil did it take to get it back up where it should be?? I used to do the same thing with my caddy.. It was solid lifter so it never started ticking but when the light started flickering it was in need :shock:.. I ran it for a few years after doing that more than a few times.... I sold it about 4 years ago and the guy is still running it...

Vincent Waldon · « **Reply #2 on:** April 22, 2009, 06:13:39 pm »

Has the oil light been on?

burn_your_money · « **Reply #3 on:** April 22, 2009, 06:46:03 pm »

I doubt you did much if any damage.

Like Vince said, any oil lights on?

Rabbit TD · « **Reply #4 on:** April 22, 2009, 08:07:46 pm »

I doubt if you hurt it either, I used to wait till the oil light would blink on a hard turn and throw in a quart in my old Beetle years ago . Beat the little thing pretty bad but never hurt it.

catlin_cava · « **Reply #5 on:** April 23, 2009, 10:32:51 am »

No Oil light and the dip stick was dry... :shock:

idgtd · « **Reply #6 on:** April 23, 2009, 10:47:31 am »

Saw that happen on a VW before........ oil light switch was bad.......

Vincent Waldon · « **Reply #7 on:** April 23, 2009, 12:25:27 pm »

Quote from: "catlin_cava"

No Oil light and the dip stick was dry... :shock:

Assuming that your oil light comes on when you turn the key to "on" and goes off when the engine starts you were probably fine in the oil pressure department... the sump sits pretty low and the engine will still have a bit of oil even if it's not enough to register on the dipstick.

arb · « **Reply #8 on:** April 27, 2009, 11:40:30 am »

You're probably good. I had one of my 1978 NA 1.6L Rabbits blow an oil filter gasket shortly after I changed it - will never use a cheap filter again. Needless to day, I drove it w/o any oil or pressure until it seized in the middle of Ann Arbor during the day. I didn't notice the oil light, and I had no buzzer sounding. The cop was not too friendly and would not allow me to roll it onto a side street (I didn't know I was out of oil, just that it stopped running.) While I waited for the tow truck, I saw the problem. The Hook driver agreed to tow me 1/2 a mile to Murray's. I bought 5 q of Mobil-1 and a good filter. The car started right up and I drove it for another 100,000 or so w/o problems. I'm sure the synthetic helped some in the final minutes.

You didn't abuse it as much as I did, so you are probably OK.

rallydiesel · « **Reply #9 on:** April 27, 2009, 11:43:12 am »

IDI engines are tough. I have driven a couple thousand km's while having zero oil pressure. I doubt you did any damage at all as long as there was still a few litres of oil in the pan.

Smokey Eddy · « **Reply #10 on:** April 27, 2009, 12:12:38 pm »

That's not to say you shouldn't keep it up though

Especially if it's leaking/burning that much... :cry:

jtanguay · « **Reply #11 on:** April 27, 2009, 01:05:08 pm »

running extremely low, as in no oil in the sump will result in a few things... major overheating, and some damage. if your engines temp didn't climb into the red then i'd say your safe. we had a golf 1.8 and got an oil change... well the oil nut wasn't put on properly and fell out while my mom drove it. so she pulled over and stopped when the temp gauge went through the roof. start it back up after a cool down, drive a little, stop, and nursed it home that way. that must've left a nice mark on the roads :lol: but anyways, the engine was still good and i drove it for another 2 years, then my dad for another year and a bit, but there was a weird problem. it would start once after being left overnight, but not after. it took about 12-16 hours of sitting to work again, or trying to start it and letting it sit for a half hour worked... weird gassers :lol: there was a LOT of blowby though... so there was in fact some damage to the rings.

lancer1978 · « **Reply #12 on:** April 28, 2009, 05:01:34 pm »

Mine also did this, until today when I finally got off my arse to put oil in, My oil light wasn't coming on at all, found that the connector was severally corroded. fixed the problem on mne, dumped oil in, and now she runs cool and smoother

catlin_cava · « **Reply #13 on:** April 28, 2009, 05:06:27 pm »

These motors are teh toughtest i;ve seen...there is no way on earth i would push a gasser as hard as I do to a diesel lol :lol:

truckinwagen · « **Reply #14 on:** April 28, 2009, 05:14:40 pm »

even the vw gasser motors are very hardy(8 valve anyway), I know lots of people with vw gassers who beat the living hell out of their motors daily and have very little repercussions

I am thinking about taking a spare 1.5 block I have and building a gas motor with it(diesel block, crank, rods. gasser head, pistons) just to see how hard it can be beat on before it fails.

Author Topic: how much damage did i cause? (Read 4194 times)

arb