So, to get people mad/frustrated with me right off the bat, and to give a sense of what im talking about/asking for...I accidentally drove my car yesterday without oil. (Also, i apologize if I'm in the wrong place with this post, ive never been here before), i tend to drone on a bit with back story too so I'll put this where things start getting important.

Are you silently strangling me yet? i would think so...Anyways, i bought this 1982 300D Turbo Diesel off of someone in Cali a little over a year ago. It had a little over 150k miles and I went in knowing that the A/C compressor was bad and that there was a very small oil leak down near the bottom of the engine.

After a tad bit of research and some advice, i found out that it is the Oil Coolant Line. The three "Vintage/European Auto Specialists" i talked to stated that they have rarely ever seen that line bust and it is not something i should worry about, so i just went along my way checking my oil every few weeks or so and keeping an eye on the gauge.

Fast forward to yesterday...I had just checked my oil the other week and i was running at about halfway between the lines on the dipstick, which would normally run me another month before i have to replace/fill my oil. So, of course the one day i don't pay attention, i got in my car yesterday and drove down the street to a store. I get out of the store, start the car and pull out onto the street and stop at a stop light, and while i am sitting there i start to notice smoke coming out of my hood. I look at my temperature and see it skyrocketing, and unfortunately i was in the middle lane of the road so after the light turned green i had to drive another 10 seconds worth to get onto a side street and park/shut off my car.

I pulled out a rag, opened up the hood, pulled out the dipstick and wiped it clean, then re-dipped it and saw that only the tip had oil on it. So i drove without oil. Unfortunately, i have no idea how long i was driving without oil, or how little the amount of oil in my engine actually was. I don't know if all my oil dumped out when i pulled out of the store, or if it was dripping throughout the week and i just didn't notice. Hopefully someone can analyze my story and come to a conclusion since i haven't been able to go back to the scene and look around the street for clues.

Now the reason I'm am confronting you guys on this here forum is simply to ask; What now? I'm obviously not going to try and start my car again, But is there a way for me to test how much damage was done internally? I'd like to point out that the only symptom of my incident the other day was smoke, no weird noises, no weird feeling while i drove...just smoke. Is my car just done now? should i start looking into a new car? A new engine? Unfortunately all the shops out here in Phoenix are closed for the day, so this post is all i really have at the moment.

Thank you very much in advance for going through my jibberish, and whatever advice i may get. I really appreciate it, and hope that the news isn't going to be too destructive. I'll be pacing through my living room in the meantime.

 

Replace the oil to proper measure and start the car, it will not smoke immediately because the exhaust is cold, but look for the source of the leak before it warms up. You state the gauge was sky rocketing, now that is engine coolant, also check the level in the rad before starting to ensure proper level, if you have to add coolant add to fill then run engine to normal temp then check again when cold just in case you had air in the system. Possible thermostat stuck. You do not state where you are from but hopefully it was not 100 degrees outside.
Good Luck

 

if you have not started it yet try to crank the engine with a wrench. you can feel if the engines still turns smoothly or not and indeed replace the lost oil first and fix the leak. Since it is really a shame to destroy a engine because of oil.
Good luck with it

 

Ok cool, thank you for the suggestion. Il see what i can do in that regard. Im waiting for my coworker to get off work and hes going to help me go get some oil...so we shall see what happens! Staaaaaaying optimiiiiiistic.........

 

Low oil will not cause an engine to overheat, check the coolant level also as stated, put oil into the engine and start. If the engine was quiet when you shut it off then chances are you are okay. To be on the save side start and shut off within 10-15 seconds and look for oil pissing out somewhere. If you do not see a stream then let it run until you see where it is coming from, place a cardboard under the engine on the ground to help source out any leakage.
When your buddy gets there one start and the other look under the car . Safety always.

 

Ok, gotcha. I'll make sure to only let it run for just a few seconds and see what happens. Also, i forgot to mention this, i took off the oil cap when i shut off my car and there was some smoke coming out of it. Not an overwhelming amount, but enough. But no, there was no extra noise coming from the engine, so hopefully thats a good sign.

I called some mechanics around my area just to get some opinions, and a couple of them said to just fil up a few quarts of oil first and then start the car before filling up all the way...would this be better?

Also a question for the future...lets say my car does start and run fine, there has got to be at least some engine damage regardless, right? how much of the car's life is this gonna cut down on? will it still be able to run for another five years, or should i start looking for a replacement?

 

It was running when you shut off, it should be okay, life of the engine may be reduced somewhat but the bottom line is if it starts too KNOCK, meaning bearing damage. If you have an oil pressure gauge monitor it when the engine is idling warmed to see if there is a reduction in pressure than was there before.
CHECK the coolant level.
What weight oil do you run 15W-40

 

Ok thats reassuring. I do have a pressure guage, which is what i usually keep an eye on.

I definitely will check the coolant level again. it seemed fine when i first pulled over. I doubt the thermostat was stuck since i replaced it not 6 months ago.

i do use 15w-40. Mobil 3000 diesel is what i had in there.

 

You stated the temp skyrocketed, so either the thermo stuck closed, or the fan did not come on is it electric or belt driven

 

Alrighty, ill make sure to check that once over beforehand as well. Thank you.

 

Ok im back! with my car too!

So, it seems to be a cooling system issue. It only took one gallon of oil to fill up my engine, which means i already had 4 quarts worth in there. I found a hole in the big hose above the radiator which leaked all of my coolant out...which would explain the overheating. But i am not sure if the hose just bust, or if something else caused the hole.

I taped up the hose and filled my rad with water and drove home. The temperature seemed to jump around a bit when i went faster than 30, but I'm assuming thats just the fan turning on and off. However the temperature stayed between 90C and 110C. When i got home, i checked the water in the Rad and it seems to have gone down quite a bit, but that might just be from having to refill the system.

All of this sound ok?

 

Oh and the fan is belt driven, it is still working just fine (: