questions about engine losing oil...all of it
 

ok, this isn't my truck but it is my car. it's a 2001 chevy prizm which is the same as a toyota corrola. the wife and i drive the car back and forth to work and school daily.

well the other day it started making a ticking noise. i didn't pay much attention to it at first. the power was there, no warning lights came on, so i figured ok, maybe a noisy a/c compressor or a pulley.

wrong! :mad: somehow, all four quarts of oil had drained out and we were running it on just air!. immediatly got oil in the motor and it still runs fine. i can't tell any harmfull affects from this unfortunate incedent. however, i am wondering how many miles i took off the motors life.

i have been using castrol in the engine since the purchase of the car. i hope it protected like the commercials say they do. another thing, the dip stick is nasty reddish brown. is there anything i can add to clean some of the burnt stuff up on the inside? i am thinking seafoam!

sorry about that.....make sure u keep checkin that level tho...cuz it might just do it again.

you could do an engine flush. then check for leaks. if there are leaks and they are not too bad then you could add a sealer and all it does is swells the seals. also you could add an oil treatment to maybe condition it after the loss of oil and it my help if it is consuming some oil. maybe check the pcv also. i work at a shop and we have all kinds of additives. 90% of the time a car comes in with barley any oil there is a major leak. hope this helps.

Can you tell where it is leaking from? As long as it didnt run dry for very long, it will probably be ok. I had a '90 Ranger that I ran for like 15 minutes with no oil, still runs like a champ! Although I wouldnt recommend doing that. As far as a flush goes, I believe the infamous Patman recommends AutoX, I think that is the name of it. You might PM him about it.

Ryan

well, i have searched, scoured, and scrutinized the engine and i have found no leaks. the pan is sealed well, the filter is secure. it was time for an oil change but it has never used a drop of oil. it did run quite a long time without oil. sad to say, i should have checked it but in my wildest dreams i would never thought all of the oil was gonna dissappear. i think i am gonna dump some cheapo oil in there and let it drain out and then ad some additives with the oil change and change it after about 1K just to be safe. my wife is hounding me to go trade it in just in case something is jacked up. i kinda hate to dump it off on a unsuspecting dealership for someone else to get jacked.

thanks for the replies fellas.

Maybe she drained it in hope of it blowing up so she could get something new. ;) :D

well, my conspiracy theory dictates she did it at her work. so that way, i wouldn't find any oil laying around. if i didn't know better, i would surely think that. cause she has been talking about getting something bigger. i can't blame her, i hate driving that car nowadays.

I'd change the filter and oil
Fill the filter prior to install
see how it runs
Might what to do a compression and leakdown test
Burning some oil ? if you have no leaks
Check the air filter or inlet tube - pulling oil into the intake ?
just some thoughts

i have checked the engine from top to bottom. including the paper element and tube. the only thing i haven't done is the leak down and compression check. so far with fresh oil the car is running fine. even with no oil in it, it never got hot or anything like that. thanks for the info tho. i might have a buddy come buy with some of his tools to do the checks.