1991 BMW 318ic; M42. Went to local (trusted) auto tire Goodyear store for oil change and tire rotation. They appear to have drained oil and replaced filter, but did not put new oil in. Car was driven maybe 100-200 yards when oil light came on. Pulled over immediately (Into another trusted local garage parking lot, conveniently). Other local garage put in 4-5 quarts and car was driven back to Goodyear store. Wet, cool evening. They drained oil and replaced. Do you think any damage was done?
not enough to be concerned...I used to work for a quick lube place a while back - youd be surprised at the atrocities we witnessed, and what maintenance sins a car is capable of surviving. Id say youre fine if it was really that short of a distance.
If they forgot to put the oil back in it, how did the oil light not come on immediately? My '90 325i has a low level sensor and if it's the tiniest bit low the light comes on when I start the car, plus I would think that the oil pressure light should be on pretty much immediately, too.
But to answer the original question, the only way to really tell is drop the pan and take a look at the bearings. As that's a pain in the ass, I'd try to have something in writing stating what happened, and that if bearing damage (knocking, etc.) is noticed in x amount of days than they're responsible. I don't know if they'd go for it, but I'd try. If there's a little slop in the bearings it will escalate. You may not notice anything now, but it might start audibly knocking in a few weeks if there is bearing damage. BTW, did they save the oil that they they took out, that the other place had just put in? Since it had barely been driven with that oil in it, it should be pretty easy to see if there's metal in it. You could also send in an oil sample for analysis to see how much metal is in it.
if a motor can survive running without oil, it would be the m42
i saw an M20 motor loose all the oil on the track (broken pan on spin off track) the owner didnt know the pan was hit and by the time he got to me to check the undercarriage a mile or so later (at track speeds) he was pretty much bone dry but running. he drove the car off track to the paddock and the car came back for the next few events with no engine work or apparent issue. these are tough little buggers!
didnt Bill Caswell run for something like 45 seconds with no oil at full throttle in his 325 rally car?
I think you're fine.
mtn wrote: 1991 BMW 318ic; M42. Went to local (formerly trusted) auto tire Goodyear store for oil change and tire rotation.
Sorry for lack of anything useful to add, but had to do the above edit...
Personally, I'm having a bad week for having to add "formerly" to the "trusted" part of local shops... Only one, but it was the standby.
ransom wrote:mtn wrote: 1991 BMW 318ic; M42. Went to local (formerly trusted) auto tire Goodyear store for oil change and tire rotation.Sorry for lack of anything useful to add, but had to do the above edit... Personally, I'm having a bad week for having to add "formerly" to the "trusted" part of local shops... Only one, but it was *the* standby.
Lol, that should have been included.
Acutally, they should pay for you to get it checked . . .
People and Techs used to look at me strange when I would check the oil and coolant level in the shop's parking lot after a service . . . . this would be why.
No telling how long they let the car run after they serviced it . . .
I had a VW dasher make it an hour and 20 minutes with no oil pump. Was out beating it in the power line pushed the pan up in to the crank and the crank sent the oil pump out the pan. Darn thing just kept on running..finaily got so hot it just stopped. came back with tow truck 3 hours latter and the f'in thing started right up. knocked like crazy but still ran.
my sis had a b/f back when they were in school. He worked at the local Jiffy place. The horror stories he told us and laughed off made me swear never to go to a place like that.
The best was a minivan they fogot to put oil in.. but to cover the knocking, they raised the idle
Document it, have the shop admit in writing that they screwed up. They may conveniently forget or deny any wrongdoing if you have problems down the road. And like Corey said have the oil lab tested, I use Blackstone.
Right now, I'd cut their installed oil filter open w/ aviation snips (no saws), use a knife to cut through the pleats and remove them, unfold the pleats and look for bearing material... if it's gonna show up anywhere it's gonna be trapped in the pleats.
I wouldn't let 'em off the hook at all, even w/ minimal bearing wear they took engine life from you... who knows, 10K worth, 20K or more??
The valvolube place I worked at had a tech once who installed the wrong filter on a 'burban. It threaded on ok-ish, but when it heated up, the threads on the filter softened enough that it fell off. They found the filter in the parking lot of the shop - it pumped all its oil out within a mile of the shop. The thing ran for 3 days under DD service with no oil.
600 feet is really nothing to worry about...
4cylndrfury wrote: not enough to be concerned...I used to work for a quick lube place a while back - youd be surprised at the atrocities we witnessed, and what maintenance sins a car is capable of surviving. Id say youre fine if it was really that short of a distance.
THIS. I, too have seen some ridiculous stuff at the quick lube I worked at. lol
thye should pay for a teardown imo. It all depends on if these are people you are friends with or what.
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