Did I Just Kill My New Engine?!

Let me just start by saying that I'm an idiot.

My new engine- Mopar 383, fresh mild rebuild with 1.5 hours run time on it- was leaking at the oil pan gasket, so I drained & dropped the pan.

New gasket and bolted the pan back up, but by then it was late so I called it a night. A couple of days later I finally have a little time before work in the morning get back out to the garage. I'm anxious to see if I'd solved the leak so I start her up.

I run the engine for a few minutes to get it up to temp, and gosh it sure seems to be idling fast. and it sounds a little funny. Like a little rattle/chatter, almost diesel sound to the valves (But no death knock).

I'm happy to see the oil leak is gone. Job well done!

Until I realize I just ran my engine without oil. FUCK ME!

So there was whatever oil was in the filter and oil lines (I run a remote filter with about 4' of oil line each direction coming/going to it), and whatever was left in the oil passages in the engine. The pan was empty & dry at startup. The oil that was there was Comp Cams break-in oil. I don't know if my gauge was registering oil pressure, I do know it didn't overheat.
I haven't started it since.

Did I just kill my engine?
Do I just put oil in and start it & see what happens?
Besides kicking myself what do I do next??

 

I'd put oil in and pray, pray, pray.


Realistically, if you only ran it for a few minutes it "should" be alright, as long as the cylinders didn't get scored. I'd get back to that praying thing if I were you....

 

I'd at least pull the pan and look at the bearings. Sad story.

 

Put oil in and pray as was suggested.

 

i would remvoe pan and insp for metal and such. if none add oil and restart. if eng is bad its already bad so its worth a shot.
how long did it run before you shut it back off?
did the noise keep getting worse?

 

I'd throw some oil in it, run it for a few minutes, then drain the pan and see how much metal comes out. There will likely be some. Dropping the pan and doing a bearing check would be good as well.

I agree with Coyote, pray!

 

Bearings are shot! HRP

 

Yikes!

 

haha dont pray, just work harder...

 

I'd put oil in and go from there.

 

put oil in it and start it---it may be idiot proof---good luck...

 

Good job on the oil leak though!

 

damn that sucks!!!! Sure it took some time off the life of the engine but hopefully it's ok. Like everyone else says, drop the pan, check it out, put the pan on, fill it with oil and go from there.

 

Would a compression test be informative here?

 

Don't listen to the idiots telling you to just add oil and start!!! Drop the pan and check the bearing first!!!

 

It's a bitch getting old Ask me wait, ask me what

 

Sorry thats sucks best of luck !!!!!!!!!!I always try and remember to take the keys out and put them next to the new oil just because I have seen this happen a bunch !!!

 

im no expert, but without a load on it, id say its probaly ok.

 

Yeah just throw some oil at it, it's Mopar-tough you'll be right.
I'd start it and run for a few minutes, if all seems ok re-drain the oil and check for shrapnel.
But yeah I think the bearings at least would be hurt.

Scotty

 

Any word on the status of your engine? Hope it's just add some oil and your good. Let us know. I mean we have all done bone headed stuff on some level.
Hope the best though, good luck.

 

Don't second guess yourself, you need to know. Pull the engine, flip it over and take the lower end apart. As it stands now you're out a set of rod and main bearings - no big deal. The cam bearings'll be fine as well as everything up top.
If you don't look and just dump oil in it it'll robably run for a while before going south, when it then goes south it'll be expensive because you'll have burned something up.

 

Pull the pan and check the bearings - you ran it without oil - bearings loose metal and make bad scouring marks on crank journals when there is is no oil. You cannot change the laws of Physic's. If you are lucky there is no damage, If you are a bit misfortunate the bearings will need replacing and the crank shaft journals are OK, if you are unlucky the engine will need to be stripped and rebuilt. however the botrtom line is you need to inspect this engine in ternally before going any further
Once the bearings loose the metal it goes through all parts of the lubrication system and they need to be cleaned out before going any further - I know - cause many years ago my ex father in law put sand in my engine to be spiteful when his daughter and I split - not a nice gesture and not a nice outcome for the engine either

 

Did I just kill my engine?


Take the oil filter off & cut it in half and look for metal (also the oil pan..again!)> Depending on what you find or do not find, that would be the determination on wether you restart the motor?



Do I just put oil in and start it & see what happens?

NO, refer to answer to above question!!



Besides kicking myself what do I do next??[/QUOTE]

Take a deep breath, stay calm and maybe....just maybe your motor will be OK. Good to see you used break in Oil and hopefully some of it remained on the cylinder walls & bearings to provide protection (if the motor was'nt run too long with no oil)

 

With no load on that motor, you may be OK. Did you have a new cam/lifters in the engine? Did you break it in on the previous run?

At a minimum I'd do as suggested above, drop the pan, look at the mains, and if it looks OK button it back up fill with oil and see what happens.....you may have done minimal wear....

Just to give you some perspective... some buddies and I had an old demo car years ago, got drinking one afternoon (car had been in a field for over a year after being demo'd) engine still ran good (SBC 350).... we decided on betting how long she would last...pulled the drain plug, wired the flaps wide open, started it up, and grabbed the lawn chairs... that poor little motor bellowed for better than 1/2 hour before she layed down and stopped...I would have thought 10 minutes it would be fried......

So good luck, you may be OK....
Tom

 

The strange noises you heard were probably the valves because the first thing to make noise in this situation is valve lash when the hydraulic lifters lose oil pressure (ask me how I know). You probably didn't do major damage but I would put oil in it and run it for a few miutes then pull the filter and cut it open. If you see metal and it is non magnetic you have probably fried the crank bearings. If the metal in the filter is magnetic, you have fried the lifters and cam. If you see no metal, drive it for 5 or 10 miles and repeat the above. If at that point there is no metal in your filter drive it to your nearest liquor store and buy a six pack and a lotto ticket. GOOD LUCK.

 

Thanks for the replies.

To clarify for me:

FIRST- drop the pan.

2nd- if no major shrapnel check bearings (any advice on this- I haven't done it before; I'm hoping to do it from underneath with the engine still in the car).

3rd- if bearings are not wrecked replace pan & filter (AND OIL) and start her up.
Then what? If it runs drive it, or??

In answer to someone's question: I probably ran it for 5 minutes under no load. Maybe 3 revs to 3500rpm but all the rest at idle/fast idle. Just long enough to get it up to 190 degrees.

 

As said by some above pull the pan more than likely nothing has happened, but as the old saying goes if I can't find the time to do it right the first time, when will I find the time to fix it.

 

I'd take a look inside before doing anything else, but if you decide to go down the "put oil in and hope" route, at least prime it properly before starting it up - give the poor thing a chance!