Ran out of oil! Knocking

Hi guys n gals Earlier was driving along and drop down a gear and the engine started knocking so got out had a look took the oil cap of and the smell was nasty! Checked the dip stick and nearly empty " i know shiuld check it regualy, so put 3 or 4 litres or oil in it and it seems fine drives fine just wondering if any damage is likley to have been caused?! Or have a i been lucky? Cheers

You'll have certainly aged the engine but by how much will be evident......especially at start-up from cold

Could you tell where about in the engine the knocking was coming from? Very low oil levels can cause extreme wear on the big end bearings and these tend to start knocking because the worn/damaged bearing allows the con rod to move about on the crankshaft. This knocking is heard from deep within the engine.

You may have been lucky to catch it but as BB said you'll have accelerated the wear on the engine, how long as it been run on low oil? And make sure you know where all that oil went, has it got a fairly big leak? Any blue smoke?

Make this a lesson to regularly check the levels and change the oil & filter every 6 months!

3 or 4 litres means its probably ****ed.
Its only holds 6.8 litres from empty, so at least change the oil and filter and cross your fingers, bear in mind the oil left in the motor is shagged as well.


Lynall

Oli landy h said:

Hi guys n gals Earlier was driving along and drop down a gear and the engine started knocking so got out had a look took the oil cap of and the smell was nasty! Checked the dip stick and nearly empty " i know shiuld check it regualy, so put 3 or 4 litres or oil in it and it seems fine drives fine just wondering if any damage is likley to have been caused?! Or have a i been lucky? Cheers

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Did you fill it up to the mark, run it then check it again ?

or just chucked some oil in and crossed your fingers ?

then come on here to see if maybe you got away with it.

Cheers for the replies, dippypud i thought id write it on here as i was confused to how it seems to be running fine haha, but i guess ive worn the engine, was on way to work started knocking so turned it off got some oil filled it to level this was a good 8 hours later mind, and it run as smooth as anything!

Oli landy h said:

Cheers for the replies, dippypud i thought id write it on here as i was confused to how it seems to be running fine haha, but i guess ive worn the engine, was on way to work started knocking so turned it off got some oil filled it to level this was a good 8 hours later mind, and it run as smooth as anything!

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Have you worked out where it all went and have you checked the levels in the gearbox.........



and transferbox............







and axles............












and hubs.............










and............

Yea gear box n all that are fine, since filling it aint gone down maybe someone emptied it? Hahaha

Oil doesn't just evaporate, it has to go somewhere, unless it was seriously under filled during it's last oil change - which was when?

I'd keep a good eye on the oil level from now on, and make sure you change it regularly to give the engine the best chance of the life it's got left.

its probs burnin it ands fireing it out of the exhaust . If it still sounds ok and runs ok I say you got lucky. you will have shortend the life of your engine but thats an issue for you and mr mot inspector or it will go bag which ever is first..